Today it was time to visit the other half of the Wakarewarewa thermal area, the Maori village.
In order to get to see Parekohoru and Korotiotio up close, one must take the 1-1/2 hour long Village Guided Tour. Unlike the Te Puia tour, at least you are in and around thermal areas for much of that time, and it's a much better introduction to the Maori culture than just wood carving. Also you get to sample a portion of an ear of corn that's been boiled in Parekohuro.
At the conclusion of the tour you end up at on overlook onto the Geyser Flat and Bluey Pool over in Te Puia. We also bought the Geothermal Walk, so could stay all day and leave and return to the overlook. Pohotu ended within moments of our arrival.
Graham Meech was over at the bridge across Puarenga Stream on the Te Puia side, and had witnessed the last Kereru minor eruption just after his arrival, well over an hour earlier. So we knew we were about to wait for however long it took to see the expected major eruption of Kereru.
Over the next hour we saw another eruption of Pohutu start, as well as activity from Waikorohihi and Mahanga. Because of our locations, we had the better view of the latter two geysers. They can be difficult to tell apart from the bridge overlook because of their close proximity and the viewing angle and the wind direction.
Kereru's vent isn't directly visible, hidden just out of sight by the mass of sinter forming the Geyser Flat platform. But it is possible to get an idea of the intensity of the activity.
Just over an hour later we notice an increase in the steaminess coming from Kereru. At the same time, a non-English speaking tour (probably Japanese) appeared on the platform. I don't know why, but these tours seem to have to make lots of noise as they spend their time taking selfies and staring at the little view screens instead of the scene in front of them. Of course, that's when Kereru erupted, especially since the wind direction shifted so that it was headed directly toward us. (And it didn't help that my camera glitched so that I missed the lead-up to the start of the eruption.)
After than, we figured we were free for a while, and it was time to do the Geothermal Walk. We took our time, and about 3/4 hour later we were only part-way along when we got a message from Graham telling us that the minor activity from Kereru had stopped and all was quiet there. So we returned to the platform.
We didn't need to hurry back, and saw a couple of Pohutu eruptions during our wait. The second eruption seemed to take longer to start, with Te Tohu erupting for nearly twenty minutes prior, when otherwise the interval was closer to twelve minutes. This eruption of Pohutu was also different in that there wasn't much of the preliminary splashing, but instead it started climbing almost immediately, while Te Tohu got bigger and noisier.
It was the strongest and tallest eruption of Pohutu we've seen this trip. I would estimate the height in the 25-30 meter range, definitely taller than a Daisy eruption. It could easily be heard from the overlook, and it maintained the height for several minutes before subsiding.
Right after this eruption, which had a typical duration of about 24 minutes, had ended, the steam from Kereru picked up. This time the platform was empty except for a quieter couple that I think were Italians. The wind direction cooperated, and I was able to record the full eruption showing the height.
Following that, with a bit over an hour left before closing time, we again went on the Geothermal Walk portion of our visit. This is an area of trails and boardwalks outside the limits of the village proper that winds through an area with large pools both clear and boiling and gray and sludgy. There are some perpetual spouters, but no true geysers in the area.
(Over at Te Puia, Graham had to stay because well over an hour before closing over there, once again he saw the Kereru minor series end. Unfortunately, he had to leave before the major eruption.)
One of the noticeable things on the first visit was the color of the Bluey Pool and its low water level. This was even more obvious from the overlook. This feature is not a hot spring, but more of a large catch basin used for swimming. Several of the guides on the tours mentioned that the prevailing winds have been from the wrong direction, preventing the water from the Pohutu eruptions from filling the pool. I notice also that there were signs up prohibiting the use of the pool, including a Rāhui, which is a formal Maori closure used for resource protection (and after accidental deaths).