HUKA FALLS - NEW ZEALAND JOURNEY

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We left the exciting Rotorua and went on our way to Wellington along the Thermal Explorer Highway ,which ran from Hawke’s Bay through centre of North Island Sometimes described as the Lakes District of the North Island ,Rotorua has picturesque waterways, including 16 lakes of varying sizes, formed by the volcanic activity of the Central Plateau.

The lakes range from magnificent Lake Rotorua, formed in a volcanic depression or 'caldera', to Lake Rotokawau, a small crater lake.
The most magnificent example of bodies of water being volcanically sculptured is Lake Taupo, the largest lake in the North Island, the second deepest in New Zealand, a beautiful leftover of a large scale eruption
 It was a pleasure watching crystal clear lakes and streams, natural spas, ski fields, geothermal activity, Maori culture and wineries along our way. It indeed was an eclectic and enticing combination of beautiful, captivating landscapes.
The Thermal Explorer Highway was well sign posted along entire route which allows for safe navigation through some of most dramatic landscapes of  Central North Island ,many people in fact prefer to hire a car and go around leisurely taking their  sweet own time

Lakes everywhere the country were stunning ,our guide told us that some were 600 to 800 metres deep , in some places we could see people boating and in some ,people  camping and fishing by lake side, 15 of the region's lakes boast trout of three varieties, rainbow, brown and brook,
 Finally we were reaching the spectacular Huka Falls and we could hear the roar becoming more louder and clearer as we approached it.
The Waikato River, New Zealand's longest river, moves gracefully north from Lake Taupo between banks 100 metres apart and just before Huka Falls, it narrows to just 15 metres as it enters a shallow ravine of hard volcanic rock.

This causes a huge volume of water to collide and funnel through the rocky gorge, forming the spectacularly powerful Huka falls and rapids
The effect of this is nature's large-scale equivalent of a fire hose feeding into a very fine nozzle. We parked and walked to the falls
 Huka Falls is a thundering 11-metre high waterfall and the most visited and photographed natural attraction in New Zealand The sheer volume of water flowing over the falls amounts to 220,000 litres per second enough to fill one Olympic sized swimming pool in 11 seconds !

The previously calmly flowing and placid waters roared and rumbled at great speed along the ravine before bursting into space over Huka Falls to crash into turbulent pool below.
 A foot bridge right at top of falls put us in a prime position to get up close and witness the frightening display of more than 220,000 litres of water blasting by us every second. The colour of water was beautiful and crystal clear. The water was so fresh it literally sparkled in the most amazing aqua blue colour and as it was filled with air bubbles gets the name from Maori "the foam"

 We learnt that if we wanted to see the power and fury of falls closer, we could try a jet boat ride but time didn’t permit us to do so. There were several great vintage points and viewing platforms around to see the falls at different angles and capture the awesome waterfalls,the sheer volume of water coming from the falls is awe-inspiring.

 We finally reached Wellington ,our coach driver asked us all to pray for her so that she would get the best parking place at the hotel ,we all did and viola ! she could manage to get the parking right where she wanted
James Cook Hotel Grand Chancellor Wellington's iconic 4.5 star hotel , was in the heart of New Zealand’s handsome capital, set against the green hills that surround the city, it was very convenient for sightseeing, had a number of dining options and provided relaxing accommodation.
We drove straight to the hotel entrance Car With two restaurants & bars, the dining choice was exceptional, especially the well renowned Whitby's Restaurant and its international buffet dining.

Due to the nature of the city which is hilly, to take the quickest route from the hotel to the shopping area one needed to go from the reception / bar area at a rear entrance via a lift down three floors to Lambton Quay, one thing we noticed was that, as a result of this, people were using the hotel lobby as a cut through and this led to lot of crowding at the elevators and people walking through the hotel for use of the elevator
 Lambton Quay was one of Wellington's main shopping areas and we had a 10-15 minute walk from Cuba St for plenty of restaurant choices, and a similar distance down to Wellington's waterfront, where it was an easy walk through to the Wellington Museum, Te Papa museum and Wellington's Cable