Wai-O-Tapu

New Zealand sits along the border of two great tectonic plates, the Indian-Australian plate and the Pacific plate. The area where I am living and working is actually right along the most active part of that border, which makes it a major geothermal site. One of the best around here is Wai-O-Tapu, which is exactly where I went on my most recent day off. The site primarily features steaming, bubbling pools in many bright colors.

One highlight was the Lady Knox geyser which shoots a jet of water about 30 feet in the air once per day. The force is provided by underground water that is from 150 to 300 Celcius. The Champaigne Glass is a large deep pool that gives off copious amounts of steam and is rimmed with a bright orange border. The orange is due to arsenic in the water. One of the most fun spots was a mud pool 50 feet long that was bubbling in a most disgusting way. Active spots would simmer away and then suddenly vomit up a bellyfull of mud two or three feet into the air. Smaller spots would spit little gobs of mud up and roll about into thick gooey concentric circles. The whole area leaks enough sulfur gas that smoking is prohibited. They also want visitors to stick to the walkways because the crust can be thin in areas and if you fell through it would be instant death.

I got more pictures, but I still need to get posting sorted. Every computer I try has some other issue that won't cooperate, but I will get these up at some point.