Posted on 05/28/2004 2:44:57 AM PDT by Fast5
The concept of an eye-catching water feature took on a new slant for Shaun Payne when a 25-metre geyser blew its stack in his back garden near Lake Taupo.
Mr Payne, who has lived in Tokaanu village at the southern end of Lake Taupo for just over a year, said the day began as normal. He said he was having a cup of tea with a friend about 9.30am yesterday morning when he heard a loud rumbling noise.
"There's an 80-year-old bore in the back garden we use to pump hot water into our hot pool and you can always hear the water there but just as my friend, Ian, went to look down it the water just shot up like a gusher and he only just got out of the way."
Mr Payne said the fearsome jet of boiling water shot 25 metres into the air and started raining stones, some as big as a man's fist, on to the house.
About five houses were also caked in mud.
"I'm a fifth-generation Kiwi and I have never seen anything like it, there was just a massive force underneath."
Last night the gusher was still spouting boiling water high into the night sky with no let up in sight.
"Someone told me there was one that went for 60 days once and then just stopped all of a sudden. This one has been going full blast all day and it doesn't look like it's going to stop.
"It's kind of a tourist attraction and we have had all sorts of people stopping to have a look, but it is a bit of a worry and I wouldn't mind if it stopped now."
Though specialists were being called in today to try and deal with the geyser, Mr Payne said he had been told to keep a careful ear on events during the night and to evacuate if the rumbling and trembling under the house got any worse.
This probably won't help real estate prices in his neighborhood.
There was another article about seagulls dropping dead and falling out of the sky. Whatcha want to bet this is the source.
The earth burping frequently releases Carbon Monoxide, sulfur dioxide, methane, Carbon dioxide and other poisonous gasses.
geology
Wanna bet the guy has a septic system?
NZ ping
I hate it when that happens.
We've a political party that does exactly the same thing.
,,, this sort of occurance is more common in Rotorua. Tokaanu is quite a way south for this sort of thing, but still very much in the geothermal region that runs out to White Island. Surprisingly, this sort of event doesn't really have an adverse effect on real estate values. My next buy will be a small ski chalet in Ohakune, south of Tokaanu.
excellent, do you all use geothermal heat in that area for the homes?
,,, hydro, wind and geothermal sourced power all go into the national grid. We have an interesting situation here. We're up for $NZ1,5b worth of upgrading for the national grid. The present [Labour] government's idea to fix it is to blame previous governments. They're running a $NZ7,4b suplus and want to give it away to buy votes from those on welfare instead of upgrading infrastructure like this and roading. There's one person on welfare for every four that work. During the 1960s there were twenty eight working for every one on welfare. This government released a giveaway budget last Thursday that sacrifices growth for welfare. Disgusting.
I feel sorry for you.... Is there a freerepublic site for you guys down under?
Very much enjoyed my visit to Rotorua. A real geothermal Disneyland, and I like the name, too, being a helicopter guy.
ping
I've think I asked you before, how far does $3500 a month (US) go down there....
,,, BUMP for Rotor-rua! The big money at present is going into regional areas where there's vineyards and short drives to the coast. More Americans are buying here now.
,,, it depends on what sort of lifestyle you want. If you're talking $US, I'd survive on that much, no problem at all. I don't play the casinos or anything like that. My wife and I eat out most nights during the business week though and that's not cheap. We have friends who come around with venison once in a while and we know where to go for the best firewood. Once you're down here everything falls into place if it's where you want to be. The isolation that put so many off the place is now it's biggest advantage. The only downside really is sitting on a plane for twelve hours to get anywhere. Like you, we're caught with high petrol prices at present and this is where your jaw will drop... there's about four litres to a gallon. Our gallon is bigger than a US gallon, BUT... a litre of regular is $NZ1,24 right now. A $NZ buys around $US0,62+/- There's the shock. However, we don't have to drive too far for anything and we don't run V8s all that much. There's a strong predominance of Japanese and European four cylinder vehicles here.
thanks for the reply....
Disclaimer: Opinions posted on Free Republic are those of the individual posters and do not necessarily represent the opinion of Free Republic or its management. All materials posted herein are protected by copyright law and the exemption for fair use of copyrighted works.