During the 1800s the world-famous Pink and White Silica Terraces at Lake Rotomahana were regarded as the eighth wonder of the world and became New Zealand's first tourist attraction.On May 31st, 1886, a phantom canoe or apparition was seen on Lake Tarawera by both Maori (native islanders) and European (white settlers).
When the great Tohunga [priest] Tuhoto was asked what it meant he replied, "It is an omen, it is a sign that all this region will be overwhelmed." Tuhoto believed the local people had desecrated their sacred mountain and values.
Eleven days later, June 10, 1886, Mt. Tarawera erupted, destroying the terraces, devastating the surrounding landscape and villages with a loss of over 150 lives.
Mt. Tarawera lies over one of the most active faults in the world and as a result, New Zealand experiences an averge of 14,000 earthquakes each year. Mt. Tarawera is not one but a series of eleven individual Rhyolitic dome volcanoes that have been created over the previous 20,000 years from five separate episodes.
Today we hiked Mt. Tarawera today and took a few photos of the aftermath of that eruption as we know it today.
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