Along the shore of the Frying Pan Lake were a number of little noisy spouters. The noisiest, unfortunately, was out sight just below the walkway. Near the outlet at the northeast were a number of areas of convection and bubbling. One would occasionally splash water into the air to a few centimeters high.
Inferno Crater was down at least three meters. The runoff channel still had some brown, stagnant pools in it, but I have no idea how long ago was the previous overflow. The pool was calm and its normal, milky blue color. On the far shore, in a gray debris fan was a small but noisy and wet fumarole, maybe a couple of meters below the high water mark. The debris fans all had many wave cut terraces on them, each maybe a centimeter or two higher than the previous terrace.
The only geyser we saw along the trail was Iodine Spring. It is across the stream and bus road, so not easily visible. But there is a gap between a couple of roadcuts where we could watch the activity. For the five intervals we saw, it was erupting at almost exactly eight minute intervals, with durations just over 1m50s. The spring starts splashing a minute or so before the eruption starts. The eruption height is around three meters, with a jet distinctly angled to the right.
Iodine Spring
The afternoon was taken up by one of our adventures we scheduled for the trip. We took a two hour kayak tour of the Steaming Cliffs/Donne Cliffs along the shore of Rotomahana. This was our first kayak experience, and we got wet. I mostly figured out how to control the kayak and get it to generally go in the direction intended. I didn't take much video, and no notes, because the kayak had my full attention. We were also fortunate in the the lake was calm, with only a slight breeze, and the sky was clear and mostly cloudless.
The reason for the trip was to have more time with the thermal features along the shoreline, and that was extremely successful. We got within a few feet of the "Angel Wings" feature, and I've seen nothing like that anywhere else.
Angel Wings Formation
After that we got to see four eruptions of the Pink Terrace/Otukapuarangi Geyser. Like Iodine Spring, it has an interval of around eight minutes. The eruptions are preceeded by about a minute of overflow, which can be seen coming down a short channel into the lake. The eruption lasted about a minute of so, and jets were easily well over 12 meters high, and noisy.
Pink Terrace/Otukapuarangi Geyser erupting. Photo by Suzanne Strasser.
This was a much better experience for observing geysers than the boat trip we took the previous visit. I'd recommend it as long as you don't mind getting wet, or know what you are doing.
Update: 2023-April 19 — Minor correction to names of features at Steaming Cliffs/Donne Cliffs. Also added another photo of Pink Terrace/Otukapuarangi Geyser.
Before we entered the reserve, we did see Pohutu erupting from the same parking lot as yesterday. Looked like it might have been near the start, as it was quite tall.
Inside Te Puia, before you can wander about watching geysers you must first take the 1-1/2 hour tour. We paid our dues. Wasn't a total waste of time, as did get to pass through the kiwi house, where we saw a couple of them wandering about in dark enclosures.
When we finally got to see geysers, Pohutu was in eruption. It continued to erupt for the next 20 minutes. About ten minutes after that, while we were at the high viewing platform, I saw Mahanga splash. This turned out to be the start of a series of eruptions. Every minute or so for the next ten minutes there was an eruption lasting 20 to 40 seconds long, with heights from three to six meters.
Shortly before the series ended, Te Tohu/Prince of Wales Feathers started erupting again. Pohutu started up about 25 minutes later. Then, about six minutes later, another Mahanga series started. The Pohutu eruption lasted about 41 minutes.
Based on our observations through the rest of the day, Mahanga has a series starting about every 35 to 45 minutes, and it is active for about ten minutes. The first activity of the series was usually a splash or two down in the vent, followed by a small eruption, maybe 2-3 meters high. Then the eruptions reached the full height, with the last of the series not much different than any of the others. The indication that it is the end of the series was having several minutes elapse without activity.
Pohutu and Mahanga Geysers in eruption, 2023 Mar 06 11:59
During this time, we were checking on Kereru. Every time it seemed to be calm, with a little steam coming from the vent, and no indication of any eruptive potential. We figured it wasn't going to do much, and even at one point returned to the kiwi house for another visit.
At 13:00 we were at the high viewing platform. Te Tohu had started about six minutes earlier, and it had been over twenty minutes since the last activity from Mahanga. So we were thinking of watching the start of both Pohutu and a Mahanga series from there. That's when suddenly Kereru erupted. The water column was easily six to eight meters higher than the edge of the sinter platform that blocked our view of the vent area.
Over the next half hour, Kereru had strong minors every two minutes or so. Some of these were as high as the platform in height. Pohutu started at 13:18, giving us an interval of almost exactly 1-1/2 hours. But after the half hour, Kereru was quiet until about 14:00. Then splashing started in the vent, becoming more vigorous over the next few minutes. It became fairly obvious that something was about to happen, so we were able to record the full start of the next major eruption at 14:05. This eruption lasted 30 seconds, and I estimate the height was from eight to ten meters.
Kereru Geyser, 2023 Mar 06 14:05
In the aftermath of this eruption, Pohutu quit erupting, giving a duration of about 40 minutes again. But twenty minutes after that, Te Tohu started. It was twenty-six minutes later, at 14:54, that Pohutu started. I watched this start from over by Mahanga (which was quiet), and I would estimate that the height was well over twenty meters. It looked higher than an eruption of Daisy Geyser. There was also the sound of jetting water under pressure coming from what was probably the strongest eruption of the day. Again, the eruption lasted about 40 minutes.
During all this time, Kereru was having minor eruptions every two minutes or so. Most of these looked like they might turn into major eruptions, so we ended up recording many of them.
The next eruption of Te Tohu was followed 24 minutes later by Pohutu, giving an interval of 1h25m. This was our last start of the day, as the area was closing. We stuck around until 16:30, and as we left, Kereru was still having minor play every couple of minutes.
It appears that both Pohutu and Mahanga were extremely regular during our visit. We didn't spend much time observing Mahanga once Kereru erupted, but whenever I expected activity based on a 40 minute series interval, I would see some activity. Kereru, on the other hand, seems to need a period of quiet before it will start a series with a major eruptions. This pattern fits what we saw four years ago. In both cases, Kereru was quiet for several hours before surprising us, then following up with more eruptions after pauses in the minor activity.
