Wai-O-Tapu (The Sacred Waters)

         I arrived in New Zealand almost two weeks ago. In that time I've packed a boatload of experience. I've washed myself 3 times; once in a normal shower of a penthouse appartment in Auckland, once hobo-style beneath a faucet behind a rural community center, and once in a thermal river, whose waters flowed warm.  As some old rabbi once said "Cleanliness is next to godliness".   I got washed pretty good by the rain yesterday too, so now I'm ready to go out and meet people.

        This country has a bunch of volcanic activity, and I find it fascinating to see the earth spewing smoke and fumes, reeking of eggs. I've visited a few hot springs in Canada, which were very nice: small pools of warm water built for your soaking pleasure, but here, the oppurtunities are of a different scale. I've swam in a thermal lake and bathed in Kerosene Creek. I climbed up a mountain and almost burned by bottom when I tried to sit down near the top. One needs to be careful around here.

        One morning after soaking for a couple of hours in the waters of Kerosene creek (which is said to reverse your age, but when I climb out, I am so wrinkly I look like my Great Grandmother (bless her heart).) I followed the tour vans and rental cars down the road to Wai-O-Tapu Thermal wonderland and tourist trap extravaganza. I made it just in time for the daily performance of the Lady Knox Gyser eruption. This happens every day at 10:15, after the gyser-trainer throws a treat down her gullet. She put on a good show for some 200 spectators.

         After watching the big squirt I went to walk the trails and look at the other attractions: craters, mineral pools, moss, ferns, foreigners and the like. At one particularly nasty looking crater, named after the devil himself, I overheard a shady character tell his friend that one could toss a body in there, and it would be corroded to nothingness in a matter of 3 days.

Three Days! Thats more acidic than Coca Cola!

Needless to say I did not experiment, but instead took extra care to behave myself and stay to the paths.

And 3 days later, here I am.