Author: Maxwell Randall

A vast valley filled with orange mud and volcanic rocks. We walked across the orange muddy valley in between Mount Ngauruhoe and other high peaks. It looked like the surface of mars: orange ground, black rocks, red volcano. Above us was the bluest sky I had ever seen. It felt like we could peer right into space and see the stars. We were all grateful for the flat ground, because our legs were so tired. But right in front of us loomed our second climb: the Red Crater ascent. After we crossed the valley, another climb would bring us to the highest altitude of our journey.  This climb was shorter than the Devil’s Staircase, but it was a lot steeper and a lot more dangerous. Another challenge is how the air gets thinner at such a high altitude. As we climbed, we saw a giant valley filled with lava bombs on the other side of the mountain where we learned another place from Lord of the Rings was filmed – Mordor. Mordor is the “outpost of evil” in the Lord of the Rings –  and it is easy to see why. The black soil and jagged rock make a really gloomy look. We finally reached the highest point of our journey at the peak – the view was incredible! Mount Ngauruhoe in one direction, and sapphire sparkling pools in the other. From the peak we could also see steam vents where hot steam from underwater springs escaped the ground. The trail area is heavily active underground because it is on top of a volcano. The reason it is called the Red Crater ascent is because at the top, there is a crater where lava comes out of during an eruption, and the soil is dark red. There is a dyke, or a vertical crack in the mountain that leads into the magma chambers on the inside of the mountain.

Then came our descent. We climbed down a steep ridge, but the challenge was not the steepness – it was the terrain. The ground was basically volcanic ash, so you sunk into the dirt when you stepped and you would slide. In other places, tiny pebbles were like marbles under your feet and you could slip very easily. There were no handholds and it was very steep. But it was actually a lot of fun to make our way down, especially after those massive ascents. We came down to another giant valley. This one had a solid lava flow from an ancient eruption. We ate lunch by the sparkling blue pools of water, and made our way onwards. As we made our way back down the mountain, greenery started to emerge from the earth, and after hours and hours of switchbacks through the green alpine environment, we made it into the forest. My ears were popping like crazy from decreasing elevation so quickly. After an hour of walking through the forest, we finally made it back to the group shuttle! The hike was long and grueling, but well worth it for the views.

Today we visited the Whaka Living Maori Village and Thermal Springs area. It was fascinating to see both the Maori culture and the acidic, bubbling hot springs. First we went on a guided tour of the Living Maori Village. It was really cool to see the way they blend their culture and western culture. First we learned about the Penny Divers of the village. When tourists would throw their coins into the river, children would dive for them and in doing this could make a lot of money. The kids would often buy their own school uniforms and even food with this money. Today, they no longer do this. Next, we saw the central area of the village, where the villagers cooked their food and bathed. Our guide told us that this was the hottest area of the village because of the steam rising from the ground. The whole area is super volcanically active, steam and bubbling pools rise from the ground everywhere. The villagers make use of their natural recourse by cooking their food with geothermal heat. They have built boxes around natural steam vents in the ground, and they are used for meat by slow cookers. They also use the bubbling hot springs to boil eggs and cook vegetables.

We ate corn that was boiled in a hot spring. I was surprised by the taste – I thought it would taste like sulphur because that is what the whole area smells like; but no, the corn was delicious and tasted fresh. We saw how the villagers enjoy baths as well: the bathing system also made use of the springs. Hot water from the spring runs through a system of tubes and pipes and fills up baths for the villagers to use. In the pipes, the water cools down to a bearable temperature. We learn that the people of this village believe that their life cycle is related to the cycle of the water in their village, and it is easy to see why. The water goes from cooking, to cleaning, to the river where they make their money. After seeing the cool ways the people make use of their natural resources, we went to see a cultural show. We were shown a lot of games like Poi and Ti Ratio. The people believe that games help to strengthen the bodies and minds of children. The performers also sang some Maori songs, and performed a Haka dance – a type of intimidating war dance meant to scare away any opposition. I can see why it is so scary. It involves a lot of grunting, eye-popping, and sticking out of tongues. The indigenous culture of New Zealand is rich and full of cool beliefs and customs. It is one that should be protected and preserved in ways just like these performances.
Geothermal energy is heavily in use in New Zealand. Whenever we drive in geothermal areas, we see fields of steam with pipelines and turbines and all sorts of things. This is really good for trying to get to a carbon neutral future, but this is only reasonable in areas where there are fault lines or other geothermal fissures. In order to do it in other locations, you need to pump water down into the ground, which causes issues similar to fracking.
Then we took a walk around the geothermal activity area. The thermal features are caused because two tectonic plates connect in this area causing a fault line. We saw some crazy clear blue pools that reminded me of my trip to Yellowstone. There was a lake that was radiating steam, and a mudpot that was shooting bubbles of mud out from tiny holes in the ground.