It's also interesting how Mahanga has retained so much of the bright yellow sulphur deposits that make up its formations. I've not seen any geyser that has that sort of coloration and looks like it does.
Like Waiotapu yesterday, Te Puia seemed much more empty than it was four years ago. The only time there were any sort of crowds was when the half-hourly tour came through. Between those times we could have the whole area to ourselves. Suzanne was able to revisit the kiwi house and spend about fifteen minutes there alone in the dark. The forced guided tour is annoying, but afterwards the conditions were much better than the previous visit.
(Videos of all this activity will have to wait until I return home and edit the videos into something manageable.)
Today it was off to Waiotapu. Most of the features were not much different from our visit four years ago. The biggest change was that there was now some runoff down the Primrose Terrace, especially the bottommost, narrow portion. The water in Devil's Bath/Roto Karikitea is the same industrial green as before.
Walkway past Waiotapu Geyser
The other difference is that the walkway past the Waitapu Geyser is closed off. That was a huge disappointment. But fortunately, the geyser is still visible, but from a high, distant vantage point. It is easy to pick out if you know where to look.
Waiotapu Geyser vent, seen from overlook. (Center of view, just above railing.)
From what we could see, the area around the vent was dry. This is probably a good indication that we were there in the middle of the cycle. Late enough that the water from the previous eruption has evaporated, and early enough that the cycles of overflow had not yet started. We decided to not stick around.
We decided against going to see the induced eruption of Lady Knox Geyser. Instead, once the tours stopped around 09:45, we pretty much had the area to ourselves for over an hour.
Unlike the previous visit, there didn't seem to be a huge mass of people appearing after that eruption. The parking lot seemed mostly quiet as we had a picnic lunch, and I didn't see any bus tours during the afternoon. That may be normal, but it seemed that the closure during the middle of the week would be justified for a lack of visitation.
Next up was Waikite, a small area we missed last time. It's the home of Te Manaroa, a boiling cauldron discharging 40-50 liters per second. It's right next to a road, but down in a gully so that the steam collects there, making observations difficult. It continuously boils, occasionally surging to about two meters, although the amount of water being discharged doesn't seem to change.
Te Manaroa Spring at Waikite
Nearby is another, small boiling spring. Above it is the discharge from a third spring not visible from the walkway.
Note that there is a NZ$4 entry fee, but this feature is interesting enough to be worth it.
After that, we stopped in at Te Kopia. The mudpots are liquid, with little to no activity. They are also a pale blue color, as if they are in the process of clearing.
The walkway to the boardwalk appears to not have had any vegetation cut back since our last visit four years ago. The stairway was overgrown with wild berry vines with little stickers.
Our drive back from grocery shopping took us past the end of Fenton St. There is a parking lot there where the geysers of Te Puia are sort of visible through a fence when they erupt. We arrived at 17:15 with Te Tohu/Prince of Wales Feathers in eruption. We waited for about fifteen minutes as it erupted, then Pohutu started at 17:31 A few minutes later, at 17:40, we saw the tops of jets of water from Kereru. I would hope that that would be an indication that we will be able to see Kereru up close in the coming days.
It was cool and damp when we arrived at Tokaanu. Before going into the Reserve proper, we investigated the features across the road. There we could hear, hidden in the bush, the sounds of splashing. Along the street, there were areas of hot ground, including a spot between the curbstones where a frying pan was forming.
Went into the reserve, and almost immediately things didn't look good. There were two vehicles parked exactly at the spot where there's a gap in the fence to get to Taumatapuhipuhi. On the back of the flatbed truck was a dog that loudly objected my presence anywhere while I was within sight. It barked continuously for several minutes. At one point I heard an eruption hidden by the vehicles, which I assume was Taumatapuhipuhi. I finally decided to walk the loop taking videos and then decide what to do.
As I neared the finish of the loop, I heard the vehicles leave. The way to Taumatapuhipuhi was now open. As it turned out, I heard them leave as I was passing a feature that would become a center of attention during our visit, and so I didn't pay as much attention to that feature as I should have.
Eruption of Taumatapuhipuhi, 11:54
Was able to log the times for eight consecutive eruptions of Taumatapuhipuhi, starting with the one I heard. The intervals started long. We had to wait almost 36 minutes to see the eruption after the one I heard. From then on, the intervals decreased so that the last interval we saw was 21 minutes. Because of this, we did miss a couple of the eruptions. The first time that happened, we walked up to see the sinter platform wet and steaming. The second time I did get an "in eruption" time.
The durations of the eruptions varied from 26 to 10 seconds, with the other three durations being about 20 seconds. The heights were about two meters, and wide. I got splashed once standing about three meters from the rim.
The reason we missed eruptions was because we discovered another erupting feature. Named Hoani, it is a wide, deep boiling pool. The central pit was about five meters across, and I could not see any bottom to it. It is located in a broad, tannish colored sinter sheet depression.
Eruption of Hoani
When I walked by taking a video, and the video shows that it was quite hot, and full to the rim. I didn't remember any such feature from our visit four years ago. After the first eruption of Taumatapuhipuhi finished, we decided to head back to look at a few features along the trail, and immediately noticed the 30-40cm high boiling on one side of the crater. This boiling built up to well over a meter, then subsided. This activity continued for at least 1h15m, and we probably saw it near the start. At one point, I saw some surges that could have been two meters high. The activity was much like Artemisia.
The walkway was not built with an erupting, boiling spring in mind. There were times when I was walking along that the fog from the eruption was almost scaldingly hot. This steam was condensing on some of the trees, producing a rain below them. We tried to time our visits to Taumatapuhipuhi and spend rest of the time at Hoani, which is why we missed a couple of Taumatapuhipuhi eruptions.
It was after one of those eruptions that we noticed that the pool was quiet again. Previous pauses had lasted only a few seconds, but this one stretched into a minute or more. Then we noticed that the pool was dropping. By the time we left the area, 45 minutes later, Hoani was down 30-40cm, with the outer rim already drying in spots.
