Geology WoGE391

Orakei Korako, New Zealand

My first WoGe was posted on 1 August 2013 and found by Matthew on 4 August 2013 (54 hrs 34 min).

The white spot in the center of the picture is Orakei Korako. This is a geothermal area on the North Island of New Zealand. It is also often referred to as "The Hidden Valley". It is only accessible by pedestrian valley across the lake.

A lot of the geothermal attractions got lost in 1961 when the Waikato River was dammed in 1961 and Lake Ohakuri was formed. This involved a rise of the water level of 49 meters. Two large geysers disappeared under the water. One of them was Minginui Geyser, a geyser that sometimes erupted upto 90 meters!

Nowadays the biggest attraction are the Sinter terraces in various colours. But also the 35 active geysers and Ruatapu cave are worth visiting. Ruatapu cave is one of only two caves worldwide that are known to exists in a geothermal field.

Hopefully this WoGE contest makes you interested in this small, but very interesting geothermal location. I can recommend to visit Orakei Korako when visiting New Zealand. It is less known than the "big attractions", but very much worth seeing it.