All of New Zealand lies in the Pacific Ring of Fire.   The Taupo Volcanic Zone extends from the Bay of Plenty (White Island) down to the Mt. Ruapehu in Tongariro National Park.   We traveled all down this corridor (it is 350km long by 50km wide) on walks and hikes.    It is still an active area with recent eruptions near Mt. Tongariro and lots of geothermal activity at various places along the way.   We took the opportunity to visit a geothermal park south of Rotorua where we could see a geyser, boiling pools of mud, fumaroles, craters, and hot water ponds.

The water was close to to 100 degrees C, sending up steam and some sulphurous gas.

Some of the craters were stained yellow from sulphur and smelled like rotten eggs.

We spotted a pied stilt feeding in one of the streams where the water had time to cool enough for wading.   The geyser was induced to erupt for an audience by adding a viscous fluid to the vent hole to increase the surface tension on the boiling waters below.

Click an image for a lightbox view.

In this area there are two large lakes (Rotorua and Taupo), both calderas of former volcanoes.   Lake Taupo is the largest lake in New Zealand (30 km wide).   The Taupo Volcano is the most active rhyolite volcano in the world (22 eruptions in the last 10 000 years).

Still active is Mt. Ruahepu the largest peak on the north island (at the southern end of the Taupo Volcanic Zone) with tremors still being felt in 2015.   Eruptions happened in 1995-1996 and 2006-2007.   We hiked around the mountain this year, on eruption alert while we were there (an article to follow).