King Tut

Upon leaving Rotorua we drove along another twisty highway on the way to New Zealand’s greatest lake, Lake Taupo. On the way to Taupo is Wai-O-Tapu, one of the most amazing parks dedicated to showcasing just how thin the continental crust is in this area of New Zealand. The geothermal activity is impressive, with colorful lakes of boiling water and more bubbling muddy hot springs than one can imagine. By colourful, I mean red, yellow, and green due to the oxidized metals. Most of the trails are wide and accessible by the Chariot, however, some required a rather impressive elevation change by going up or down several stairs. We therefore elected to bring the baby back pack in order to carry Fenton. It was extremely hot, which combined with the heat from the boiling water everywhere, made it even less comfortable for our young boy. He showed considerable resistance to the heat though. Fenton enjoyed being carried by buggy and backpack as long as we didn’t stop and pause to … say take a picture or something. We have realized that we are spoiling our son. We cater to his every need and carry him everywhere – so his new nickname has become King Tut. One Australian man asked if we would be willing to carry him up the steep set of stairs and I quickly responded – “one case of beer”. Funny that he didn’t take me up on it.

We stopped shortly after leaving Wai-O-Tapu to visit Haku Falls. While I can’t remember the specifics, Haku Falls drop an impressive amount of water over a distance of 9m from Taupo Lake – enough water that could fill an Olympic sized pool 8 times over a second. We showed up, looked at the pretty falls, then went on our way.

We drove through some less curvy highway to a town called Palmerston North. We went there because it was close to Wellington, the capital of New Zealand and the location of the ferry that would take us across the Cook Straight to the South Island. Palmerston North has very little tourism and the campsite was full of permanent tenants. Anyone who has stayed at a campsite like this knows how creepy it is. One person had a sign on his trailer that said “24 hour video surveillance”. Needless to say, we locked everything up before going to sleep. Palmerston North is a very pretty town though. There are beautiful parks with lovely trails that take you through flower gardens. Fenton played in his first puddle here. It was impressive how fundamental his was for him to enjoy the sea – which he now thinks of as a very big puddle.

Only a short drive from PN is Windy Wellington. As the name suggests Wellington is extremely windy. We took in the Te Papa, New Zealand’s most famous museum, and the Wellington Botanical Gardens. Fenton seemed to enjot Te Papa – he was even able to light an incandescent bulb and an LED bulb by using  a hand crank dynamo. At the botanical gardens we carried King Tut around with the hope that he would enjoy the fragrant reproductive structures of various seed plants and possibly even take part in play when exposed to other children actively enjoying the playground there. What we didn’t realize was that we were expected at the ferry terminal 1 to 2 hours prior to departure. We arrived 20 minutes “early”. By the time we appeared at the ferry terminal every other passenger was on board waiting for us. We boarded minutes before the ferry left the dock. Whew!