Beyond Taumatapuhipuhi is an area that's been heavily "culturally modified." An area of hot ground and frying pans that's been converted into an area for the preparation of hangi, the Maori method of cooking in hot ground.
Hangi area, Tokaanu.
After almost four hours at Tokaanu, we headed towards Rotorua. There were a couple of minor thermal areas north of Taupo that we had not visited the last time that we were going to try to see.
The first was "Craters of the Moon", where the Karapiti Blowhole was located. The area has been heavily affected by the nearby geothermal powerplants, and consists mostly of subsidence craters with some weak fumaroles scattered about. The only feature of any interest is the replacement for Karapiti, which is up on a hillside and consists of a wet, moderately noisy fumarole and some other noisy fumaroles. This of "A Fumarole" at Fountain Paint Pots.
This area can be bypassed unless you want to see what a destroyed thermal area looks like, or want to complete a checklist.
The second stop was going to be the "Wairakei Thermal Valley". This is an area that used to contain close to a hundred geysers, some playing to over 30 meters. It is now completely overgrown because all the activity has gone into making electric power. Was not looking forward to visiting, but figured should at least see what it looked like. But when we got to the entrance road, we were blocked by a closed sign. In the Taupo area the cyclone of a few weeks earlier had destroyed a significant percentage of the trees in the area. A lot of those trees had their tops snapped off, while others were complete uprooted.
(Earlier in the week, near Tongario National Park, we had to lengthen our hike to a waterfall by an extra 500 meters because the road was blocked in three places by downed trees. The road was low priority for clearance, as it had no other reason for being other than access to that hike.)
Since we had a little time, and we were passing right by, instead we stopped at the Waiotapu Mud Pots. These are in a free area, and well worth a stop. In the pool were a number of active areas spouting mud to as much as three meters high. These areas were periodic, with the longer the quiet period, the more vigorous the activity when it finally did erupt.
Here are a series of stereoviews taken of New Zealand geysers taken around the start of the 20th Century.
Cooking eggs at a boiling spring B.W.Kilburn #15743
This is a view of Kereru Geyser and the Geyser Flat mound where Pohutu Geyser is located. Kereru is the low, darker mound along the stream bank. When we visited in 2019, the area where the cooking is occurring was an area with numerous frying pans, but no distinct erupting features that I could see.
Papakeura Geyser L.Hanlon, Whangarei
Now called Papakura Geyser, this feature was a large perpetual spouter upstream from Pohutu Geyser along Puarenga Stream at Whakarewarewa. The activity ended in 1979, and that cessation lead to the campaign to limit the use of geothermal bores within 1.5 kilometers of Pohutu. Papakura did erupt for a couple of days in 2015.
The Champagne Cauldron, Wairakei Underwood & Underwood
With the production wells for the Wairakei powerplants nearby, this feature is now a hole in the hillside filled with vegetation.
Where the world's fiery heart still burns — boiling pool of Pohutu Geyser Underwood & Underwood #10316
The large vent in the center seems to actually be the vent of Te Horu, which in years past would show sympathetic responses to Pohutu's activity. I believe Pohotu is actually the mound cut off by the right edge of the photo.
Waikorohihi Geyser spouting boiling water 30 feet in air Underwood & Underwood #10317
This feature is located near Pohutu, and has underground connections to it. It has been occasionally active the last few decades. When we visited in 2019, that was not one of those times, as it and nearby Mahanga were steaming and depositing sulfur around the vents.
The geyser basin and Rotorua Lake from the mountain at Whakarewarewa Underwood & Underwood #10315
This is probably near the overlook we hiked to when visiting in 2019. On the left side Fenton Street is visible. Fenton was laid out to point directly toward Waikite Geyser, which is located in the bare area behind the standing woman. Pohutu Geyser and the Geyser Flat is the bare area above and to the right of that. Off in the distance, Sulphur Bay of Rotorua Lake is visible. The Whakarewarewa village is in the steaming area to the left of the center of the view. Note that today, the whole area beyond the thermal areas is the city of Rotorua. Much of the hillside to the right is now covered in trees.
Today was going to be the start of nine days of visiting the thermal areas in and around Rotorua. That didn't happen, but here are a few old postcard views showing things that, for the most part, we wouldn't have seen anyhow.
Te Mimi-a-Homai-o-te-Rangi* Geyser, Orakeikorako
This feature, on the west bank of the Waikato River, now lives beneath the waters of Lake Ohakuri to the north of the ferry crossing over to the terraces. In the 1940s it erupted as frequently as every three hours to heights up to 24 meters (75ft).
Thermal activity near Rotomahana
This card has a postmark from 1905, so it is quite possible that it is showing activity from Waimangu.
Waimangu Geyser, Waimangu Valley.
A view copyrighted 1902.
Inferno Crater, Waimangu Valley
This feature is located about 50 meters to the northeast of where Waimangu was located. It currently has an approximate 38 day cycle of rising to overflow for a few days, then falling. It is also now surrounded by much thicker vegetation.
Wairoa Geyser, Whakarewarewa
This geyser has not been active in decades, but has at least shown signs of recovery since the shutdown of hot water wells in the area.
Wairoa Geyser and other features at Whakarewarewa
One of the features to the right is most likely Pohutu. There are several other features nearby, including Te Horu and Mahanga.
Geysers at Whakarewarewa.
From left to right, it looks like these are Kereru, Mahanga, Pohutu and Wairoa. The view is from the opposite direction of the preceding views, and now what one would first see upon entering through the gate. As with Inferno Crater, there is now a lot more vegetation in the area on the left.
The orifice of the Great Wairakei Geyser, NZ
All of the dozens of geysers in the Geyser Valley at Wairakei were destroyed when the power plants started back in the 1950s and 1960s.
* The name translates to "The urine from [Chief] Homai-te-rangi" [Lloyd, Geology and Hot Springs of Orakeikorako, NZ Bulletin #85, pg.59]. We need more names like this in Yellowstone.
