Craters of the Moon

Now that we've established our fishing prowess with rainbow trout (oh yes!) and prawns (NOT!) it's time to get back to sightseeing. Since we've done the big commercial tourist thermal areas before, we decided to go to Craters of the Moon which is run by the NZ Department of Conservation and an unexploited thermal area. This doesn't means that it wasn't busy just that you don't have the gift shop from hell whose only purpose is to separate you from your money for stuff primarily made in China. This thermal area sprang up in the 1950s when the power station lowered underground water levels and reduced the pressure of the heated water causing more vigorous boiling and steam. Yes the whole area does stink from hydrogen sulfide, sulfur, and sulfur dioxide (thank you Ernie for the chemistry help.) The pctures below tell the story of what an amazing area this is.