Where in the World is Saura

We stopped for a short hike to some falls while on our way to Wellington to catch the ferry back to the South Island.  We left in the morning from Gisborne, which turned out to be a fairly uneventful stop.  Here’s the best glimpse we have from Gisborne. 

You often drive through Scenic Reserves in New Zealand and a few actually offer hiking trails.  Its not too uncommon to go through a reserve without a single place to stop and explore the place.  I guess these areas are more for preservation than public access.

From the parking area of the reserve it only took about 20 minutes to get out to the falls.  It was more like a pleasant stroll in the woods than a hike, and it was the first forest in New Zealand that reminded me of the forest in western North Carolina.  The waterfall though, was a bit unlike those I’ve seen back home.  They tend to be cascading falls, were this one was long and streaming, falling from a pretty great height.  It was more impressive than I imagined from such an easy walk.  Most of the time you expect to put forth a pretty good effort to see such things.  We came across a huge wall that culminated in a 80ft waterfall streaming from the end.  The rounded rock wall carved from the falling water bore a large pool, great for swimming if it were warmer.

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As much as the South Island is characterized by ancient glaical activity, much of the North Island can be characterized by its geothermal history. We drove through the heart, along the geothermal highway to Taupo and Rotorua. We saw some foul smelling mud pools, and craters where the steam rose straight to the sky. Outside of Rotorua we found these mud pools:

The town of Rotorua is pretty unique in that it has mud pools and some huge steam holes right in town. In a park at the edge of town there is one area that is completely engulfed in huge clouds of steam coming from the ground. Its quite cool, but the smell may put you off eggs for a while.

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