After lunch the
weather seems to be breaking a little and we head off for the Waimangu Volcanic Valley which we have both been keen to see.
We also see some impressive ‘waterfalls’ of silica formed by precipitation of the mineral rich hot water over the last hundred years or so.
The volcanic valley is
part of a series of active Rhyolitic volcanoes around the Rotorua area which
mostly manifest themselves as geysers and hot springs but occasionally have big
eruptions (such as the Mt Tarwera eruption at the buried village).
We are pretty much the
only people here but in true geologists spirit we head out and down the valley
anyway. Stopping off to see steaming hot
thermal pools and fuming fumaroles we have a great time seeing some geology in
action.
As we continue down
the valley we see every more impressive steaming pools covered in different multi-coloured
algae.
We also see some impressive ‘waterfalls’ of silica formed by precipitation of the mineral rich hot water over the last hundred years or so.
Altogether it was a
brilliant afternoon looking at some amazing geology and we even managed to get
some sunshine.
Mr M
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