Rotorua – Home of the hot springs

Rotorua smells like eggy farts. Fact. It may be a beautiful an interesting place but it does smell none the less. There is actually a reason for this other than people just dropping one wherever they want without concern for other people. The reason for the smell that is all around town is the Sulphur Dioxide that is released from all of the hot springs that are everywhere across town. Rotorua, as it turns out, is yet another one of the crazyly interesting volcanic odities kicking around New Zealand. Located on the North Island Roturua and the surrounding areas are a hive of geothermal activity that bring the tourists out in force.

The most bizzar thing about Roturua is the fact that the many of the main buildings of the town are actually really close to where there is current geothermal activity. When I say close I dont mean “a few hundred meters” as any sensible person would presume, I mean “oh the pavement over there seems to be bubbling”. It is a bit of a crazy scenario really that someone would build so close to the site of ground that they know is unstable but I guess there has been a town here for that long that no one really cares any more. In a few places car parks have been built and then spots in them seem to have started to erode with the hot sulpher water bubbling up beneath them.

Due to the town being so active there are lots of places very close to the town centre that you can go to see some of the mud pools and hot water springs without travelling more than 5 mins walk. Most of the pools are now fenced off due to their danger and issues that people could have, however back in the day it looks like people used to swim in them all of the time. From the sounds of it the locals used to have plenty of fun in the hot water, although as soon as you read the signs posted about you understand why they are now a no go area. The pools give off a mixture of Sulpher Dixodide and Carbon Dioxide which would give symptoms similar to laughing gas (Nitrous Oxide). The difference though in this instance was that they were actually laughing due to Oxygen deprivation which on occassion caused people to pass out in the pools which could then be fatal. In addition to this the temperature of the water cannot be accuratly guaged and can change over time, getting hot enough to burn. The thin crusts surrounding some of the pools is also quite unstable meaning that someone going close to just “take a look” could end up falling in which is never a good way to start your day!

The hot spring pools do look pretty epic though and as always my pictures do not do them any justice. The pools are quite deep with crystal clear, blue tinted water and some sections of the pools happily bubbling away while a layer of smoky steam and sulpher hover over the surface of the water, swirling around to give a kind of spooky view. In one of the parks they have built some special little foot baths that are fed from one of the hot springs. The water in the pool is about the same temperature as a nice bath, with the extra water filtering in being hot enough to leave alone to its own business. You do get a little feel for what is must have been like all those years ago when people discovered these amazing hot pools that they could jump into all year around whenever they wanted.

The main town of Roturua sits on the edge of a lake with the same name that has a rather interesting section to it. One of the corners of the late it packed full of underwater geothermal springs feeding the lake and making the water warmer in this section by a few degrees. Due to all of the sulpher in the water the water is actually light blue and cloudy instead of the deep clear blue of the rest of the lake. The best thing about this though is that there seems to be a clear line in the lake where the warmer cloudy blue water meets the clear cold water and seems to form a barrier as if someone has drawn a line in the sand and said “do not cross!”.

There are more crazy things around this town like gysers in bigger parks but they are a bit further away and usually booked with a tour so I am not sure if I am going to get a chance to see them while I’m here at the moment. Might have to take a trip back some other time to take in everythig else that is going on around here are there is plenty to see but doesnt seem like enough time to do it.