After stopping in Taupo and having lunch with my cousins, I headed home. The sight of the mudstone cliffs above the Rangitikei River made me feel like I was nearly home. These photos were taken from a layby near Mangaweka, the sort with picnic tables. I see they are reminding drivers these days to 'take a break' on long trips, and it is always much easier to do so when you end up getting views like these.
The 'drama' is not just confined to 'big' pools etc. Here is a small fumarole, where sulphur is forming as the steam cools. 
These next three photos show some of the drama of the colours at the edge of the Champagne Pool. Where there is a 'whitish' look, it is because steam blew my way, and it was definitely warm steam, like being in a sauna. 
Landing at the bay.
Walking across the outer part of the crater towards the inner crater lake. 
The colours are truly varied on the rocks.
Here is an older couple in our group, near a fumarole.
Layers exposed, revealing some past activity.
The crater lake, much higher than it was on a previous visit I made here, but lower than it has been. A lot of the edge has slumped down from where it was on my last visit as well.
Another group in the distance - gives some idea of the scale of the volcano.
After my day in Waitomo, I took rather a long journey 'Coast to Coast'. After going on the Ruakuri Walkway, I travelled down on the road to Marokopa and a short walk took you down to these magnificent Marokopa Falls. (The morning sun made a photo a bit hard to take.)
I next arrived at the Marokopa township. Here beside the river estuary is a place that you feel time has truly forgotten. It was not really on an easy road to anywhere. 
I then travelled along the coast up to Kawhia. This harbour was a peaceful place as well, though it did not feel nearly as isolated as Marokopa.
Next came a 'big drive' from the west coast at Kawhia, right across to the east coast at Whakatane. Above is a scene of boats on the harbour at Whakatane, while below is a seat by the war memorial in the town.
OK, this swingbridge shot is 'out of order' as I deleted it by mistake, and changing photos around on a blogger page is not so easy. See the stream it crosses at the end!
At Waitomo I chose to go with Spellbound Tours to see the glow-worms, rather than go to the main cave with a zillion others on the same boat. Spellbound take you in a minivan, so there are about 12 people per trip. Here we are outside the entrance to the cave where we are about to have a magical experience viewing glow-worms. The river is disappearing underground, and complete with helmets and lamps, we are about to do the same. We had ample time underground for our eyes to adjust to the dark, and the view we had of glow-worms was simply magical.
After seeing the glow-worms, we were provided with morning tea by our guide Annette. 
These limestone outcrops are a common sight all over the King Country. 
Inside our second cave we were able to have a bit more light on, and could take photographs of various formations. Here are some of the many stalactites hanging from the cave ceiling. 
Next morning I went on a short walk along the Ruakuri Walkway, apparently one of NZ's 'top ten' walks, (not that I had heard of such a list before!) The walk was truly stunning though. Here is a view through a small cave tunnel along the path. 
Here is a view of the stream along the way, and at the top of this posting is a photo of a swingbridge that crosses it. This would be an absolutely magical walk to take children along.
This is part of an old canoe prow that stands near the entrance to Koroniti marae, on the Wanganui River Rd.
There was a sign saying visitors could wander in freely at most times. But in more formal situations, visitors (manuhiri) are welcomed onto the marae in a ceremony (powhiri) during which they sit on these seats opposite the marae buildings.
Here is the gate outside the marae at Koroniti. Koroniti is a Maori form of "Corinth". On this river road you also find Hiruharama (Jerusalem), Atene (Athens), London etc.
First day of my NZ trip I drove to Waitomo 'the long way' via the Wanganui River Road up to Pipiriki, then on to Raetihi. I had last driven this way with Angelika, a German visitor. Before that, many years before, when four of us had finished the Matemateonga Walkway, we got our pre-arranged jetboat downstream from the track end on a steep river bank to Pipiriki. 
You pass many marae on the Wanganui River Road. Outside the Koroniti Marae there is a sign saying that visitors are welcome at most times. So I felt free to wander in. These two photos are of the meeting house, and two sleeping houses, on the marae.
There was a short bit of clambering to do before we got to the stream way. It was never too much of a squeeze though - I had sought assurance beforehand that the gaps would be wide enough for me! I also managed to negotiate the uneven muddy bits without falling over which was a blessing.
Back at base we had hot showers and soup. I realised how full my wetsuit had become of water, as I could barely carry it once I had it off! No wonder my muscles felt tired that evening... they had done a lot of weight-lifting!
We left Palmerston North in drizzly rain, though it was calm. As we drove through the Gorge, the cloud lifted, and the sun shone, but the wind when we arrived at the track end was quite something. I tried to apply sunblock on my face, but it was blown off my fingers!!!
Here we are at the hut. Actually this first photo is the 'long drop' near the hut, typical of the backcountry. This one was fortunately not too smelly!
The sign is an 'old' one - yes the altitude is in feet above sea level.
We had taken the ridge track up to get to the hut, and had some wonderful views en route of the hills. To get back to the carpark at Tamaki West Road, we followed the stream.
Here you can see that farmland is interspersed with regenerating native bush. Areas of new slippage here are from the 2004 storms, and have occurred where there is no bush cover.
Above, a view of a major part of the area of the regenerated bush, and below, the sign as we entered the covenanted area.
I re-met a few people I knew back in my old tramping days. Here is Doug stepping it out across some fields on the way back to the cars.
You can get some idea of the steepness of the terrain here. 
This photo shows how deformed the landscape is. (This area is not too far away from a major earthquake fault line.)
Here is Peter our leader sharing some of his botanical knowledge. I learned some things I had not realised before. The first trees to take root in the area were ones with windblown seeds. As they became established, birds moved in, and they brought the larger seeds that they tend to transport, so then different trees can start growing.
I was slow up the hills, but I loved getting out to a new bit of the countryside. I will be back on some more club trips soon! (My new Merrell shoes also got their first proper workout on this trip, and it was great to feel so secure wearing them on what was very wet grass at the start of the day. But now I need to clean them!!!)
