Wai O Tapu is one of the many Geothermal areas around Rotorua. It features the “Lady Knox Geyser” that erupts every day (except Christmas) at 10:15 AM. Even if they change to Daylight Savings time it still erupts at 10:15. Pretty smart old Geezer, I mean Geyser, huh? Actually it erupts at that time because they “soap” it to induce the eruption. It would go off sometime on it’s own, but not as convenient for a bunch of tourists hanging out and waiting. So they drop in a little bio-degradable soap to cut the surface tension in the water chamber and get things rolling on time. The rest of the park, and it is fairly extensive, does things on its own schedule. There are mineral terraces, craters, huge hot springs with uniquely colored waters and formations, and my personal favorite was a lake of bubbling mud. That might not sound like a very interesting thing, but it’s a very interesting video subject.
In the Afternoon I went to Hamurana Spring on the shores of Lake Rotorua to see the gorgeous little river that emanates from the spring. The spring releases about 12,000 gallons of water per minute (43 Cubic Meters). That’s the equivalent of an Olympic size swimming pool every 10 minutes. The water is crystal clear and a constant 51° F (10 C) year around. The other interesting thing about the Park is that it has a large grove of California Redwoods that were planted in 1919 as an experiment to see if they would flourish in New Zealand. They do, but since they grow slowly, they are not really commercially viable. The trees are quite large, but they took 96 years to get this size.
Lots of pictures today:
The “Lady Knox” Geyser getting ready to spout.
The Lady Knox erupts.
Colorful hot mineral pools at Wai O Tapu. Most of the bodies of water in the park are very near boiling, so they have walkways to keep you safe.
This hot spring has plenty of normal white steam rising, but it also has a layer of orange steam laden with minerals.
A sulfurous hot spring. It is slowly encrusting a pine cone that has fallen in with a yellow sulfur coating.
More interesting shades of color.
The forest surrounding the park has conifers and the ubiquitous tree ferns.
A lookout in the park showing some of the various colors.
More Sulphur.
This lake is just warm, not hot, but has a high mineral content.
These tiny “terraces” are made by evaporating mineral water leaving a rim that grows over time.
Some of the terraces are cool enough for green algae to grow.
This reminded me of rice paddies.
This is the rim of a large spring called the Champagne pool. The orange is caused by Antimony.
The Champagne Pool forms its own terraces.
This is the most bizarre green water in the park.
This is a single frame from video of the mud pool. It is full of bubbling hot mud and very interesting to watch. I have a ton of great video of it.
And now for something completely different: Hamurana Spring:
What a change a few miles can make in New Zealand. I went from bubbling boiling mud to crystal clear cool spring waters.
The spring is surrounded by lush forest.
Brilliant green aquatic plants fill the shallows and the bottom of the river is pure white sand.
This is part of the California Redwood Grove on one side of the stream.
I don’t think there’s a spot in the Northern California Redwoods quite as pretty as this.
The Redwood Grove.
Sentinels along the trail.
Water coming out of the headspring in the forest.
The Redwood Grove from across the stream.
Looking downstream.
Some Black Swans feeding in the stream.
Strange to see Redwoods, Tree Ferns and crystal clear water.
Since it is early springtime here, the Rhododendrons are blooming.
No comments:
Post a Comment