While preparing for another attempt at visiting the thermal areas of New Zealand and Iceland, as well as the western U.S., it occurred to me that it shouldn't be too difficult to compare the sizes of the various area. In The Transactions Vol. 7, T.Scott Bryan does a comparison of the size of some thermal areas. He just presents some basic line drawings, while I figured I could download satellite maps set to the same scale, which would give a lot more details.
The two areas I couldn't include completely are the Upper and Lower Geyser Basins. They are huge compared to everywhere else. Instead I limited them to Geyser Hill/Old Faithful areas and the Fountain Paint Pots. The only other thermal area presented here that doesn't quite fit is Waimangu, where I wasn't able to include the lakeside thermal area.
Geyser Hill, Upper Geyser BasinFountain Paint Pots, Lower Geyser BasinMidway Geyser BasinBack Basin, Norris Geyser BasinShoshone Geyser BasinWest Thumb Geyser BasinHaukadulur, IcelandHveravellir, IcelandOrakeikorako, New ZealandWhakarewarewa/Te Puia, New ZealandWaimangu, New ZealandWaiotapu, New ZealandMickey H.S., OregonSteamboat Springs, Nevada
Update 2020-Mar-27: Added section comparing aerial views from 2001, 2006, 2011, and 2018.
In 1984, Bill Pulliam wrote up a paper on his observations of New Crater/Steamboat Geyser entitled "The 100 Meter Sput." In it, he pointed out that only two features were known to have reached that height, the other being Waimangu Geyser at Waimangu, New Zealand. Many other features have reached 90 meters (300 feet), but in the past year, I've discovered references to a third eruptive feature that was estimated to erupt well over 100 meters.
My very rough measurements of New Crater/Steamboat Geyser eruptions have returned heights as much as 123 meters (405ft), and others have arrived at similar and even much higher heights.
Waimangu Geyser hasn't been active in over a century. It's not just dormant, it's gone, and won't be coming back. When we visited the Waimangu thermal area of New Zealand in 2019, the tourist trail between Frying Pan Lake and Inferno Cauldron goes right through the site of the geyser crater. We walked through there without realizing it. Only on our return trip out did we notice that unlike much of the rest of the crater, there was a large circular area where not much was growing. This is an area where otherwise the "bush" is thick where it's not been cleared for agriculture. What thermal activity there is in that area consists of sputs along the stream that empties Frying Pan Lake. I think there's little danger of Waimangu itself coming back to life.
What are the three hundred foot/ninety meter sputs? I've found references to a few of them.
The obvious ones are Giant Geyser and Excelsior Geyser in Yellowstone. There have not been reports of Giant erupting up to 300 feet although I've measured an eruption at 72 meters, and know I've seen higher.
Excelsior is said to have erupted to "as high as" 300ft, which would be 90 meters.
The first eruptions of Semi-Sentinial, north of Norris, were described as being around 300 feet.
Some say that Great Fountain superbursts can reach up to 250ft, but i've not heard of any hard measurements to support anything higher.
In Iceland, there's Geysir, said to erupt to up to 200ft in years past, but that's nowhere close to 90 meters.
At Dolina Geizerov, Grot was reported to have a horizontal throw of 250ft, but in a broad arc without a similar height.
In New Zealand, before the Ohaki Dam flooded the area, Orakeikorako had Minguini Geyser, which was described as erupting up to 295 feet. That's almost exactly 90 meters.
This past year I discovered references to a third "100 meter sput" feature.
In New Zealand there was an eruption of a feature to heights estimated well over 100 meters. That feature is S-721, located in Kuirau Park in downtown Rotorua. On the eastern side of the park are numerous muddy thermal features. These are mostly in a line south of the large, clear, boiling Kuirau Lake at the north end, and there is a second line of features perpendicular to that forming a sort of sideways "T". There are also a few hot holes here and there. The smaller features are surrounded by wooden fences, either as groups or individual springs, and the areas between them are mowed lawns or thick stands of trees. In the larger areas in the southwest quadrant of the park, there are athletic fields for cricket and rugby, and in the middle, parking lots have been used for a Saturday farmer's market. Since restrictions on well use were put in place in the 1980s, a number of buried features have reappeared at the western end of the perpendicular line of features, to the consternation of the landowners who build houses over some of them. Several of those lots on the west boundary have been incorporated into the park. It's definitely a unique thermal area.
Kuirau Park, 2001 January 26 after eruption of S-721
On 26 January 2001 at c. 1600 hrs NZST, a hydrothermal eruption occurred from an acid sulphate pool in Kuirau Park, mapped as S721. Some 1200m3 of material (about 2000 tonnes) was erupted within about 4 minutes, with blocks of 1m diameter being thrown 70m to the northeast and blocks to 0.15m diameter being thrown to -110m, also to the northeast. This eruption was unusual because the eruption column was inclined to the east from vertical, and erupted debris was ejected to the east, with very little being distributed to the west, north or south. Breccia clasts were examined by Siako (2002) and an older hydrothermal eruption event was recognised by its cemented breccia clasts within the 26 January 2001 ejecta, although its source vent was not identified. [pg.28]
Peter Goodwin (ROC) was in the Aquatic Centre [southwest of the feature] at the time and a colleague called out to him to look at the eruption. He indicated an angle at which he looked up to its top, which equated to 25° or 30° over a distance of -250 m. This gives a height range of 117-144 metres. From his vantage point it appeared to be a vertical column, with big rocks falling out of the dark muddy column, which was surrounded in white steam clouds. [pg.49]
S721 was quite unnotable and without any progressive change throughout several spring surveys spanning 1920s until 1998. It is located at about U16 946361 (Map 3, Map Pocket), and on the afternoon of Friday 26 January 2001 at c. 1645 hrs it suddenly erupted into a powerful hydrothermal eruption. The eruption column was unusual in that it was strongly inclined off the vertical towards the east. It rose to about 100 m height and persisted for about 4-4.5 minutes, with large blocks emitted from amongst a dark muddy column and white steam cloud. A steady loud roaring noise accompanied the eruption, which appeared to be steady in its emission of fine ejecta. [pg.90]
At the time of eruption the weather was overcast and showery rain, with a strong westerly wind of about 20-30 kilometres per hour. It is estimated that 99% or more of eruption ejecta was dispersed in an easterly direction, with very little material landing to the north, south or west of the crater (Fig. 3.32). This ejecta deposit was aligned strongly to the east with two conspicuously separate axes of distribution. A fine wind borne plume of grey mud composed of silt to clay size particles was swept off along an axis of 082°. This formed a continuous ground cover to at least 200 metres distance, over and beyond Ranolf Street and over the Fletcher Challenge Rescue helicopter at its helipad up on Hospital Hill. The mud plume coated cars parked at Queen Elizabeth Hospital, about 1.5 km to the east. Aerial photographs and field studies confirmed the block ejecta dispersed along an axis of about 066°, with the wind-borne mud dispersed along about 082°. [pg.94]
There was also a short report on the eruption a few days later:
Near a road that goes through the park there had been a fairly quiet, murky pool about three meters across, not much different from all the other pools that dot this park. That feature, for 15 minutes in the afternoon of 2001 January 26, erupted to heights estimated well over 100 meters. When the activity subsided, the pool was now about 10 meters across, and left several debris fields across the park and onto a city street well over 100 meters away. [26 January 2001 - Eruption at Kuirau Park, Rotorua]
A second, smaller eruption occurred in the park on 10 December 2006. This eruption lasted over an hour and ejected mud and blocks 15 m into the air, landing up to 30 m from the pool (New Zealand Herald, 2006). This eruption, from Spring 615, occurred close to the 2001 eruption of Spring 721 but was much smaller in size.
