Lady Knox Geyser

Rotorua is the thermal capital of New Zealand. Geyser's and bubbling mud pools are plentiful. This particular geyser gets a helping hand every morning at 10.15am ! Heights of up to 20 metres can be seen and it can continue to erupt for up to an hour ! In 1901 the first open prison in New Zealand was established at Waiotapu, its object was to accommodate some of the better behaved prisoners from around the jails of the Rotorua Lakes District. It was a gang of these prisoners that first discovered the clearing in which the geyser is situated and that the bubbling hot water spring could be made to 'erupt' by adding soap. A fact discovered when they first used the hot water to clean their clothes in ! Rocks were subsequently placed around the base of the spring to enhance the eruption and over the years silica from the eruptions has built up to give a white cone shaped appearance.