23 Sept: Drippy Day

Our brother-in-law Bill has been urging us to take it easier, and today the weather came in on his side. We woke to the sound of rain on the roof. Dark woolly low clouds hid the tops of the hills. And it pretty much stayed that way all day.

We had expected to get a brighter picture of the Waikato outflow and some sort of Lake Taupo overview, but that wasn't gonna happen.

There were a couple of activities we could do in the rain. One was to visit the geothermal area. As noted yesterday, there is a big geothermal power plant here, tapping underground steam to make electricity. Soon after it went in, in the 1960s, a whole new field of steam vents opened up nearby. Coincidence? Some don't think so.

Anyway this newer field is open for touring under the name "Craters of the Moon" (which it in no way resembles). Here are some pictures from there.

The big picture.

David in a fog, as usual.

We shared the place only with a jolly group of Japanese.

Small vent.

Real big vent.

Drippy fern.

After this we visited the Lake Taupo museum, which told us a little about the geology.

The lake is the latest in a series of volcanic caldera. There was one great eruption 26,000 years ago, but the present lake was formed in 186 AD by an eruption that blew out 24 cubic kilometers of stuff—more, it is said, than Mt. St. Helens and Krakatoa combined—covering most of the North Island in ash and pumice. There were no people here then (the Mauri only arrived in 1000 AD). However, the geologists can give an approximate date, and there are historical records of dark skies and blood-red sunsets from both the Roman and Chinese records of that year, 186.

This is an overview of the lake,such as we might have seen it had the sun been out.

(Not our picture; picked up from the internet)

After learning those good things we went on to an internet cafe for a couple of hours. Then bought some groceries, and still had time for a nice slow afternoon of reading in the van. Out for dinner at a restaurant, then back for another couple of hours of reading... booooring!. We're all rested up and ready for action. Come back, sun!!