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Story: Volcanic Plateau places

Roadside Stories: The eruption of Mt Tarawera

‘The sky was lit by great flashes of flame …’ The 1886 eruption of Mt Tarawera obliterated the spectacular Pink and White Terraces, one of the world’s scenic wonders, and buried a number of villages. The disaster was heralded by an apparition of a ghostly canoe on Lake Tarawera.

Listen to a Roadside Story about the eruption. Roadside Stories is a series of audio guides to places around New Zealand.

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How to cite this page

Malcolm McKinnon, Volcanic Plateau places – Lake Tarawera district, Te Ara – the Encyclopedia of New Zealand, https://teara.govt.nz/en/interactive/35248/roadside-stories-the-eruption-of-mt-tarawera (accessed 4 June 2026).

Story by Malcolm McKinnon, published 5 January 2012, updated 25 May 2015.