Geyser Notes

After four days in New Zealand, finally got to see something erupt.

It is located at Te Aroha. Mokena Geyser is a bicarbonate drilled well which erupts periodically from a small hole, maybe 1cm across, at the top of a cylinder in a large concrete basin.

When we arrived, it was quiet. Off on the side was a locked metal cover. As I was standing there, I heard rumbiling start from beneath it. In a minute or so, steam was starting to quietly come out of the vent. The noise increased and small spits started from the vent. Over the next few minutes, the spitting increased in duration and size as the sound increased. At some point the activity would last for several seconds before having sort pauses, and the water was thrown about about a meter high.

This lasted for about ten minutes, and at times the water was thrown about four meters high. There never was much volume to the play. Eventually, the activity began to subside. It slowly reversed just the way it started. Every time I thought it was about to end, it would give a quick spit. Overall, the duration of activity was about 20 minutes.

After that, we headed for Rotorua. After checking in and buying some groceries, we went to Kuirau Park.

This is a bizarre place for someone used to Yellowstone. It's a city park. It's bounded by busy city streets, and where there's no thermal activity, there's a lawn, including several athletic fields.

There's no geyser activity there. Mostly it's scummy holes or watery mud pots. But there were a couple of clear, boils sputterers next to a large pile of cemented boulders that steamed near the top. These sputs were surrounded by a large flat area that appeared to have been wet at one time, but was drained. Most of the features there had the same look as if they had been higher not to long ago.

In addition, there was Kuirau Lake. This a a large boiling pool at the north end of the park. At one point, there's considerable overlow under the walkway and down a well-defined, wide shallow runoff channel. After about 40 meters or so, this flows into a hot pool which seems to act as a sink, as there was no other discharge anywhere in the area.

The lake as a nice overlook directly over the pool, and a boardwalk that cuts over one end of it. It reminded me a lot of Hot Lake in the Lower Geyser Basin.

Tomorrow the real fun begins, as we have reservations to visit some real, large geysers.