One of the first internationally known tourist drawcards was obliterated from the map on the very early morning of June 11 1886. Mount Tarawera in the Rotorua region erupted violently into life, burying nearby villages, including the well known Te Wairoa; and completely destroying the beautiful Pink and White Terraces not far away.
The unique Pink and White Terraces of Lake Rotomahana. ( http://www.anheizen.com/terraces/index. ... t=main.php )
Formed over thousands of years, the terraces were created when a geyser at the top of a sloped spilled over, forming layers of pools as the water ran down to the shores of Lake Rotomahana. The colours, subtle, brilliant and unique, were the result of the silica and minerals from within the volcanic earth. While the main pools were at the top of the slope, some 30 or so metres above the lake level - various pools were used for bathing and more traditionally by the Maori peoples for cooking and heating foods. Together, the terraces covered an area of about 12 acres, with the White staircases having the slightly larger area.
It is thought that upwards of 150 people lost their lives when the mountain blew. Actual numbers are not available, but included in the death were local Maori and European and other settlers and tourists. Ironically, one group of some 63 people survived the eruption by sheltered at the whare (house) of the famous guide Sophia - who had been present at a strange and foreboding incident while guiding tourists on Lake Tarawera on the lake barely two weeks earlier.
A tourist party near the White Terraces. ( http://www.anheizen.com/terraces )
Sophia was a guide on one canoe which was used to ferry tourists across Lake Tarawera to Te Ariki, where they would hike about two miles up and over to the smaller Lake Rotomahana, the seat of both the Pink and the White Terraces. On the morning of May 31st, 1886, two canoes set off early, they were paddled by local Maori and carried several tourists in each.
When about half way across the lake, the two tourist canoes encountered a scene they had never before. They were approach by another, larger waka, manned entirely by Maori in the traditional capes and feather clothing of war. While some stood in their vessels, proud and erect with heads bowed, others paddled silently - no audible sounds were heard by the tourist craft at all. When the strangers were hailed by those in the guided canoes, no acknowledgement was made, spoken or physically. There was not so much as a glance in their direction.
While the tourists assumed this encounter was a part of their expected entertainment, the encounter with the silent waka left the Maori guides and paddlers ill at ease. They resumed their course, and while the silent war crowd made their way across their path toward Mount Tarawera, Sophia and the other guide turned their canoes toward the inlet to Te Ariki. It weighed heavily on the minds of some Maori however, that the silent canoe made so exactly toward the tapu (sacred) mountain, a burial place of past generations. Many were sure no good would come of the encounter.
While nothing out of the ordinary occurred during that trip to the terraces, and even in the days immediately afterward, the local Maori and others were full of talk about the ghostly canoe and its crew. It was unanimous between all Maori at least, some of whom had been in the area 20 years or more, that such a sight had never been seen or mentioned before. As word spread, it was generally accepted that the vessel had been Waka Wairua, a spirit or phantom canoe. Its presence, as explained in local tradition, was to warn of impending death.
http://i73.photobucket.com/albums/i214/ ... e/old7.jpg
A Whare (traditional Maori house) at Te Wairua, where up to ten metres of ash buried homes and features. ( http://www.anheizen.com/terraces )
Although Mount Tarawera was well known to be active, and periodically on and off there were always rumblings from within its earth - no one could have tied those, and even the presence of the waka wairua to the huge eruption that would bury many villages and totally remove all sign of the famous terraces. The eruption could be seen as far away as Christchurch in the South Island, the explosion sounding much like a gun shot. Ash, hot rocks and lava covered areas up to 10 kilometres away.
Map showing Mt Tarawera's relativity to Christchurch. ( http://www.anheizen.com/terraces )
Not only were the Pink and White Terraces eradicated, Lake Rotomahana was filled with ash and drained of water. Although its now once again a volcanic warm water lake - the landscape is totally different than in was in the tourism days of the late 1880’s. Mounds and hills grew where once flatter land prevailed, and geysers stopped and blocked. Somewhere, perhaps the waka wairua waits to give another warning. And would the death of the Pink and White Terraces be enough to warn more people next time?
Further reading/references:
http://www.anheizen.com/terraces/index. ... t=main.php
http://www.virtualoceania.net/newzealan ... /terraces/
http://www.newzealand.com/travel/about- ... plodes.cfm
http://www.buriedvillage.co.nz/
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