Finally, after being stuck in Auckland for far too long, I was able to revisit Hatupatu's rock and travel to other locations. In order of visitation, I was able to see: Hatupatu's Rock, Whakarewarewa at Te Puia, and the Redwood forest. I attempted to find Te Arawa's waka, which is said to be at the lakefront, it was not there, and I believe it is due to the construction around the area.
Hatupatu's Rock:
Revisiting the rock was different as the weather and company I had changed. Previously I was with friends and stopped by while going to Taupo. The weather was overcast but just about to rain. We were in somewhat of a rush that all I was able to do was scan the rock before we were off. I was with family this time, and we purposefully came to the rock. The weather was lovely, with clear blue skies, warm but with a cool breeze. As we had all day to do what was necessary, I was able to capture the rock again and actually touch it for its vibes and environment. Notes taken in that moment:
- The rock shakes the same as the earth as the trucks drive by. It is warm both physically and in its nature. It does not breathe, however. Though rough, it is also soft, edges rounded over the years.
- Trees that line the roads are Pine and various sizes of Fern.
- (Update as of 20/1/2022) There are no notes on what the surrounding area was aside from it having little to no forest in the time the story is set. After searching, it appears to have had something like a beech forest or broadleaved forest, more likely to be the latter. Native broadleaved forests in central North Island have Tawa, Rimu, Miro, Matai, and northern Rata. For the sake of the story, I will most likely put in a sparse forest.
Here are photos I took of the trees surrounding the rock:
Whakarewarewa:
On entering Te Puia (depending on where you choose to go), a Waka Taua greets you. Just in case, I took photos for reference, which ended up beneficial in the end. The images are just below.
While it isn't Te Arawa's waka, it gives insight into how long it is, what the paddles look like, and how detailed the carving is.
There is a marae at Te Puia that visitors can enter without the powhiri/pohiri process. As I have access to my marae in Putaruru, we skipped past it.
Turning right from the waka there is a small track and then a bridge over a stream. On the bridge, I collected the sound of the rushing water to use in my project potentially. It is a mixture of the stream and its small waterfall. (Had to be converted to a video format with an image).
Despite some of the heat from the geysers (when walking around), it is lush and in non-walkable parts, very dense with ferns and other greenery. There was a pool that Hatupatu supposedly used to use to help heal his wounds. Unfortunately, I forgot to take pictures, but a plaque said that the pool itself has the same acidity level as car battery acid.
Around the park, there are small mud pools and inactive geysers; some still let off some steam between the cracks, however.
Pohutu geyser was active as we came up to it. The area around it became slightly hotter, and if you stood in the same direction the was wind blowing, you could feel the tiny droplets of water.
Redwood Forest:
Lastly, we visited the Redwood Forest next to Te Puia, though the entrance is not close. We went here under the assumption that the trees were native (as none of us knew better) but was greeted with info stating the trees were Californian Redwoods and had been planted in 1901. While it was a shame that these trees were not native, it was still a sight to behold and had plenty of native ferns to photograph.
The weather stayed nice with blue skies, and under the canopy of the trees, it still had the same breeze. The walk itself was good, albeit tiring when going up inclines, but it was magical nonetheless.
I was able to 3D scan a larger Californian Redwood on my phone and attempted to scan a small fern but with how thin and delicate it was the scan broke itself. I believe it didn't have as much data as it needed to recreate it to a better degree.
Comments