Smelling Rotorua

Those of us who know it await it with bated breath as we drive into town, watching the faces of any first-time visitors we may have dragged along with us. As we enter city limits there are invariably exclamations of surprise and sometimes even disgust - because Rotorua is one smelly town.

 

The region sits on an area of thermal and volcanic activity where the crust of the earth is as thin as one kilometre in places. Boiling water with various mineral ingredients pushes to the surface in many locations, including in the public parks and streets. You can wander about the park and peer into blubbering mud pools and simmering cauldrons and hot mineral springs. It’s a singular experience to walk or drive the streets at night and see the white steam rising against the dark sky.

 

The thermal activity is of course the reason a town grew up in this place. Creepy as the geysers and holes may be, they provide a living for a good many of the region’s inhabitants. Acid waters from some of the hot springs are known to have eased rheumatism, and other alkaline springs serve for relaxation. Many residents enjoy a private spa in the backyard, which may be as simple as a hole in the ground where the water bubbles up.

 

Part of the lakefront is a sulphur landscape, sending up perpetual steam and hot odours while continuing to deposit silica where the mineral-laden water emerges. The main pools of the Polynesian Spa overlook the water and the unearthly shoreline, which is home to many birds who make use of the warm ground to heat their nests.

 

And yes, the smell is all-pervading: sulphur. Some say it’s like rotten eggs, but if so, then they’re freshly-boiled rotten eggs, and I’m not certain about the rotten part. To me, the smell is even pleasant, a harbinger of a good soak in a hot pool. Those who live there, however, must be prepared to pay the price for their luxuries: the sulphur eats away at metals and causes them to corrode at astonishing speeds.

 

The city sits on the edge of Lake Rotorua, which was also created by volcanic activity, and there are numerous other lakes and volcanos in the area - along with landscapes so strange, you’d swear you were on another planet. But I’m saving that for next time...