Saturday, May 08, 2010

Waimangu

Another excursion I took was about a 20 minute drive over rolling green hills dotted with cows, sheep and deer from Rotorua.  Wai-mangu is a lushly forested gorge and is the worlds youngest geothermal environment, the only one created during written history.  If you click on the photo below you can read about how this area was created in the 1800's by huge volcanic eruption.


This is a silver fern frond, the silver fern is a national symbol for New Zealand and you see these beautiful trees everywhere.


The Echo Crater was filled with deep blue green water. The water has clouds of steam constantly moving  and making patterns across the surface.


This fast moving stream flowing from the crater lake and winding through the area looked very hot, I didn't dare touch it. I felt the rocks along the edge and they were very warm.
 

These sinter terraces were formed by hot geothermal fluids cooling as they flow over the ground.



The air is so clean and as a result the trees are covered with lichen. I have such a fondness for lichen after my years living in Austin, TX.

It was so interesting seeing the variety in shapes and colors.

7 comments:

  1. Cool!

    Again thanks for sharing:)
    jojo

    ReplyDelete
  2. Wonderful photos! Thanks for sharing on your blog.
    Juanita
    ps - My friend spoke to you at the Chicago show and brought back a couple of postcards of your work for me. She knew I was a fan. Now I can show your work to all my quilting friends here in Ontario. Thanks.

    ReplyDelete
  3. what an adventure you've had!! thank you for sharing!

    ReplyDelete
  4. It looks stunning over there, have travelled to many wonderful places at the Queens expense as RAF aircrew over the years but she nevers ent me to NZ.....lol
    Love the lichen pics too, it is a fascinating structure, almost like seaweed to me somehow!
    Do you have 'Coates' relations in UK ?
    Thats my maiden name Coates, Goerdie folk from necastle and the surrounding areas
    fab blog entry, enjoyed it, thanks

    ReplyDelete
  5. Liniecat,

    My Coates ancestors came over from England in 1620, from the Wilshire, Sarum area according to records. It is more than likely we are related somehow. As I looked into my genealogy several years ago, it is quite clear how so many of us are related. I found a line to King Malcom of Scotland and even Charlemagne.

    ReplyDelete
  6. Gorgeous photos! What an amazing ecosystem. How very unique. Thanks for sharing.

    ReplyDelete

This is my old blog, please visit my new website at www.judycoatesperez.com

Note: Only a member of this blog may post a comment.

LinkWithin

Related Posts with Thumbnails