Saturday, January 14, 2023

Thames to Rotorua

It was not supposed to rain this morning.  Maybe the steady drizzle that fell on our tent was not classed as rain.  Luckily it stopped drizzling after we had our breakfast in the common kitchen/ eating area and we were able to let the tent and tarp dry before packing them away.

About 40 minutes south of the campground in Thames we stopped at the Karangahake Gorge, an area where from the late 1890s until 1920 two large gold ore processing plants were located processing gold and silver ore from New Zealand's third most productive goldmine.  The old railway that went through the area has mostly been removed and the railway bed is now a walking and biking path.  We explored the area including remains of the gold processing plants by taking some of the trails in the area including walking through the old railway tunnel, built between 1900 and 1905 and 1,070 meters long.  Nice and interesting stop on the way!

We decided to make Rotorua our destination for today, and pitch our tent at the same thermal campground we stayed at in 2018.  Although it was fairly busy, we were able to get a powered spot on grass - without thermal activity unlike last time - without a problem.  Of course the way to cook at this campground was to steam our meat, sweet potato and veggies in the steam oven which uses the steam from an active thermal area at the campground.  It was very tasty! 

Dickson Holiday Park
Starting point of Karangahake Gorge trails

Narrow gauge rails used to transport gold and silver ore to the processing plants

Trail along the Ohinemuri River

Entrance to the former railway tunnel
Walking through the tunnel
View down the Ohinemuri River
More roadside agapanthus
Pukeko (Australasian swamphen) right by our tent
Black swan family in the stream behind our tent
Having our own hangi at the campground
Don looking forward to his lamb
Lake Rotorua access from the campground




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