On our way north from Tongariro for our week in Rotorua, we stopped in at Tokaanu again, just to confirm that nothing much had changed. It was a cold and windy morning (at Tongariro the weather forecast included snow showers). Houni and Matawei were identical. Taumatapuhipuhi seemed to be a bit murkier (it probably rained overnight), and a stick we'd noticed was no longer in the vent, but the activity seemed unchanged.
The previous visit I had noticed sounds coming from the area to the south/left as I had entered the thermal area, but had not been able to see the source of the noise. Maybe it was because it was early and not afternoon, but this time I saw the source. It was a small sputterer, with a height of perhaps 5-15 cm, situated in a alcove at the southern edge of Huri Kariori (#11), a large pool next to the stream and entrance walkway.
After a while, it seemed to die down, and was harder to spot even knowing it was there. When we left about 15 minutes later, it was active, but still seemed subdued compared to what we saw on arrival. The few references don't mention any activity there, despite the pool having a name.
Later in the afternoon, we stopped at the Waiotapu Mud Pots. It turned out there was major construction on State Highway 5 and we had to wait for at least 1/2 hour to make the final kilometer to the junction road. Fortunately there are alternative routes when we visit Orakeikorako in a few days.
The mudpots looked much like they have in previous visits. They are a large, gray soupy pool with lots of thicker islands scattered mostly along the shoreline. Some of these islands were explosively active, with mud being splattered a couple of meters high. Also, near the entrance to the walkway were a couple of older, inactive mud cones about 1-1/2 meters high.
