January 22, 2019
What an amazing day at Te Puia, our first geyser gazing experience in New Zealand! The weather was great, and we saw 3 major eruptions of Kereru Geyser and 6 eruptions of Pohutu.
Rotorua Thermal Holiday Park was within easy walking distance of Te Puia, and it was a nice break from driving. We left the room at about 7 AM and stopped to look at some mudpots near the golf course along the way.
We were the first people in the Te Puia entrance gate at 7:58 AM. We immediately headed to Pohutu. At the first overlook we could see that Prince of Wales Feathers was in eruption, and Pohutu was splashing. When we arrived at Pohutu the eruption was on, near start. We had the first 10 minutes of the eruption almost all to ourselves, and I got some nice videos of it backlit. The eruption went on and on, and I thought maybe it was in a wild phase. I sent a message to Tara Cross, who told me Demetri Stoumbos had seen long durations with 70 minutes on and 40 minutes off.
Sure enough, the eruption finally quit after 45 minutes or so. The first 15 minutes had high water, but then it subsided and did a lot of low surging. It did look a little like Clepsydra at that point.
Kereru was not doing anything. We saw a few puffs of steam but no water.
After watching a second Pohutu eruption we walked around to see some small mudpots, pools, and other thermal features.
We returned to see that Kereru had not changed. We walked to the other side of Pohutu to wait for it and see the eruption start from a different angle. We were waiting there for about 10 minutes, watching the preplay from Prince of Wales Feathers. Suddenly I saw a big column of water rise from behind Pohutu. Kereru!
By the time I ran around to get a better view, the eruption was over. Unless it started to do something during the 10 minutes we were out of view, it gave no warning.
Afterwards we watched a few minor eruptions, but none were very tall. 50 minutes later we noticed the minor play getting a little stronger. I started the video on my phone in hopes of capturing a better minor. The water column steadily climbed until it turned into another major! It was spectacular but the entire eruption was over in less than a minute.
2.5 hours later we were fortunate to see a third major eruption of Kereru. This time we had about 5 minutes of warning. The minor eruptions had quieted down, then suddenly became stronger before the major.
Our observed rule of thumb: strong minor eruptions of Kereru every 2 to 3 minutes will not lead to a major. It needs to have an extended period of quiet activity or very small minors.
We continued to walk various trails in the area to see mudpots and other thermal features.
By late afternoon I was really feeling the effects of the sun, and my feet were sore from standing all day. At around 4 PM the local Maori kids decided to go swimming and were climbing all over the sinter formations around Pohutu. I guess it is their land, so they are entitled.
Before we left, we went to the Kiwi bird house. That was a disappointment since it was crowded inside, hot and stifling. My eyes did not adjust to the dark and I never saw the birds. But altogether it was a wonderful day and I definitely want to go back some day. Our final stop was at the gift shop where I purchased some magnets and Heinrich got a geothermal book.
For dinner we had hamburgers in our kitchen cabin. We did not go anywhere afterwards for the evening since we were both bone tired.
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