However, the hottest and most dangerous feature was the Angry Grandfather hot spring. The Maori believe that someone has to offer something each day or the spring will overflow and geysers will erupt. That is why it is called the Angry Grandfather. It is super hot at a surface temp of 208.4 degrees, but surprisingly it is not acidic at all, it has a PH of 8.4. It is considered an upwelling spring because it bubbles ferociously. It contains a large amount of chloride and sodium, so it is a deep blue color and is crystal clear. It puts out giant amounts of steam because it is so hot. Even though it is so hot, it supports a huge variety of life. There are a large variety of microbial organisms like Archaea and bacteria. These are single celled organisms that are also called extremophiles. They are called this because some species survive in the most extreme of conditions.
There was so much to see in this 1 day!

On our third day in New Zealand, we visited the Hobbiton movie set. It was really awesome to see all of the places I recognized from the movies. The Shire was kept very well maintained so the farm owners could profit off of the movie set. It was really cool to see how the director, Peter Jackson brought his artistic vision to life. His whole deal was that he had to have everything in the movie be exact and true to the book. However, in a lot of situations this was impractical so he had to do some impractical things. Because some trees were not the right species, he shipped in huge quantities of artificial leaves to tie onto the old trees. He also had interns hand paint leaves by the thousands to be just the right shade of green. He was certainly a perfectionist.
One really cool part of the visit was seeing the inside of a hobbit hole. There was real plumbing and it was very cozy inside. It was cool to see. We also got to eat a hobbit feast at the Green Dragon inn, which we learned Peter Jackson burned down twice for one scene. The feast was delicious. After we watched a baby chase around a duck for 20 minutes, which was one of the cutest things I’ve ever seen. It was a good day.

On our first day in New Zealand, we took a ferry ride to Waiheke Island. Waiheke Island is an island in the Hauraki Gulf of NZ. It is filled with untapped natural beauties like forests and sparkling white sand beaches. On the ferry ride to the island, we saw ancient volcanic islands and jagged cliffs – it felt almost alien, because nothing is volcanic like that in the east coast of the US.

Once we arrived at the port, we took a walk through a forest trail on our way to the island village. In the forest, we could see giant palm trees and orange flowers. One thing I found interesting was the amount of rat traps in the forest. But the most amazing thing we saw was the tui bird. Its bird calls were so strange; warbly, throaty and gruff. When they catch the light just right, they look green and blue. It is incredible. One other incredible thing about the island was that there is almost zero litter anywhere. Once we made it to the village, we ate lunch at a great restaurant called Wai Kitchen. From the balcony, we could see a giant volcano coming up out of the sparkling blue water. After we ate, we made our way down to one of the beautiful white sand beaches, where we swam in the relaxing, cool water. After we were done swimming, we saw a stingray in the water! After following it along the shore for a while, we climbed over some rocks and found a little secret cove where we sat on the sand and looked out at the water. Sam and I did some fun layout practices with the frisbee in the water as well. Once we were done at the beach, we hiked up a volcanic mountain to a scenic vineyard. The vineyard had beautiful views, and huge mosaics with beautiful poetry on them.

After seeing the vineyard we made our way back to the ferry and headed home. One thing I found interesting about the island: The houses are very modest. Not poorly maintained, just smaller. I think there is a different philosophy on life there – people are more about living their lives and enjoying themselves and less about trying to move up in social standing or class. In the US, this is more valued. It was a great first day in New Zealand.