Unfortunately, despite spending several hours in the park during our visit there last year, recording video of the features, I didn't go past either S-721, and didn't know about S-615's past. They're now high on the list should I ever visit again. (S-615 is the large pool in the upper right of the photo, next to "JC's Fountain" monument.) Then again, imagine an eruption of New Crater/Steamboat in the middle of a city park, because that's what happened, and it could happen again.
Update: Came across a NZ government website with aerial photos taken over the last 20 years. Below are comparisions of the area around S-721 showing the area before the eruption, and years later.
2001 (Pre-eruption)
2006
2011
2018
Kuirau Park Aerial Views 2001-2018
Note on pronunciation-- In Te Reo Maori, the language of the Maori iwi (tribes) of New Zealand, syllables of the words consist of an optional consonant followed by a vowel or vowel pair. No exceptions, even for imported, foreign words. There are only 12 consonant sounds. The letter pairs "wh" and "ng" are considered to be single consonants. The first, "wh" is now pronounced like a soft "f", but originally was more of a "fw" sound. The other, "ng" is described in a pronunciation guide as "sounds soft like singer, not hard like finger." So "Waimangu" should be pronounced Wai-ma-ngu, not Wai-mang-u or Wai-man-gu.
When Suzanne and I started planning for our New Zealand trip, we didn't know what to expect when it came to thermal activity there. From the few other gazers who'd been there, we did know that the activity was a lot less, and that you had to pay for admission. This posting is a generally organized attempt to help others better plan for their trip, and to have some idea what to expect when you get there.
In another posting, I will list a number of links to sites that were either useful, or provided reference material. I've also uploaded to my server several old reports that turned out to be useful, especially their maps, which on the whole are still relevant.
Over the years, I've accumulated a few items on thermal activity in New Zealand. Years ago I managed to get copies of several books through inter-library loans and make photo copies of most of their pages and maps. Later I managed, through eBay and ABE and Alibris to get the actual books, with their sharper photos and maps. But a search of Amazon, for example, didn't turn up anything new that seemed worth buying.
Several GOSA Transactions articles from Vol.7 were useful, as was T.Scott Bryan's short report in Vol.5. We also got some first hand info from Tara Cross about what she'd seen when visiting about 15 years ago. Even the little bits from Mara and Dimitri from their Orakeikorako visit a week earlier helped.
Online, I could find little to nothing about current activity. Current meaning in the last few years. There were some sites that included mentions of thermal areas I didn't know about, and even some mention of geysers and boiling springs.
By the time we ready to leave, I'd determined that there were six places with geysers, and another couple of areas worth visiting in the time we had allocated. One of the places, Ketetahi, an inholding in Mt.Tongariro National Park, for several years now has been off-limits mostly due to the excesses of Nature Lovers seeking hot water, and their abuses of the area. There were reports of at least one or two geysers there. As it turned out, we would've been hard pressed to visit there as part of the Crossing hike anyhow.
Of the other areas, the only reference to a free geyser I could find was that at Tokaanu, which contained at least one geyser. The problem here is that it is over an hour and a half drive from Rotorua, including driving through or around Taupo and vicinity. Fortunately, we were going to be staying nearby for our hike at Mt.Tongariro, and so would be able to stop by.
The two additional areas are free that we could visit. These were Kirirau Park, in downtown Rotorua, and Te Kopia, northeast of Orakeikorako. The first sounded so bizarre that I had to experience it, and the latter was a small area of mudpots (including a "mud geyser" in years past) that was along a route we were going to take anyhow.
As it turned out, we visited one other free area, Te Aroha, because we were driving right through the town and had the time to check out the soda water geyser there. I hadn't planned on visiting it originally as I didn't think we were going there, and erupting wells aren't that high on my list of things to see.
Following are detailed notes on all the areas, including places we didn't visit. On a future visit, I'd like to visit those we missed, at least for completeness, and maybe even to discover an undocumented geyser or two.
For the paid areas, the first disappointment was that all of them were only open about 8 to 10 hours a day. For someone used to access to Yellowstone geysers at any time (except when there are bears about, or a gov't shutdown performance in progress) that was annoying. As it turned out, that was usually sufficient time, and even forced us to wrap things up in a timely manner and rest up for the next day.
In general, New Zealand was a great place for guru geyser gazing. We had almost no information to go on, and only a few hours to make observations, so had to make assumptions and guesses and then live with them. But in three different cases, we managed to use the little information we did have, or what we observed, to see activity of Kereru Geyser, Sapphire Geyser and Waiotapu Geyser.
