Tramp Reflections 842 - Rainbow Mountain, Kerosene Creek and Echo Lake

28 March 2010

We had a big group of 18 on this trip; Adrienne (leader), Kathy(Co-Leader), Lynne, Michiel and Anna, Rose and Scott, Chris B, Don and Clare, Allan B, Irene, Sue and Peter, Liz, Madison, Janey and Malcolm. We left hamilton with two vans, stopping at the office of Independent Securities Ltd to pick up the permit required to enter the Kaiangaroa Forest and at Wild Bean for the coffee addicts amongst us.

We arrived at the Rainbow Mountain track on SH5, (Rotorua to Taupo Highway) just past the SH38 Intersection and after about 5 minutes we got to the crater lake lookout where we all oohed and aahed over the view fom the railing. We ventured on up to the summit of the mountain at a nice easy grade arriving in about an hour. The track has had quite a bit of work done on it in recent years. We had a wee snack and basked in the sun for a little while, but not too long as there were lots of huge sandflies lying in wait of our nice juicy legs! The scenery was fabulous, 360 degree views for miles. It's no wonder there is a forestry fire watch tower up there. It was a bit too early for lunch so we headed on down and we met a group of 36 Wanderers from Hamilton on their way up. We stopped for a chat to the all very familiar faces and carried on down. The return trip had taken us just 2.5 hrs so we had plenty of time to spare.

All back in the van, we drove further down SH5 till we got to the second end of the Waiotapu Loop Road, drove past Waiotapu Thermal Area into a road named "No Exit". At the end of this road we parked in the huge carpark outside the Lady Knox Geyser which can be visited as part of your entry fee into Waiotapu which, on another occasion, is well worth a look; it rivals Whakarewarewa Thermal area, I think.

We set off on our walk from here to Echo Lake, jumping the ditch and with just a short duck through the forest veering right slightly we came out on a forestry road (hence the permit). Turning right and another turn right, we continued along these roads for 3/4 hr walking around the back of the Waiotapu thermal area till we spotted Echo Lake on our left. A few metres past it there is an entry point through the long grass, up a rise and onto the edge of the lake. What an amazing lake it is; set in a tranquil scene surrounded by pine trees (it's in the midst of the Kaiangaroa Forest!) Its colour is what gets you, its sort of surreal, a mix between turquoise, green, grey and azure blue and it has an opacity to it that makes the water appear solid. Apparently it does have a high sulphur/silica content.

Kathy led us around the lake on a not so well defined, high up track through bracken and pine trees. We stopped for lunch at a high point overlooking the lake where, on our reccie I had sneezed and heard my sneeze coming back to me. It was then that I remembered why the Lake is called Echo Lake. So here we were, we all just had to do the "cooowee" thing to hear our echos. Quite amazing and eerie almost. Onwards from here, completing a circumnavigation of the Lake keeping it on our left. The track is a bit obscure but Kathy had no trouble bringing us back out to the forestry road at the perfect point almost where we had started from. Re-tracing our steps we walked back along the same road to the van. We resisted the urge to stop and pick blackberries like we had done on the day of the reccie when we each got a couple of litres. This trip took us about 2.5 - 3hrs in total; 3/4 on road, 1 1/2 around lake and 3/4 hr back on road.

Back out of the No Exit road and down the road a bit we came across a mud pool and thermal lake which is free to view. Viewing platforms have been built around it and it's an amazing sight to see; huge globules of mud bubbling away, spitting and firing out way up into the air. We spent quite a bit of time here as it's well worth the stop.

Continuing our way back up SH5 we turned off right into 'Old Waikareamoana Rd'. 5 mins drive got us to the Green Lake, a quick stop for a look see. About another 15 minutes along we came to Kerosene Creek on our right. Here everyone went for a wee dip and soaked their not so weary feet in the thermal creek waters while I minded the van (reports of theivery had been prevalent). The planned walk along Kerosene Creek's edge had been abandoned due to the discovery, on the reccie trip, of an over growth of blackberries and the like which made it impassable.

We all had a great day, being part tramper, part tourist and leisurely exploring these delightful areas of Rotorua which we had not been to for a while. Our Americans Clare and Don were able to experience a thermal soak - "a la naturale" before they went home.

Written by Adrienne van Hellemond

Photographs by Lynne Ironside (Fuji FinePix F480) and Adrienne van Hellemond (Canon PowerShot SX100 IS).