The colourful Crater Lake and the Maunga Kakaramea (Rainbow Mountain) summit tracks

I watched the raindrops bounce off the windscreen as I drove towards Waiotapu on SH5 for a spontaneous Saturday hike. Maunga Kakaramea, or more commonly known as Rainbow Mountain, is famous for the vibrant ochre in the soil and surrounding cliffs. It may not be as colourful as the other more famous ‘rainbow mountain’ namesake, Vinicunca in Peru, but it’s definitely a must-do walk when you’re in Rotorua.

The rain only made the steam on the mountain rise higher - there was no mistaking that Rotorua is very much an active geothermal zone. A wet hike was clearly no deterrent, because although the car park wasn’t quite full when I arrived, it was close to it when I came down.

Putting on my boots in the front passenger seat felt clumsy and cramped, and took long enough that the windows were fogged up by the time I left.