WAIRAKEI VISIT

New Zealand Herald, Volume LXXI, Issue 21991, 24 December 1934, Page 11

WAIRAKEI VISIT

GEYSER VALLEY MARVELS INTEREST IN THE SIGHTS TESTING BLOWHOLE'S POWER [by telegraph—special reporter! ROTORUA, Sunday The Duke of Gloucester visited Wairakei this afternoon. After lunch at the hotel, where the guests assembled to give him a hearty welcome, ho went through Geyser Valley, accompanied by Guide Martha, who wore Maori costume.

The valley of eternal torment, Vas one of the visitors described it, was oppressively hot under a lowering sky, these weather conditions making its thermal fury more awe-inspiring than usual. Already the Duke had seen the Lady Knox geyser en route. Under the influence of soap it played for some time. Photographs were taken by the Duke and members of his party, who perhaps did not realise what wonders of nature were ahead in his tour of Geyser Valley.

The Duke lingered at every place of special interest. He listened intently to what the guide had to say and asked many questions. The boiling cauldrons, the mud pools which went "plop, plop," and formed flower-like formations, the steaming vents and the hissing jets captured his attention, but it was at the pool of the dancing stone and the pink terrace that he stayed longest. Just before the pool of the dancing stone boiled into life Mr. Kininmont of the Wairakei Hotel suggested that the Duke and his party should stand back from the railing, in case the intensely hot water might throw farther than usual. It did so, and the Duke and his staff took two paces backward most smartly. So did Mr. Kininmont, but not in time to avoid the farthest splash. It was not enough to penetrate his clothing, and all was well, but unless the warning had been given there might have been a few blisters to nurse tonight. At the pink terrace, which is in process of formation, the Duke stavecl until the vent above discharged its foaming hot water down the bank. It was a beautiful sight. At this spot the Duke called for a special photograph to be taken.

When His Royal Highness departed from the valley he was at the wheel of his car, which drove to the blowhole. Here the intensity of the discharging force gripped the imagination of everyone. First the guide pushed a lighted torch to the edge of the vent and immediately the cloud of steam was intensified through the ignition of gases, though the effect of this as seen at night was lost. The guide then threw benzine tins into the jet and many of them were hurled high into the air, the Duke taking a moving picture of this strange sight. -Before he departed he tested the force of the jet by holding a bat-shaped board with one hand above it. So great was the power that it was impossible to prevent the board from being pushed aside from the blowhole.