Geothermals and Sulphur

Tuesday, May 18, 2010
Rotorua, North Island, New Zealand
18th May Rotorua

Final leg of our tour but one of the things we've been looking forward to most: the "geothermal wonders" of Rotorua . Hamish has wanted to come ever since he was a child and saw pictures of the bubbling mud pools. It’s only taken 40 years to get here !

We had a long drive down from Waiheke Island and after nearly 4hours on the road (thank Goodness for a comfortable car !) we knew we were getting close – you can smell the town before you see it thanks to the subtle aroma of bad eggs caused by the sulphurous gases which emerge in plumes all over the place. Our motel overlooks Lake Rotorua and looking at the hills around all around really brings home the fact that everything we see is sitting in the middle of a huge volcanic caldera.

Apart from the underlying danger of volcanic eruption and instantaneous death, the town is very English. There are several “Tudorbethan” buildings including what is now Rotorua Museum but was originally the Grand South Seas Spa which opened in 1908 and featured a wide range of health treatments combining water and electricity – sounds like a recipe for disaster but people came in droves from all over the world to try it .

On our first full day here we visited Te Puia which is a Maori cultural centre set amidst one of the geothermal “hot spots”. First thing in the morning it was a very grey cold day and we did feel very sorry for the traditionally clad Maori taking part in the first cultural performance of the day. Luckily it warmed up later and the sun shone. Also had the chance to see our first live kiwis, albeit in a special kiwi house which turns days into night as they are nocturnal. We stood for ages in the dark trying to see anything and then suddenly there they were trundling about foraging for food and looking very cute and unbirdlike.

We also got to see the Pohutu geyser put on a show – it made us wait a bit but it was very impressive and warming on a chilly day.

This area was the birthplace of tourism in New Zealand in the 1880s when well-heeled and adventurous visitors came to see the White and Pink Terraces formed by mineral deposits around some of the lakes . Then in 1886 a tremendous eruption of Mt Tarawera destroyed them and buried several villages under tons of ash. One of these, Te Wairoa, has been excavated as a sort of New Zealand Pompeii. As you walk round today it is hard to imagine how it must have looked before the eruption and how terrifying it must have been for the inhabitants.

We are beginning to suspect that everyone in Rotorua is actually a British ex-pat. Our guide in the Museum was from Southampton, the woman who served us in the gift shop was from Worcester...

After all the driving and tramping about, Alan was very pleased that there was a hot tub in the apartment. He spent a couple of lovely and relaxing hours soaking before going out to dinner. However, the drawback was that he smelled of chlorine for the rest of the evening and the following day ! Jolly glad that there wasn’t a reaction with the sulphur in the air, or he might have turned an interesting shade of green and yellow.


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Comments

rachel_aitken
2010-05-20

Re the pink and white terraces - if you've ever been to Pamukkale in Turkey they would have looked like that, only the ones in Turkey are only white.

Vicki
2010-05-21

White and Pink Terraces - National Library website has images pre-volcano.

2025-02-08

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