
So after our more general post with all the highlights of our trip, I want to show some more awesome photos about some of the fantastic places we visited! First up is volcanic New Zealand! The North Island is pretty much all volcano and that means unearthly landscapes and smells of rotten eggs :-) We stayed for a couple of nights in Rotorua, a lovely town surrounded by volcanic parks. It was a real adventure exploring the nature around here since it all looks so ancient and the colors are awesome! We visited Waiotapu and Waimangu Valley which both looked like ancient dinosaur country. If I’d draw a dinosaur in this photo you would believe it:
right?? ;-)
The puddles there were so hot they are boiling!
Only this bird could walk around in the boiling acidic waters:
The colors of the ground were ridiculous!
And the lakes were just as crazily coloured!
O, and the smells…. thick, warm, egg fumes….
Lovely ;-)
But we wanted more! We wanted to actually climb a volcano! This one on the right to be more specific:
Mount Doom!
Originally known as Mount Tongariro. This iconic volcano you encounter on the fantastic 1-day hike the “Tongariro Alpine Crossing”, a 20km or 7 hour walk that we ofcourse had to do!
The trail takes you along some very nice viewpoints, craters and lakes and it was absolutely awesome!!!
On top was a huuuge yellow-ish crater with mist in it. As if we were on Mars!
The views were spectacular.
Like the moon!
Again, volcanic lakes that looked beautiful but smelled like warm, rotten eggs haha
Once you crossed the volcano, you are rewarded with spectacular views of Rotorua and Lake Taupo!!
The last part of the walk goes through forests and jungles. It took us about 6,5 hours to complete this walk and I think it was one of the highlights of our whole trip through New Zealand!!
Hell yeah we climbed a(nother) volcano!! :-)