Monday, May 24, 2010

Wai-O-Tapu Geothermal Wonderland I



Precipitated metals, multi-colour rocks, sulfurous vapours, boiling mud and water, craters and poisonous lakes, Wai-O-Tapu is otherworldly. It's a lesson in active geology too. You really just have to see it to believe it. And, hear it and smell it, really. Click on any photo to see it enlarged.

NZ 020NZ 022
NZ 023Wai-O-Tapu sulfurous walls
Wai-O-Tapu crater
Wai-O-Tapu boiling mud The mud at the bottom of this crater was boiling.

These had names like 'Devil's Hole' (which terrified one four-year-old girl, who talked about devils the whole walk) and 'Devil's Ink-Pots'.

NZ 029NZ 031
NZ 030
NZ 032NZ 033
NZ 035NZ 036
NZ 040NZ 044
This was like a lake, except it had turquoise, lime, khaki or taupe pools, hissing and bubbling, and lemon spots, steaming.
NZ 045NZ 046

No comments: