THERMAL WONDERS

Dominion, Volume 27, Issue 70, 15 December 1933, Page 24 (Supplement)

THERMAL WONDERS

Geysers at Wairakei FAMOUS BLOW-HOLE Of all the tourist resorts in New Zealand, Taupo is one that has the greatest variety of attractions, for, not only is it popular as a fishing resort, but it is also far-famed for the beauty of its scenic attractions, for its sports facilities, and for the thermal wonders that abound in the district. At Toupa itself, among other thermal activities, is the famous Crow’s Nest Geyser, one of the chief sights of the district. Then, but five miles from tjie lake, is Wairakei, with its worldrenowned Geyser Valley, and its natural hot mineral swimming' baths. Wairakei contains so many wonders that to describe them adequately would take a volume. The following description, written by “The Phrar,” in “The N.Z. Home Pictorial,” gives one a fair idea of the wonders of the place:— “Quite close to Geyser House is the ever-popular hot mineral swimming bath. Here, indeed, in running mineral water of great health-giving values, is something to revel in. For the tired, nerve-wracked business man this bath at Wairakei is better than all the pills and potions devised since time began. If every careworn business man in our cities could spend a week at Wairakei once or twice every year, he would add yeares to his life and enjoy living them, too. But there is a golf course, and tennis and croquet, and walks mid sweet-scented pines, and trips galore to sights which make Wairakei one of the wonders of the world. Who could, in a short article such as this describe, for instance, the marvels of Geyser Valley? Here, grouped in a natural amphitheatre, are all and more of the better-known wonders of Rotorua, and all easily accessible in a comparatively short walk. Here are geysers and boiling mud pools, miniature terraces, and a host of marvels beside. Another short trip brings one to the Huka Falls, which impresses one with the mightiness of old Father Waikato when in angry mood. Below the falls are seething whirlpools which fascinate the watcher. Then, at night, is the never-to-be-forgoteen trip to the greatse wonder of all New Zealand—the Karapitl Blowhole. Here one is awed in watching the flying sparks which the guide feeds itno the roaring funnel of superheated steam. Nothing so brings home to one the staggering forces pent up in the bowels of the earth as this Wairakei wonder—Karapitl. The Maori guide tells the lenend assciated with the blowhole. It would spoil it to tell it here, but told in the light of torch, amid the scrub, with great Karapitl roaring like an express train in the near distance, the Maori legend casts a spell over the pakeha mind which lingers long afaer the trip is over. “One is not satisfied with seeing Wairakei only once. It haunts the memory with its charm, and the urge to see'it again and partake of its hospitality and feel its soothing atmosphere is vcery strong. For Wairakei is a world apart. It is not a collection of boarding houses clustered about more or less scatered sights. It is a self-contained little kingdom. Time, in this little inland fairy kingdom, flies on silken wings. The visitor from the outside world finds that he has discovered the recipe for happiness, and then pauses and tries to persuade himself that there is no such thing as business calling him back.” Memories of a holiday in Taupo and the surrounding district are ones that can always be called to mind with a great deal of pleasure; for where else in the Dominion can one spend a holiday among such a host of attractions? To the person with a camera the memories can take a more concrete form. Photographic studies in and around Taupo are to be met with everywhere. Looking at such pictures after a holiday invariably makes one want to revisit the spots where they were taken, and it is seldom that a person fails to return at least bnce to the wonderful inland sea around which so many happy moments can be spent.