On the other hand, there's no interest in recording and reporting on day to day changes in activity, or at least in publicizing it. Perhaps it's an attempt to pretend ignorance of activity is somehow "closer to nature" in areas that have had "cultural uses" for hundreds of years. Or just that it's not worth the effort when the vast majority of visitors to the areas don't know or care. (Think of the streams of people heading for their cars as Old Faithful is still erupting...)
Unanswered questions:
Are FRS radios legal?
If so, next time I'd bring some, as there are several places where it's have been nice to split up, especially at Orakeikorako and Whakarewarewa.
It is possible to get multi-day passes?
Again, a return visit to Orakeikorako would probably be worth the effort, as the area seems to vary considerably. Based on our one day, Pohutu could use an extended study, too.
Is there a way to see the Rotomohana features other than the boat tour?
I'm sure it would be expensive, but it would be really interesting to spend a day on a rented boat watching those lakeshore features.
Is it possible to visit Ketetahi?
One would have to get special permission. If so, it's also steep slog up from the trailhead, and the parking there is limited to four hours.
Are there webcams?
Don't seem to be. Would think Pohutu would be a prime candidate, and easy to do. One from the Orakeikorako visitor center looking across the lake would be interesting, too.
(Doesn't seem to be one on Geysir & Strokkr anymore, either.)
Places Visited:
Location: Whakarewarewa (Te Puia)
Type: Paid
Observed Geysers:
Pohutu Geyser
Te Tohu Geyser (Prince of Wales Feathers Geyser)
Kereru Geyser
Small sput to north of Te Tohu
Other Geysers:
Papakura
Waikorohihi
Mahanga
General:Few places to sit, but lots of railings (on which they don't want you to sit.)
Side spur below the bridge is a good place to watch Kereru. There's also a good viewpoint directly from the paved path from the entrance to the bridge, coming down from Ngamokaiakoko mud pots. We weren't aware of this until late in the afternoon, as we approached Pohutu down the more direct gravel path because Te Teho was in eruption as we arrived. This location also allows a view directly into Kereru's vent.
Across the stream from Pohutu and Kereru was a flat area with several small sputters and frying pans. We never noticed any variation in their activity while we were there.
We stayed in a Holiday Park that was in easy walking distance. Our accommodation was similar to an Old Faithful Budget cabin, but with kitchen facilities. We had refrigerator, sink, microwave, hot plate and some cooking utensils. Toilet and shower facilities were in a nearby building, as well as a common kitchen area. There were also hot soaking pools, filled by one of the bores not closed in the 1980s.
To get to Te Puia, we had to use the pedestrian underpasses under a traffic circle. There were three, with two necessary to get through the intersection. The third led to the northeast side of the roads, from where we could see some of the thermal features in the golf course.
The area opens at 08:00. We were the first ones in at 07:59, and almost immediately saw Te Tohu in eruption.
This is an area which is part of the Tourism-Industrial Complex. Roturua is full of all sorts of "adventure" activities and "experiences", and Te Puia is advertised as one of them. It's the one thermal area where we got to experience the Asian Invasion™, although we didn't see any guides carrying flags. The area around Pohutu would go from overcrowded to nearly empty, independent of the activity of the geyser. It all depended on the timing of the cultural exhibits and the arrival of bus tours.
There is an overlook where Pohutu can be seen for free, at a distance. Sort of like Observation Point for Old Faithful. Go to the Redwood Forest "iSite" information center and hike the yellow trail. (Trails are color coded, and there are lots of them in that area.) That leads to an overlook with a clear view of Pohutu. One could probably see Kereru's steam cloud from there, too, although it would be directly behind Pohutu, and obscured if Pohutu is in eruption. This overlook can also be approached by going to the bicycle parking lot off of SH-5 and hiking the yellow trail in reverse. Be aware that there are branches that aren't signed because they assume the route is obvious to someone walking in the proper order, so expect a little backtracking. (Or at least that's what happened to us.) The noise from the cicadas was deafeningly loud at times. The brim of a hat actually cuts down on that noise even without covering the ears. Also, that bike parking lot closes around dusk, with a locked gate, and there's a fee to unlock it to get out.
We also saw Pohutu in eruption while driving on Fenton Street. The exact locations are an exercise for others to determine. We were too busy keeping left and navigating the roundabouts.
Kereru:We'd heard from Dimitri Stoumbos and Mara Reed that Kereru gave very little warning, and that it had minor play after the eruption. That was the sum total of what we had to work with.
It appears Kereru is completely quiet before the initial eruption. We waited for several hours, with a few absences to see the rest of the area, and never saw anything of interest. We left maybe ten minutes before the first eruption to get a different view of Pohutu, which was about to start, when it suddenly took off.
After this first eruption, where were splashes, and small minors, until the second major eruption. After the second eruption, there were a number of larger, more frequent minors. So the activity was definitely different in the two intervals. We weren't around much after the third eruption, but it seemed like the minors were smaller.
Pohutu:The signs and guide brochures say that Pohutu erupts once or twice an hour. We didn't see that. Instead all but the last intervals we saw were about 1h30m to 1h45m, with durations around 50 minutes. Then there was an eruption that lasted almost twice as long.The last interval was longer, and then the duration of that eruption was shorter. So there's some variation there that could use some investigation.
Observed activity:
Time
Duration
Interval
Quiet
08:03ns
>52m46s
57m
09:48
47m58s
1h45m
44m
11:19
47m17s
1h31m
50m
12:56
49m02s
1h37m
52m
14:37
1h34m03s
1h41m
1h02m
17:13
~20m
2h36m
Small feature near Te Tohu:A couple of meters to the left of Te Tohu, as seen from our usual vantage point for Kereru, was a small sput. About 10cm high at most, it was occasionally active during an eruption of Pohutu. I did capture a few seconds of its activity in one of the videos of Pohutu.
Location: Kuirau Park
Type: Free
Observed Geysers:
None
Other Geysers
None
General:Lots of thermal features, every one surrounded by a well-built fence. Park on Kuirau Street, which goes through the park.
