Ohaaki Geothermal Power StatIon, Taupo

We left Tauranga this morning and travelled to Rotorua, where we had a look around and a bite to eat. The smell of rotten eggs is the first thing that Rotorua reminds me off; the smell due to the geothermal activity in the ground. Parts of the city are fenced off where the geothermal is active, blowing mud and steam out of the ground. The temperature of these mud pools range from 60 to 100 degrees celsius.

We travelled onto Taupo where we are staying for a couple of days. We passed this chimney with steam pouring out of it. I googled it, and it's actually the cooling tower at one of our geothermal power stations. It's quite fascinating to think we can produce power from resources straight from the ground.

We stopped on the way to Taupo at the Huka Falls. Have a look at my extra photo. 200,000 litres of water plunge over the falls every second, that's enough to fill 5 Olympic sized swimming pools every minute!

It's been a beautiful winters day today. Tomorrow it's meant to be cloudy and a bit cooler. We've been very lucky with the weather, just keeping ahead of the worst of it.