New Zealand: young, dynamic, volcanic and likable

Rotorua/Taupo, New Zealand - Untold ages ago, the moon was not well and fell ill. Then it bathed in Rotorua's curative waters and regained strength. Many places in New Zealand, especially between Rotorua and Taupo on the North Island, are associated with similar myths of the Maori, a Polynesian people that settled in New Zealand long before the Europeans came.

New Zealand is young and dynamic in every respect, including geologically. The North Island in particular is a tectonic cauldron. Beneath New Zealand, the Pacific Plate subducts under the Australian Plate, continually causing earthquakes and volcanic eruptions. Travelling from the city of Rotorua to Tongariro National Park, you not only see volcanic cones but also numerous geysers, boiling mud pools and hot springs.

The road linking Rotorua and Tongariro is part of what is called the Thermal Explorer Highway. It could also be dubbed the Highway To Hell because 12 kilometres northeast of Rotorua lies Hell's Gate, a thermal area covering four hectares that is one of the region's largest.

Literally breathtaking is the town of Taupo, between Rotorua and Tongariro. The air there reeks of sulphur, clouds of smoke obscure visibility, and steam-spewing fumaroles hiss right beside the main street.

One of the most beautiful thermal areas on North Island is Orakei Korako, also known as the Hidden Valley, which is about 70 kilometres south of Rotorua. It can be reached via a by-road that branches off from State Highway 5 near Golden Springs. The road ends at the shore of Lake Ohakuri, and a five-minute boat ride takes visitors to the thermal area.

Orakei Korako means "place of adorning" in the Maori language. The colourful, mineral-bearing pools used to be the equivalent of a wellness centre and make-up room for Maori chieftains. Tourists taking a two-hour hike over the extensive network of footbridges and paths are amazed at the gurgling mud pools and silica deposits that shine in the colours of the rainbow.

There are also bubbly "champagne pools" and white sinter terraces. All of this is set in a lush green valley with huge silver ferns, the plant most associated with New Zealand.

Visitors may explore Orakei Korako without a guide but should keep to the paths and heed the warning signs. Hot thermal waters are everywhere, and people who are careless are likely to be scalded. The Diamond Geyser, for instance, ejects boiling water up to eight metres into the air, sometimes every minute, sometimes in intervals of several hours. The water disperses into tiny droplets that glitter like diamonds.

Aside from its natural beauty, New Zealand is worth visiting because of its likable people. The islanders are known to invite tourists into their homes, where a convivial evening with good food and plenty of wine is guaranteed. They are very interested in Europeans who fly halfway across the globe to see "Kiwi Country."

New Zealanders brave their storms, floods, and earthquakes with dry humour, and they enjoy outdoor life and being with their families. One consequence of this is that many shopkeepers close their doors as early as 5pm so that they can slip into their boots and spend the evening fly-fishing on a river.

Every year on Lake Taupo, fishermen pull in more than 100,000 trout. Many a catch is so big - the locals are wont to say with a bit of exaggeration - that the water level drops. Lake Taupo is, in fact, the largest lake in New Zealand and third-largest in the southern hemisphere. It was created by a tectonic catastrophe more than 20,000 years ago: the explosion of a supervolcano, which left a huge caldera that later filled with water.

Tourists itching to dance on an active volcano can visit White Island. Situated in the Bay of Plenty some 50 kilometres northeast of the town of Whakatane, it is New Zealand's only active marine volcano. The island, which lacks vegetation, is covered with bubbling mud pools, yellow mounds of sulphur, and a dazzling crater filled with boiling, garish-green water.

Bleak and forbidding, White Island is a fascinating place that offers insight into the Earth's early geologic history. The volcano can spit out ash, pumice, or lava at any moment, and a plume of smoke constantly hangs over the island. Hundreds of earthquakes shake it each day, usually so minor that only seismographs detect them.

Nevertheless, tourists can book a day trip by boat to White Island in Whakatane. Before they are allowed on the island, however, they are given a respiratory mask and have to put on a protective helmet. The last big eruption was seven years ago - but you never know.

Information: Tourism New Zealand, 80 Haymarket, London SW1Y 4 TQ, Britain (Tel.: 0044/720/79 30 16 62; Internet: www. newzealand. com. (dpa)