Orakei Korako Cave & Thermal Park
Summer Hours are: 8am - 5.30pm (Last boat trip accross is 4.30pm)
Winter Hours are: 8am - 5.00pm (Last boat trip accross is 4.00pm)
Summer hours are during day light saving time.
Situated on the Waikato River is Lake Ohakuri which is a Hydro-Electric power plant. Flooded in 1961 the earth dam is noted for having the largest holding lake of any of the Earth hydro schemes. Whilst flooding, the water was raised 65 feet in 14 days.
The Silica terraces which form the base of Orakei-Korako Geyserland are noted as being the largest mass since the destruction of the pink and white terraces on the edge of Lake Rotomahana beneath Mt Tarawera in 1886. At present there is up to 23 natural active geysers that play freely throughout the area with one geothermal consultant stating that Orakei-Korako has the greatest number of active geysers of any geothermal field in NZ, with the most variable and interesting changes of anywhere. There is a vast number of boiling hot springs to view as well as mud pools and extensive bush walks through areas of native flora and fauna. Possibly the highlight for most on the walk is the thermal Ruatapu Cave(sacred hole) extending some 120 feet down to a hot pool at the bottom aptly named “Waiwhakaata†meaning pool of mirrors. Its origin is still uncertain, but some theories suggest a giant hydrothermal eruption. The name “Orakei-Korako†is said to interpret into “Place of Adorning†where it is thought that the Maori women used the pool to bath and beautify themselves for ceremonies.
From earliest times the Waikato Valley near Orakei-Korako was occupied by Maoris of the Ngati Tahu subtribe of Tuwharetoa. By the early 1800’s the Maori population had congregated at Orakei-Korako, probably attracted by the hot springs, which were used for cooking and bathing. A diary entry for the 11 March 1850 recorded that the Maoris lived in this singular spot “to spare their women the trouble of procuring wood for fuel. They seldom light a fire; everything is cooked in the springsâ€. The date when the Ngati Tahu vacated Orakei-Korako to settle at other locations some 6 miles East is not recorded, but it has been suggested that they left after the eruption of Mt Tarawera in 1886, when great changes are alleged to have occurred in the hot springs. By the turn of the century all but two families had moved from Orakei Korako.
The earliest known route from Rotorua to Taupo for early European travellers passed right through Orakei Korako, and it was the existing Maoris who provided a dug out canoe for the river crossings. It was at this point in the early 1900’s that the geothermal area was established as a visitor attraction. To transfer the visitors across the then swift Waikato River they used the dug-out canoe, until in the 1930’s a wire strop and pulley system was erected across the river and a punt with a guiding rudder was used to catch the flow and propel the punt along the wire strop crossing from one side to the other side.
Nowadays since the Lake was formed access to the geothermal area is by power boat. The visitor attraction caters to a large number of both domestic and international visitors but still retains the beauty and serenity that it has always held.
