Thermal Springs in New Zealand

New Zealand is littered with volcanoes; there are some still moderately active ones, and hiking trails are closed and opened in tune with activity.  The Tongariro Crossing walk that I enjoyed back in 2008 was closed due to thermal activity, but is now reopened recently.  In addition to above-ground visual evidence of thermal activity, there’s plenty of evidence of the hotbed below the top layer (see my recent post about the amazing Hot Water beach).

Started out as a misty morning, but even after the fog cleared, there was water vapor in the air – this time from hot springs!

We were taking a calm jetboat ride down the Waikato River (the return was NOT calm). 
Notice the steam rising from the river!

Plenty of spooky steam vents in the hillsides:

We ended up enjoying Orakei Korako which reminded me of the activity in Yellowstone National Park back in the States.  There were bubbling mud pools, geysers that shot in the air, silica terraces, and all sorts of mineral activity producing different colors (reds from high iron, greens from high copper, I assume?).

After visiting the hot springs, we took a wild jetboat ride back up the river with NZ Riverjet; super fun!
(Full disclosure – this was a very different jetboat ride than I took down in Queenstown in 2008.  That ride was much more ‘intense’ and adrenaline pumping due to the closeness of the sheer rock canyon walls (as my footage showed).  This ride had more wildlife, information about the surrounding plants and birds, and more 360-degree turns.)

Queenstown to the max

Queenstown is known for extreme sports - bungy jumping (they invented it here?), jetboats, skiing, river surfing, canyoneering, sky diving, paragliding, mountain biking, you get the gist.

Today I went Jetboating in Queenstown. It was amazing. We didn't hit any rocks, but I did take that picture above that looks different. We went about 50 mph. The OLD boats had a single engine, Chevy 496 Big Block. The new ones have twin engines, not sure the size/power. These boats definitely rivaled the boat I rode on for work in Monterrey, California last year. Except we were in canyons. Doing 360s. Without seatbelts.

Here's their website and promo video:
http://www.shotoverjet.com/
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=qBT-2yGXVwU
Here's a representative video that I shot (plenty more footage, just didn't want to upload it all):


Gonna give the bungy jumping a pass (did you know you can do it from a hanging Gondola, 134 meters!? Check it: "Purpose designed and built purely for Bungy jumping with 30 different patents this award winning structure has to be seen to be believed. The jump pod is suspended by high-tension wires that span 380 metres across The Nevis River, access is by cable car for jumps & spectators alike." Maybe next time when I have money to burn... 8 seconds of free fall for $200.)

From here I'm on to Milford sound just for a night or two, and then doing a 1 week trek through Fjordland Nat'l Park and on part of the Routeburn Track. I should try and find a way to post my route on google maps or something... Might email again tomorrow, so leave a message for me. After that it'll be a full week before the next update.