It seems like the activity is hotter at the north end of the park. At the southern end there were just scummy, watery mudpots. There was one feature, near the thermal sculpture exhibit which was boiling and splashing. The area around it seemed like it was wet in the past, but was dried out when we were there. In general, a lot of features seemed to be not at their highest water level.
Location: Waiotapu
Type: Paid
Observed Geysers:
Waiotapu Geyser
Lady Knox "Geyser"
Other Geysers:
Several small features at head of Primrose Terrace near Champagne Pool
General:You've got to see Lady Knox at least once, but I'm not sure I'd go again. There are a lot of disadvantages to seeing it.
The performance timing is wrong. It comes two hours after the main thermal area opens, and is far enough from there that you have to drive there and back. We got a great parking spot in the morning, then when we returned were shunted off to overflow parking. All that wasted a lot of time better spent seeing real thermal activity.
Also, it causes a huge crowd to flow through the thermal area after the performance. We missed a lot of that because we actually stayed until about 11:00, but even then we could notice that it wasn't as crowded as the afternoon progressed. (Although, we did spend several hours at one location.)
The first trail loop goes through and around a large number of huge collapse holes which have small pools at their bottoms. They are so deep that you need to consider the sun angle to see down into them, so
Feature: Champagne Pool and Primrose TerraceOn the east side there are a number of small steaming features warm enough to keep the bacterial mats from encroaching. A couple of these had raised rims as if they were formed from splashing, but the times we passed by there wasn't any indication of activity.
Feature: Waiotapu GeyserIn an older Youtube video, this feature is shown with a small fence around it, with its name on a sign. We originally passed right by this feature, because they've changed that. I did find a few frames of it on a video I took during that walk.
Once realized that we hadn't seen it, used the map from Lloyd's Waiotapu paper published in 1959 it figure out where we needed to return. It's #70, and fits the description he gave.
We arrived to find it full, but not really overflowing. It bubbled occasionally. Over the next hour, the bubbling increased, as did the trickle of water.
Eventually the bubbling was continuous, and we got a surge of activity. After that, the water level dropped, only to quickly rise back up. This time the bubbling turned into splashes, enough that I'd consider it to be a minor eruption.
Following the minor, the water dropped again, then rose back up. This time the splashes got stronger, and turned into a full eruption. The water level stayed high at first, with bursting out of the pool, but quickly dropped so that most of the eruptive activity was coming from an drained vent. At the end the splashed turned more into spray, and the eruption ended with heavy steaming coming from the vent.
To the right of the main pool is a small vent, about 4cm across. That was full of water and bubbling before the eruption, but drained and was empty afterwards.
What little information I've been able to find says that the interval is "hours" to 12 hours. That seems reasonable, as the brief glimpse in my first video shows the vent full just like we found it later. We also don't know how long it takes for the vent to fill to that level. So there's lots more to discover about this feature.
Feature: Lady Knox "Geyser"This is actually a pretty impressive feature. Having soaped geysers in the past, it was amusing to compare it to our experiences at Steamboat Springs, Nev. back in the 1980s.
The amount of soap used wasn't as much as we used, and it was powdered, while we found liquid worked better. But the progression was similar, with a period of "over-foaming" before the eruption started. Like #42w, after the initial discharge, the water wasn't foamy any more.
The crowd ran away within a minute of the start, as that's when the water column dropped down to less than a meter. But a bit later, a less foamy column achieved full height, maybe even higher than before. This would drop and rise over the next half hour, but was still higher than that as we left.
Definitely get there about a half hour early, take an umbrella and sit up front. Check the wind direction.
Feature: Devil's CaveThe last numbered item on the tour map, one of the large craters at the north end near the entrance, the color was a remarkably bright yellowish-green. It was even brighter in person than on video, almost phosphorescent.
Location: Waimangu
Type: Paid
Observed Geysers:
"Pink Terrace" Geyser
Iodine Spring
Bird's Nest Terrace, a continuous spouter.
Other Geysers:
A number of spouters at Fumarole Bay, and the guide said there were four geysers there when the lake level is low.
Many sputs and spouters along the Hot Water Creek could be geysers.
General:Keep in mind that this area did not exist prior to the 1886 June 10 eruption of Mt. Tarawera. All of the green stuff, the formations and the springs are all new.
Don't bother with the side trip to Mt. Haszard. It's steep and there's never really any distant views due to all the thick green stuff. Which is too bad, because every so often you get an idea that there could be some impressive views of the craters and the lake in the distance.
If you take the boat tour, schedule one at 11:30 or later. That will give you more time to walk the route. Then pick up the bus at stop #2 (Warbrick Terrace) and ride it to the dock, as there's really nothing thermal to see between there and the lake. Why walk when you can ride?
Visitor center sells books, prints and posters about thermal features.
Feature: Inferno CraterOver a period of weeks, the water level in this feature fluctuates over a range of about five meters. We saw it when it was only down about a meter, and there was no evidence of overflow through the runoff. That probably means it was overflowing a few days later, based on the information I've been able to find about the feature.
Feature: Waimangu Geyser CraterWe passed through this area and didn't even realize we were in Waimangu Geyser, or at least at the site where it used to be. It's an odd, empty area bordered by Hot Water Creek and many sputs on the north side.
Feature: Iodine SpringThis feature is visible from the walking trail, but the bus route passes right next to it. When we returned from the boat cruise, we obeyed the sign requesting pedestrians to use the trail. That was a mistake. On one of my videos you can see at least one plume of water going to about two meters several times.
Location: Orakeikorako
Type: Paid
Observed Geysers:
Sapphire Geyser
Cascade Geyser
Soda Fountain Geyser
New Feature (#120nw)
Artist's Palette:
#742 - Square Spring
#764
#772
#783
#786
#787
#812 - Pyramid of Geysers Spouter
Other Geysers:
Diamond Geyser
Dreadnought Geyser
Wairiri Geyser
Cauldron
#795 - Fissure
Jewel
Kurapai
General:This area felt the most like being in a Yellowstone thermal area. Primarily because most of the geysers were observed from boardwalks, but also because of the larger areas of sinter covered with runoff and bacteria mats.
