{"id":1377,"date":"2026-03-04T21:00:00","date_gmt":"2026-03-05T04:00:00","guid":{"rendered":"http:\/\/sjs.sputs.com\/wordpress\/?p=1377"},"modified":"2026-04-02T19:41:08","modified_gmt":"2026-04-03T01:41:08","slug":"2026-day-41-rotorua-te-puia","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"http:\/\/sjs.sputs.com\/wordpress\/2026\/03\/04\/2026-day-41-rotorua-te-puia\/","title":{"rendered":"2026 Day 41 Rotorua (Te Puia)"},"content":{"rendered":"\n

March 4, 2026<\/h2>\n\n\n\n

Link to Heinrich's thermal observations: http:\/\/geysers.org\/wordpress\/2026\/03\/04\/observations-for-2026-march-04\/<\/a><\/p>\n\n\n\n

The \"day\" started early with a lunar eclipse with totality that began at about midnight. It was a beautiful and clear starry night in Rotorua: perfect observing conditions right from the back yard of the Geyser Lookout BnB, although the temperature was in the mid 40's. I bundled up and played with the settings on my phone to take photos at various exposures. I also took a nice photo of the Southern Cross. I watched the eclipse for about a half hour before going back inside to sleep.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

\"\"<\/a>
Lunar eclipse<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n\n\n
\n
\"\"<\/a>
Southern Cross<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n<\/div>\n\n\n

We woke up to another sunny but cold morning. The forecast looked promising with a warming trend on the way. Our geothermal activity for the day was to visit Te Puia, just a 5-minute drive from the Geyser Lookout BnB. We had booked the 9 AM tour, which involved a visit to the Maori Arts and Crafts Center followed by a guided tour into the geyser basin. Since we had already done the tour in 2023, I asked to talk to a supervisor when we arrived to get permission to skip the tour and go directly to the geyser basin. We were both eager to maximize our geyser observations. The supervisor agreed to let us go.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

We walked down to the bridge area where we could observe P\u014dhutu, Te Tohu, and Kerer\u016b geysers. Mahanga and Waikorohihi geysers were also active and visible, although it was harder to get start times and durations for them from the bridge vantage spot. Kerer\u016b was having minor eruptions every 2 to 3 minutes, so I started entering them into the GeyserTimes database.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Te Tohu, which is the indicator geyser for P\u014dhutu, was already in eruption when we arrived, and it was only a short wait before P\u014dhutu started its eruption. It was a great time to watch it since the tour groups had not yet arrived.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

\n