Lomography

WAI-O-TAPU Thermal Wonderland
written by spendospend on February 14th, 2009 , one comment (4 votes)

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A Wonderland of Stunning Geothermal Activity.
Located 27 kilometers (20 minutes drive) south of Rotorua, New Zealand’s most colorful natural volcanic environment.

There are 3 different walks around different areas, but i would strongly advise you take them all, and the ideal thing about this place is that you can walk at your own pace and absorb the unique features including the world famous champagne pool, geysers, bubbling mud, steaming ground, expansive vistas, huge volcanic craters and sinter terrace formations. The natural bush setting adds another dimension to the experience as does the guaranteed daily eruption of the Lady Knox Geyser at 10.15am

Beneath the ground is a system of streams which are heated my magma left over from earlier eruptions.
The water is soooo hot (temperatures of up to 300 degrees C have been recorded) that it absorbs minerals out of the rocks through which it passes and transports to the surface as steam,
And due to the different mineral elements there are a wide range of mind blowing colors on show,
Green – Colloidal sulfur/ferrous salts
Orange – Antimony
Purple – Manganese oxide
White – Silica
Yellow – Sulfur
Red/Brown – Iron oxide
Black – Sulfur & Carbon

So get your Lomographic cameras out and go, the results of your pictures will be superb,
mine are still some of the best i have taken with my fisheye 2…. but there is one more thing you should know…

There is a downside…… IT STINKS! its know as the “Rotten egg smell” due to all the Hydrogen Sulphide (H2S)
Despite this it is still one of the best place’s i have ever been and its going to be hard to beat,

Do yourselves a favor and go!