Bosnia_and_Herzegovina - Old town of Sarajevo
Foto: Champagne Lake in Wai-O-Tapu (bron: Ronald van der Veer)
New Zealand - Just about half an hour’s drive below Rotorua lies the Thermal Wonderland park, Wai-O-Tapu. Besides the geothermal pools, the Lady Knox geyser is also located here. Every day at quarter past ten, the geyser shoots water into the air. We leave early to be sure to witness the geyser eruption. At nine o’clock, we turn into the parking lot. At the ticket counter, we buy a ticket for Wai-O-Tapu. To our surprise, there is also a Dutch description available. Soon it becomes clear that the language used in the description is hard to follow and full of typos. Even Google Translate seems better. We choose the English version instead, which works better. It turns out the geyser is not located inside the park itself. We have to drive a few minutes by car for that. We are advised that we can start walking in the park already, but at ten o’clock we must be at the geyser. After that, we can return to the park as usual. At the entrance, we get a stamp on the wrist as proof of payment. It feels strange to first walk through the park with the geothermal pools, then go back to the geyser, and then walk the same path again to continue through the park. As an alternative, we decide to order coffee. We drive to the geyser by car. We are not alone. Around the geyser, a grandstand is set up, which slowly fills up. I estimate that over 700 people are present. At quarter past ten, a park employee arrives. She gives a brief explanation about the formation of the area and warns to stay on the paths because the ground next to it can be unstable. Meanwhile, she throws ecological sea powder into the geyser. Almost immediately, water flows out of the opening. This becomes stronger and stronger until the geyser shoots water about fifteen meters into the air. A fascinating sight. In a procession, everyone drives back to the Wai-O-Tapu park by car. On both sides of the walking path lie deep craters with boiling water or mud. Steam rises everywhere. A highlight is the Champagne Pool. The sulfur lake has an abundant outflow of carbon dioxide, which creates a bright orange rim. Beautiful. We walk all the way to the green-colored Lake Ngakoro. What a surreal environment. Upon leaving the park, the last pool attracts attention. The water is yellow/green colored. How bizarre!
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