Queensland Term Abroad
New Zealand
Rotorua to Tongariro National Park
This day we traveled from Rotorua to Tongariro Natinal Park. Along the way we made a couple of stops. We visited Kuirau Park in downtown Rotorua. There have been several eruptions there in the past few years. We also stopped at the Wairaki geothermal bore field. Here, geothermal steam is harnessed for electrical power generation. Finally, we stopped by a field of large rhyolite boulders beside Lake Taupo. The current hypothesis is that these boulders FLOATED here. They're quite light as rocks go, and if they were hot enough at ejection from the volcano, it's possible.....(?)
Mud wrestling!
This crater erupted two weeks before we visited.
Steam captured for electricity generation
It looks like a rock to me
Boulders
Finally, someone takes our advice and really observes the rhyolite.
"It's fun to stay at the YMCA..."
View SW across Lake Taupo
Mt Ruapehu near sunset