Day 12 in New Zealand

We couldn't pass up the chance to eat in the Taupo McDonald's DC-3 so we went there for breakfast. It's no A380. I wonder how many DC-3s you could get into an A380?

After breakfast we headed back to Huka falls but this time we went by land and walked around it. It isn't a particularly high falls but it is quite narrow and deep so there is a lot of water going through there very fast.

There is a trail that goes from Huka falls all the way down to the Aratiatia dam so we started walking it. It turned out longer than we expected so we turned back to the car and drove down. We were trying to get to the dam for the "opening" and almost made it but were just a bit too late.

They open the dam a few times each day for half an hour rather than let the water out slowly all day. It makes for a violent rapids. We walked down to a lookout over the river and waited for the dam to close. The picture above was taken while the river was running at full strength and below is after the water was shut off.

It takes a long time for the water to drain. Those pictures were taken 30 minutes apart.

After leaving the dam we eventually found the Craters of the Moon Scenic Reserve. It is another geothermally active area like Wai-O-Tapu, but it is better - cuz' it's free.

Craters of the Moon also feels a bit more dangerous. The boardwalk had steam rising between the boards in places and some of the craters are only a couple of years old, like the one above.

The whole area has expanded since they put in the nearby geothermal power station (I like saying geothermal) in the 50s. Something to do with the underground water level being lowered causing more activity. Apparently it is safe enough to walk around though - or so they would have us believe.