Round Trip

Rotorua Morning Post, Volume 2, Issue 313, 29 August 1932, Page 8

Round Trip

The famous Round Trip can be described as a summary of sigMs ranging from the most exquisite natural j scenery to grim volcanic desolation, ! and including the most historic area [ of thermal activity in New Zealand. Cars, in charge of thoroughly ! experienced drivers, leave Rotorua ' daily, the first object of in- ! terest en route to Wairoa being J the Government plantation, part of 1 a vast and successful afforestatiow scheme by which the Government and private enterprise are redeeming and putting to profitable use many thousands of acres of pumice land, which, until comparatively recent times, was believed to be sterile. The car, both on the outward | and homeward journey passes the boundaries of 10,000 acres of rugged country covered with a variety of useful trees thriving in volcanic soil, and a source of potential wealth to New Zealand. The great earth- ' qualce fissure formed after the erup1 tion of 1886, follows the road for I a distance of two miles; then comes j the Tikitapu bush, ahnost instantly ! destroyed by the intense heat of the . eruption, but now rapidly springing ' back into life and to its primeval magnifieence. The car then reaches the far-famed Blue (Tikitapu) Lake, and immediately afterwards the Green (Rotokakahi) Lake. Unique ; m colourings, especially when seen in the morning sun, the lakes present 1 a scene of enchantment enhanced | by their beautiful and picturesque I setting. Wairoa Valley, containing j the ruins of the village destroyed in ! 1886, next comes into view, and well I repays close inspection. The local- | ity is of thrilling interest and of J great educational value, and it was from this spot the terrors of the eruption were most vividly seen and experienced. Tarawera Mountain, across the waters of Tarawera Lake, presents a forbidding and threatening appearance; its desolate and gaunt outline recalling the tragic events of the fateful morning of June 10, 1886, when scientists contend a cubic mile of heated rock, lava, scoria, with flame and incandescent gases was ejected, spreading desolation over thousands of square miles. The eruption is graphically described by the guide who escorts the tourist by launch across the severn miles of lake. Superb views are obtained from the launch and many objects of interest pointed out. Disembarking beneath the shadow of Tarawera Mountain, a short journey on foot over bleak volcanic country littered with debris cast out by the eruption, brings the traveller to Lake Rotomahana. Slumbering beneath this immense sheet of hot and boili ing water are titanic forces that ; keep the lake in a state of uncanny suspense. From the cliffs to the right large volumes of steam escape from innumerable vents and fissures. The rocks are frequently shaken, and throughout the neighbourhood the i thudding and oscillation caused by steam and water pressure in the depths beneath are plainly heard and f elt. The launch, in charge of an ! experienced pilot, keeps to a safe : course and passes high above the site i where the two masterpieces of Na- ! ture, the Pink and White Terraces, ; f ormerly descended down the hillside. The launch lands its passengers at the foot of the wonderful Waimangu Valley. A walk of ( two miles through heat and thermal displays brings the traveller to the Waimangu Basin, and nearby, the formidable Waimangu Geyser, which when active, dwarfs every other geyser of which history has any record, in any part of the world. This perilous geyser, when active, throws a eolumn of steam, mud, and rock to an unprecedented height of from ! 1,500 to 2,000 feet. The eruptions and tragedies associated with this historic geyser are explained by the i guide. At the Accommodation House, ; cars are in readiness for the return J journey, the route traversing Earthquake Flat, and the western bound- ! ai-y of the Government plantation; | wliile to the left is the country over I which the early rival tribes fought ' pitched battles, and where the re- ! niains of primitivc defences and ' Maori pahs are still in existence.