Skip to main content

Story: Hot springs, mud pools and geysers

Geyser before the Tarawera eruption

Image
Geyser before the Tarawera eruption

William Fox painted landscapes in many parts of New Zealand. This painting, probably from 1864, provides a record of one of the geysers at Rotomahana before the 1886 Tarawera eruption. It was called a ‘perpetual geyser’ because it erupted continuously.

Using this item

Alexander Turnbull Library

Reference: WC-037

by William Fox

Permission of the Alexander Turnbull Library, National Library of New Zealand, Te Puna Mātauranga o Aotearoa, must be obtained before any re-use of this image.

All images & media in this story

How to cite this page

Carol Stewart, Hot springs, mud pools and geysers – Geysers, Te Ara – the Encyclopedia of New Zealand, https://teara.govt.nz/en/artwork/6493/geyser-before-the-tarawera-eruption (accessed 4 June 2026).

Story by Carol Stewart, published 2 March 2009.