An Awesome Spectacle

Waipukurau Press, Volume XXVI, Issue 33, 20 February 1931, Page 5

An Awesome Spectacle

ACTIVITY AT WAIRAKEI. SEVERAL GEYSERS BUSY. AUCKLAND, Last Night. A large geyser, described as being like a miniature Wainnuigu, broke out. in the Wairakei Valley to-day, according to advice received in Auckland. The new centre of thermal ac- . tivity is just off the Pink Terraces in the geyser valley. Like practically all the other geysers in the valley it plays with almost uncanny regularity, and every four hours. Yesterday it shot large quantities of mud and stone into the air at a height about 150 feet. The geyser, as yet unnamed, is said to provide an awesome rather than a beautiful spectacle, but if it continues to play it should add another interesting sight to this unique locality. Nobody at Wairakei has any knowledge of a geyser having played from this spot before. It is also reported that there has been considerable activity in the crater of Ngauruhoe during the last few days. A dense volume of black smoke has been seen rising steadily into the sky. Quite frequently volcanic activity in one centre of the thermal region is accompanied by either increased or diminished activity in some other locality. The activity at the hot lake on the summit of Ruapehu, the Ketetahi Springs on the slopes of Tongariro, and the crater of Ngauruhoe frequently varies in this manner.