Leveraged Intelligence

New Zealand: Waimangu: How the World Began!

We didn’t let any grass grow under our feet on this trip, which is quite a feet feat when you consider how rapidly EVERYTHING grows in New Zealand!  We took a day trip from Rotorua – my first day driving on the wrong side which will be another story altogether – and went to a volcanic valley Carly had wanted to see, Waimangu! 

Do any of you remember the movie The Land That Time Forgot?  Well, I was told this was where it was filmed (as well as the newest Journey to the Center of the Earth) and you’ll soon see why:

The above is the view as you begin descent into the valley on foot.  I expected a T-Rex to emerge from the foliage at any point.  These are the famed New Zealand ferns in all their glory!  But, there is so much more to behold in the world’s newest geothermal system, much more.  For one, there is Frying Pan Lake, the world’s largest hot water spring:

And, yes, that is steam you see above it as well as steam venting from the mountain side.  Viewed from a different angle:

You can see that it is not just the other-worldly sense the continuous mist engenders, it is the magnificent colors from the minerals mixed with the incredibly rich greens of the vegetation.  Don’t ever consider going into that water for a warm, soothing bath, though.  It is formed of sulfuric acid!

June 10, 1886

That is the date when this valley as you see it was formed from the eruption of Mt. Tarawera.  Cracks formed in the bed of Lake Rotomahana and the water poured into it.  It met with magma there and immediately expanded 1400 times.  This caused a cataclysmic explosion that blew a crater expanding the lake to twenty times its original size killing all plant and bird life in the area – along with at least 108 people!  It created a 16 km (10 mile) rift and this valley is the aftermath.

This area is part of the Taupo Volcanic Zone, which just happens to be the Southwest tip of the Pacific Ring of Fire.  This means that it is volcanic activity formed not by a hot spot, as the Hawaiian chain is, but by a subduction zone, giving it much greater explosive potential.  Until 1904, it also had the world’s largest geyser, firing 400 meters into the sky!  One village had 2 meters of mud dumped on it, smothering many residents and some areas had as much as 40 meters of mud dumped in them.  The explosions continued on down the valley and I think there were about 20 in all.  It is the only valley of this kind formed in historic times giving us comparative notes and even some pictures of before and after. The picture below is showing the valley as it looked a few months after the cataclysm:

In the background is Lake Rotomahana, while in the foreground is an actual photo of what the same perspective looked like before plants and animals were able to re-establish.  As is evident, the conditions created for life were fertile to say the least.  Scientists have been able to completely observe the process and this has provided invaluable information.

It also formed some gorgeous pools with colors that seem unnatural, but are actually derived from the minerals:

Our next excursion (which we actually took on the same day) will be to Wai-O-Tapu, New Zealand’s equivalent of Yellowstone.  Then we’ll see some unbelievable colors!  But, the haunting beauty of Waimangu I actually found more exotic.

New Zealand: Rotorua!

Rotorua is where Carly had her original orientation and adventure days as part of the student exchange program, so it was a place she particularly wanted us to see.  I kept a journal on the entire journey and wanted to get my impressions at the moment rather than reconstructions where possible and I think you might find the following entry interesting:

As we drive to Rotorua, I am struck by its similarity to Eastern Kansas countryside.  A bit more lush, more ferns, but similar in many ways.

Yeah, right.  That impression didn’t last long:

Eastern Kansas never looked like that!  Even the snacks we found along the way started to become foreign:

Don’t let them fool you, those things don’t taste like any chicken I’ve ever eaten.  And, this was the first corrugated sheep I’d ever seen:

Tirau is noted for having all of its buildings made of corrugated tin, some of them in the shape of animals as you can see.  Another was in the shape of a dog.

Stopping at a rest stop, I found some of the most beautiful, softest sweaters I’d ever seen.  Looking at the tag on them, I found to my amazement that they were made from 60% Merino wool and 40% possum fur!  Possum fur?  Turns out that the NZ Possum is a totally different character than we are used to, thank goodness.  By the way, those sweaters cost $450!!!

I noted that the cemeteries we passed looked a little different than ours (I didn’t get a good picture, unfortunately) and Carly told me that was because they could not bury people underground in much of this area because of the geothermal heat.  In fact, Rotorua itself is a city built in the crater of an active volcano as attested to by the unimpeachable Ripley’s Believe It or Not! folks in an article to be printed 4/16, ten days after we arrived there:

Indeed, as you enter Rotorua, there is steam rising everywhere and there is an almost overwhelming smell of sulphur.  Well, overwhelming to James, but not to me, a fact that he attributed to the dulling of my senses as I age.  How rude!

Disclaimer: we did not see Edwin Shackleton or come down with the Bacterial Plague while we were there.

