Wai-O-Tapu Geothermal Wonderland III

Columns of sulphurous crystals...

Toxic green lakes and 'termite mounds' of sulfur

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.




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'.






This was like a lake, except it had turquoise, lime, khaki or taupe pools, hissing and bubbling, and lemon spots, steaming.