The town itself grew around these geothermal oddities - spas, both indoor and outdoor, mud baths, etc., have been in use for as long as the area has been populated. The main park in tow n has fenced-off areas that spew sulphury steam - an unusual sight as you drive past. There are a few more "features" within the town limits, mostly concentrated near Lake Rotorua, but the most spectacular were in two areas a bit into the countryside.
Waimangu Valley, billed as the newest geothermal valley in the world (or maybe in the universe?), was created in 1917 when a portion of the valley exploded, triggering a transformation of the valley from a pleasant, but boring, farmesque area to a steaming, prehistoric sight. Given the newness of the valley, there are actually "before" pictures in existence, which are lined up throughout the park in contrast with the current-day land and features. Weird, but very interesting to see as most geologic history is not so recent or well-evidenced pictorally.
This is a shot of the valley from 1917 or so:
And today:
In addition to delving into some dorky history with which I will not go into detail here, we also got a nice hike in. Some photo highlights are below:
The second leg of our trip took us to Waitapu, the "Geothermal Wonderland." In some respects, this reminded me of Yellowstone, with the dried out basins, wooden-deck trails, and odd colors in the pools. Both spots were a little touristy and the hiking was a little tame for our taste, but overall, it was a great weekend trip and opportunity to get out into the country for a bit. Again, some photo highlights below:
cool pictures. what kind of camera do you guys have because it appears to be awesome and i want a new camera :) info needed.
ReplyDeleteglad to see that all is going well in Oz :)