This month I thought we would head of to Rotorua on New Zealand's north island.
Much of New Zealand is very like England, lush, green, beautiful and then there is Rotorua. Although equally as beautiful as the rest of New Zealand, Rotorua is famous for its boiling mud, hot springs, geysers and the constant smell of sulphate. It is located in an area that was once high in volcanic activity and the string of beautiful lakes that can also be found in this area are all volcanic craters.
The town of Rotorua is surrounded by mainly man made forests of Radiata Pine. It is one of the most productive forests in the world. The climate and volcanic soil in this area allow the pine trees to mature in only 25 to 30 years.
To the south of Rotorua is the Whakarewaewa State Forest Park. There are over 500 hot springs in this park and they occur in an area that is only 1 km long b 500 meters wide. The hot springs range from clear bubbling water to boiling mud. There are two main types of hot springs, chlorine and sulphate. In chlorine spring the water is usually clear and is discharged at near boiling point. Sulphate springs are highly acid and tend to form turbid water or pools of mud. They give off acid gases and can alter the rocks to form clay. All the geysers are chlorine springs. The best geysers are the Prince of Wales Feathers and Waikorohihi, with Pohutu being the most impressive. It often erupts of a height of 18 meters on average but can often reach twice that. Pohutu erupts frequently but at irregular intervals, activity by one geyser seems to affect the others and this suggests that they are call connected underground.
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