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Story: Hot springs, mud pools and geysers

Ōrākei Kōrako thermal area, 1859

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Ōrākei Kōrako thermal area, 1859

Austrian geologist Ferdinand von Hochstetter sketched a view looking north along the Waikato valley at Ōrākei Kōrako in 1859. It was later made into the coloured lithograph reproduced here. Later surveys have shown that he accurately placed the steaming hot springs. Many of the springs were flooded when the river was dammed to form Lake Ōhakuri in the 1950s.

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Te Ara - The Encyclopedia of New Zealand

Reference: F. von Hochstetter, New Zealand: its physical geography, geology and natural history. Trans. by Edward Sauter. Stuttgard: J. G. Cotta, 1876, p. 397

by Ferdinand von Hochstetter

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How to cite this page

Carol Stewart, Hot springs, mud pools and geysers – Unique geothermal fields, Te Ara – the Encyclopedia of New Zealand, https://teara.govt.nz/en/artwork/6475/orakei-korako-thermal-area-1859 (accessed 4 June 2026).

Story by Carol Stewart, published 2 March 2009.