POHUTU SLEEPS

Evening Post, Volume CXXVI, Issue 6, 7 July 1938, Page 11

POHUTU SLEEPS

IS BIG GEYSER "DEAD?

WAIKITE PLAYS AGAIN %

Three shots by the noted Pohutu Geyser in the Government Thermal Reserve at Whakarewarewa during May, 1937, have been the only signs of activity shown by the vent -for : a period of over two years, and for the past twelve months Pohutu -has been to all appearances totally dead, states a Rotorua correspondent. Great disappointment has been expressed by numerous visitors and overseas tourists that Pohutu has not played during their visit, but Waikite Geyser has taken a new lease on life in the past three or four months. The period of Pohutu's quiescence has coincided with the outbreak of two small unnamed geysers in close proximity to the larger vent, and ali though it is impossible to state definitely whether the activity of these small blowholes has any connection with the quietness of Pohutu, it is interesting to note that when the big ; geyser played in May of last" year the other vents subsided. Waikite Geyser, which was famous for its spectacular and regular disr plays many years ago, has had an exceptionally long period of rest. Towards the end of March the vent went jup in small shots, which have since been steadily increasing in power and size, playing on almost every day of Jthe week. Waikite now sends plumes of boiling water forty and fifty feet into the air. Owing to the height of the mouth of i the geyser, and the white silio«te deposit on the surrounding terraces, Wai- ! kite in action provides a stirring sight, and amply^compensates for the inactivity of Pohutu. Waikorohihi Geyser has also been very quiet since Pohutu subsided, bjut the Maggie Papakura; Geyser continues as a source of interest to visitors.