Central North Island simmers and steams, bubbles and spews. The pungent smell of sulphur emanates from the rising hot steam in a harsh and uninviting landscape. Lakes have formed in the calderas of volcanoes where once mighty eruptions occurred the likes of which we have not seen in our lifetime of which epic stories are told. Mud pools bubble at the surface, great fountains of boiling water charge out from large pools below the earth’s crust and minerals colour the bare craggy rock in rich primary colours.