Some Māori words (like Rotorua: Roto = Lake and Rua = the number two, meaning that it was the second lake in the area the Māori found) are made in a manner somewhat similar to German words in that they combine concepts.  Many other Māori words have become mixed with English words over the past 150 years or so.  For example, a guitar is a cootahr and a backpacker is a bak paka.  In similar terms, the hostel where we stayed was called the Kiwi Paka, a delightful, clean little place that we loved:

Carly had stayed in one of the little cabins there when she was on adventure assignment after arrival and kind of thought no one would remember her.  Wrong!  Bev and Malcolm welcomed “their Carly” with open arms and set all of us up with fun things to do.  In fact, four of them were such extraordinary adventures, they will get their own articles.

One of the adventures I will share here, though is a trip up the side of a mountain in a gondola (that is Lake Rotorua in the background at the edge of the city … and, yes, it would translate to Lake Lake Two):

When we arrived at the top, we came back down the side on a luge.  Now THAT is a hoot!

More scrambled adventure soon…

If I could be anything, I would be…

… me!

It is not that I consider myself the greatest thing since sliced bread or one of the coolest people around.  Sometimes, I don’t even like myself.

No, it is a matter that I consider being-right-now to be a gift given from something obviously beyond myself.  I came from somewhere.  I appeared at some point along the line from some unimaginable void, surrounded by wonder.  But, the bottom line is that I AM, some creative mystery to be played out.  It is probably the ultimate sacred trust, to have an identity, a perspective, an individuality able to interact with the infinite and I’m interested to see how all this turns out!

It wouldn’t be greater or less were I Barack Obama, King Midas, an animal, Ramana, Grannymar, Deb or – gasp! – Maynard.  It’s all magic.

After I finish with this life, I’ll revisit the question.

The topic this week was posed by Judy, our Creative Writer in Progress in the Loose Bloggers Consortium.  I can’t wait to see what other members of the Consortium do with it.  They are listed with clickable links on the left and I encourage you to check them out, some marvelous writers and thinkers!

New Zealand: An Introduction to Wonder

Reputed by many to be the most beautiful nation on this planet, the island nation of New Zealand provides one stunning vista after another.  Carly, Carol and I took 4,275 pictures of this incredible land over a twelve-day period, twelve very active days of ten mile hikes through mountains, across beaches, beside glaciers and through verdant plains.  Since returning home, I have been working to organize a presentation worthy of what we saw, what we experienced and what we shared with a fine people.

Notice on the left-hand side of the blog a new pair of categories below The World and Its Cultures, categories for New Zealand and Italy (which will be covered after New Zealand), the two trips across the ocean that the three of us have taken.  If you wish to quickly go through the entries for either, simply click on the category and you will be filtered to only those entries.

Added to our little group of sojourners this trip was Carly’s fiancée, James.  Don’t worry, he will make his way into many pictures – but someone had to take the one you see above.  I will let you know soon what the context of that picture is, but let it serve now as a good introduction to a stunning landscape that will unfold.  You will also discover a culture possibly quite different from your assumptions; part European, part Polynesian, close to nature but not at all primitive; part British, part Maori and a lot Hippie.

I invite you to join us on one of the most memorable adventures of our lives, a true trip to paradise!  As the Kiwis themselves say, this trip was SWEET AS!

Maturity

This topic was suggested for the Bloggers Consortium by Ramana Rajgopaul, he of Ramana’s Musings.  The entire list of Consortium members is on the left and I will be interested upon return from my trip to see what they have written on the subject.  So will you if you click on links to their sites, I’m betting.

At the time of this writing, our New Zealand trip has not taken place.   This is one of the few portions of the trip at which we are still unsure where we will be.  But, I have just been somewhere at the Coromandel as you read this:

The Coromandel, as Carly tells me, sits so close to geothermal warming that you simply scoop out sand at the beach and a pool of warm water forms.  So, by the time you read this, I will have probably done exactly that and gotten into one of nature’s hot tubs!

I’ll come out when I am fully done.  In other words, when I am fully matured!

Ahhhh…

With a Friend of One of Carol’s Patients in Methven

He will show us Christchurch and was kind enough to rent the car for us with a company discount that we are driving through the South Island.  Nice is an understatement!  He also has helped us work out our itinerary.

Here is a picture of Christchurch, out of which we will fly back to Auckland.

I THINK Today Is the Day for Milford Sound

We will be taking a bus from Queenstown to Milford Sound and then taking a boat cruise on the Sound.

We Should Be In Queenstown

It hate to see people so deprived of beautiful surroundings!  We are planning to stay a couple of days.

art

Today should find us at the Franz Josef Glacier!  My offering for the Friday Consortium topic of “art” – suggested by Ginger – is this set of pictures I pulled before the trip.

Sorry, Ginger.  I have nothing more artistically profound today than nature … but that ain’t bad!

I will give my photos of it and my impression upon my return!

We Should Be at Abel Tasman Park

This is our first venture on the South Island.  The hiking is supposed to be fantastic … and, if these pictures are any indication!!!

We are planning to stay here two days to explore.