On the other hand, the area has been extensively altered and managed. Most of the boardwalks have gutters alongside them making sure any runoff is directed away from the walkway. Ramps are non-existent, with lots and lots of steps instead. (I tripped several times because I was watching or recording a feature instead of looking where I was walking.)
Feature: Cascade GeyserThe runoff channel is distinctly pink, shading into yellows and oranges of the bacteria mats, contrasting nicely with the surrounding gray. The eruptions were quite regular, every five to seven minutes or so.
The trail goes right along the top of the fault where Cascade is located, but from above couldn't see anything of the vent or the runoff. Should have made a second visit to that area the check on Soda Fountain and to see what it looked like during one of the frequent eruptions.
Feature: Sapphire Geyser
Time
Duration
Interval
08:33ie
12:15
1m22s
1h13m * 3
13:31
1m02s
1h16m
14:35
1m11s
1h04m
15:35
53s
1h00m
Feature: Artist's PaletteIt seemed like the water level here had been much higher in the past. All of the craters didn't have that crumbly, weathered look from being dry for a long time.
Based on descriptions, we there are a number of geysers in that dried area that we didn't see. Most are described as having intervals in the range of hours. While we spent a fair amount of time at the overlook, we were also gone from there quite a bit, and could easily have missed a few.
One of the problems is that we had no idea what to look for.
Feature: #764This appears to be the source of a cascade of water down the Golden Fleece Fault at the far southwest end, next to Dreadnought Geyser. The cascade was intermittent, but because there could be a delay between the eruption and the water getting to the scarp, we missed seeing what was putting out all the water.
Feature: Diamond GeyserThis feature looked pretty dead the few times we went by. We did spend a lot of time waiting for Cascade and Sapphire, and should have seen steam from it if it had erupted, but we never did.
Feature: Soda Fountain GeyserThis feature, with well defined scalloped edges, was splashing to maybe 30cm in the sort time observed. Supposedly intermittent, but there was so much to see that we never made it back to see if there were any changes.
Feature: Golden Fleece FaultAt the base are several geysers including Dreadnought Geyser, Wairiri Geyser and The Cauldron. Didn't see any variations in their water level, or indications of recent activity.
Feature: New Feature #120nwThis is actually a series of collapses under where the boardwalk used to be. Here is one place where it looks like those alterations around the boardwalk helped speed up the breakout process.
There are at least four vents, and we saw splashes from all of them, but the main eruptive activity came from the double vent on the left (southeast). The splashboard mounted on the new railing implies that it is needed, but we only saw (and felt) a few droplets that far away.
Wairiri Geyser is shown as #120 on Lloyd's Artist Palette map, and I needed a way to refer to it besides "that new thing".
Feature: Kurapai GeyserIt's my understanding that this feature is visible mainly from across the lake at the visitor center. We didn't spend enough over there there to see it.
Location: Tokaanu
Type: Free
Observed Geysers:
Taumatapuhipuhi
Other Geysers:
None
General:Area developed as a spa, but thermal walk is explicitly signed and free. Walk is short loop past a number of hot springs and mudpots, some being used to supply the spa. Also some steaming areas around the parking lot and across the street.
Feature: TaumatapuhipuhiDescriptions I'd seen say this erupts every few minutes. For us, it was about 1/2 hour between eruptions observed, and well over 15 minutes earlier when we didn't see an eruption.
The geyser formations are behind a "Private Property" sign. From what I've read, this may apply more to the soaking tubs which are filled by the channel cut into the formations. So if you are just observing, the owners probably aren't going to care, but we didn't test this.
Places Not Visited:
Location: Tikitere (Hell's Gate)
Type: Spa
Comment: Northeast of Rotorua. Developed as a spa. Lots of hot springs and mudpots, and a thermal waterfall, but I didn't see any reports of boiling water.
Location: Government Gardens, Rotorua
Type: Free
Comment: Former geysers in area. Heavily developed. Didn't have time to investigate.
Location: Whakarewareware Village
Type: Paid
Comment: Mostly a cultural exhibit. Lots of hot pools and mudpots. Maybe be some heavy boiling geyser-like activity or intermittency from some of the pools.
Location: Waikite Valley
Type: Spa
Comment: Developed as a spa. One large boiling spring, Te Manaroa, access may be free.
Location: Karapiti (Craters of the Moon)
Type: Paid
Comment: Reports of fumaroles only. Area of resurgent activity in conjunction with powerplant operation.
Location: Wairakei Thermal Valley
Type: Spa
Comment: Developed as a spa. Site of several dozen geysers prior to the power plants coming on-line. Craters are still there, filled with vegetation. Unclear if access to view former thermal features is free.
In preparation for our visit to New Zealand thermal areas, I tried to find out as much about current activity as I could. There wasn't much. It turned out that some of the most useful were items I'd accumulated over the last few decades. For example, the map of Artist's Palette at Orakeikorako is still accurate and useful in referring to features there.
We also walked right past Waiotapu Geyser without realizing it, as it no longer has a sign. Thanks to the map I'd scanned, we were able to go back and find it. And the description of the activity from 1958 still fits.
Here are the number of publications, maps and other reference material that I scanned which are useful for geyser gazing:
Geology and Hot Springs of Orakeikorako
E.F.Lloyd
New Zealand Geological Survey Bulletin 85, 1972
Guide to Waiotapu area. Ignore the Norwegian at the beginning and end, the descriptions of the photos are in English. May have been copied from old pamphlet.
Website companion to the NZ Frenzy North Island New Zealand, 3rd Edition guidebook. We found these books quite useful. Describes the Te Puia overlook (free), as well as other thermal areas. There's also a South Island guide, just as useful.
An inventory of thermal features. Has a photo, temperature and chemical characterists of features, along with approximate locations for features not on private land. (Got this link off of a photo of a sign at Kuirau Park. Wish I'd found this before the visit).
