Dec 18

December 18, 2009
Went to Taupo today – a friend of Dave and Colleen's named Tony was taking someone else to the airport, and offered to take us sight-seeing. It's a 40 km drive, but slow even though SH – 1 is the main highway between Wellington (capitol city) and Auckland (largest city). The highway takes us north, winding between the lakeshore and high hills, mostly covered with pine trees. Some areas have been clear-cut – what an ugly sight! Owned by Maori Trust organizations, they're mostly replanted, but still need another 15 years or so until the scars heal.
Taupo is a tourist town, making its living on fishing, hiking (tramping in NZ-speak) in the summer, and nearby skiing in the winter. Lots of souvenir shops, good coffee shops, some of the major NZ stores. Prices are lower here than in Wellington, but still higher than in Ottawa, even if you count the 20% difference in our dollars. Their sales tax (GST) is included in all prices, so the price you see is the price you pay, unless there's a small rounding up or down to the nearest 5 cents. No pennies in NZ; the coin that is copper-coloured and looks like our penny is a 10 cent piece. Very confusing.
After Taupo, Tony took us to Huka Falls, an important waterway here. Much of NZ's electricity is generated by water, or by thermal hot water. Huka Falls is the sole exit from Lake Taupo, and the water does race through the narrow channel – maybe 20 feet across at its narrowest.
Also saw the huge thermal power generation plant – one of many through-out the country. Being built on a volcanic region sure helps the national government generate power.
On the way back to Omori, Tony made sure we had time to take photos of two fascinating sights – first, Mount Ruapehu, which even now is snow-covered. It's about 50 km south of us, and is one of three active volcanoes in this area. It's about 2700 Metres high (a little less than 10,000 feet.) It last erupted in a major way in 1995, covering the area in clouds of ash and steam. The 1996 ski season was a write-off, as eruptions continued to cover the ski slopes in ash. It erupted without warning in 2007, accompanied by a small earthquake, injuring one person. Hmm – so much for civil defence and warning systems. Ah well.
The second sight, related to the first is the thermal fields which underlie the hills surrounding Omori. As you may be able to see in the photo, the steam rises from them, through-out the forest. Evidently the fire service gets several calls each year from tourists, telling them that there's a fire in the forest – the fire services goes to the spot on the road where the steam can be seen, but ignores it. It's too dangerous to go up there, as one might fall into a steam vent – poached firemen anyone? Sorry, that's grim humour.
So, thanks to Tony who has the last word. When I asked him how would we know if a volcano was erupting, he said "if you can see it, it's too late." Ha!