Monday, January 09, 2006
Kerosene Creek
We resolved to find Kerosene Creek this morning, which is one of the few places where you can swim in hot springs for free. Of course, we missed the unsignposted turning, but found it on the second attempt. Then we missed the unsignposted creek, but found that on the second try too. There's nothing apart from a parking bay on an unmade road, which is probably the main reason that it remains such an unspoiled and uncommercialised area. There's a little walk through the woods, so if you're going don't leave any valuables in the car, and then you come upon an unassuming stream, a 6-foot waterfall and a small, shallow pool.
Stepping into the pool is like getting into a hot bath - probably slightly hotter than a bath I'd run for myself. It's lovely, though, just lying around for a bit and then getting out onto a rock to cool down, or sitting in the stream above the falls just warming your lower half. Even better is standing under the falls letting the water massage you all the way from the back of your head to the small of your back. Bliss. We had the place to ourselves for quite a while, and even in the busy period when we left at lunchtime there were only a dozen people there. Another classic swimming moment.
This afternoon we drove up to the Blue & Green Lakes. There's a viewpoint where you're supposed to be able to see both, but it wasn't really high enough to give a good view. We went on to see Lake Tarawera and, beyond it, Mount Tarawera which erupted in the late 1800s leaving a vast volcanic rift which goes on for miles. You can see the divide in the mountain even from the opposite side of the lake. There were a lot of lovely houses down there too but, for those of you who are wondering, it's not really somewhere we could live :-)
Stepping into the pool is like getting into a hot bath - probably slightly hotter than a bath I'd run for myself. It's lovely, though, just lying around for a bit and then getting out onto a rock to cool down, or sitting in the stream above the falls just warming your lower half. Even better is standing under the falls letting the water massage you all the way from the back of your head to the small of your back. Bliss. We had the place to ourselves for quite a while, and even in the busy period when we left at lunchtime there were only a dozen people there. Another classic swimming moment.
This afternoon we drove up to the Blue & Green Lakes. There's a viewpoint where you're supposed to be able to see both, but it wasn't really high enough to give a good view. We went on to see Lake Tarawera and, beyond it, Mount Tarawera which erupted in the late 1800s leaving a vast volcanic rift which goes on for miles. You can see the divide in the mountain even from the opposite side of the lake. There were a lot of lovely houses down there too but, for those of you who are wondering, it's not really somewhere we could live :-)
// posted by Chrisl @ 9:47 PM 
