From Queenstown, we skirted the Southern Alps as we flew in a turboprop north to Wellington, at the southern tip of the northern island of New Zealand. We changed to a small plane for our flight to our destination in the center of the northern island, Taupo.
For our main activity today, we hired a helicopter to pick us up at the justly storied Huka Lodge and take us sightseeing for three hours. Taupo and environs is predominately lush and green. Our primary destination was White's Island, in the Pacific Ocean; a highly active volcanic island twenty-five miles offshore. White's Island is a classical depiction of Hell, a perfect example of nature imitating art: Volcanic slopes focus the heat of the sun; the bowels of the earth defecate black sludge and sulfuric fumes through bubbling cauldrons; a puce-green sulfuric lake backs up on a slope; the earth's crust sporadically bursts open wounds, spewing ash and stones (we were equipped with government-mandated hardhats and gas masks); the moonscape terrain is coated with fresh, bright, mineral paints-- multicolored vomit heaved from the guts of the earth.
On our way to White's Island, we flew above a tectonic plate fault line that registers about a thousand earthquakes per year. The separating plates are marked by geothermal pools, the coloration of each of which depends on its mix of minerals; one series of such juxtaposed pools is called "The Painter's Palette." We landed above the clouds on an inactive volcano, Tarawera, that last erupted in 1886, with significant loss of life. The local Maori traditionally buried their chiefs on Tarawera and blamed the European settlers for causing the eruption by setting foot on the mountaintop and upsetting the gods. Nowadays, the helicopter pilots pay a fee to the Maori for landing on Tarawera, which seems to placate the gods.
On our return from White's Island, we landed on a deserted beach and did justice to a sumptuous picnic lunch from the Huka Lodge. This afternoon and tomorrow, we will go on hikes. Monday the 22nd, we will have a driver take us to three of the leading stud farms in New Zealand-- Waikato, Rich Hill, and Cambridge-- on our way to Auckland, a last dinner in New Zealand, and the airport, for an 11 p.m. departure. We will fly to Los Angeles, thence to New York, with scheduled arrival at 6:00 a.m. on Tuesday the 23rd.
