Fulbright group in Waimangu Volcanic Valley
How hot was the ground that you walked on today? Just below the surface, the ground in parts of Waimangu Volcanic Valley registered above 200˚F. Good thing my shoes have thick soles! :+)
The land around Rotorua is known for its geothermal activity. In fact, New Zealand has the world’s newest geothermal area thanks to the eruption of Tarawera volcano in 1886. Traditionally, the Maori have used this resource for cooking and heating, and today the geysers and steaming pools also attract tourists and provide electricity in homes. Around Rotorua there are Polynesian baths using the thermal pools, but I avoided them – the sulfur smell was a bit too much for me! We were able to see a pretty powerful geyser – Pohutu geyser – which made me think of the Yellowstone landmarks I’ve heard so much about.
At Waimangu, we hiked and took a boat ride to see the bubbling lakes, steaming rocks and fountain-like miniature craters flowing. At times I felt like I was in a theme park – it was unreal to see the water bubbling up in random places. Other times it was unnerving – seeing the steam pour out of mountain cliffs made you feel an eruption was imminent. Mind you, I don’t scare easily, seeing that I’m from the land of earthquakes in California. The color of the water in some of the lakes was a brilliant turquoise, but it was tough to see through the heavy puffs of steam rolling in slow motion along the surface. It was the one time I wished it wasn’t winter. (Most of the time we are glad because every place we travel isn’t crowded and that emptiness adds to the beauty.) We were able to see complete reflections of land and sky on some of the cooler lakes however, and that really takes your breath away. Even more amazing is the fact that some of the rock on these formations is 18,000 years old.
Tomorrow we will visit one of the active volcanoes in New Zealand – should be a blast (sorry, couldn’t resist!).
