Mudbath

Having been in the North Island for a few days, there is a recurrent theme of seismology emerging.  This is not the sensational stuff of recent events in Christchurch, but the harsh reality that tsunami or earthquake could happen in this part of the world at any time.

The town of Napier has its array of Art Decor buildings which replaced those destroyed in the earthquake of 1932.  However, the ground for a significant part of the town was under the sea before that earthquake!  Here in Taupo and nearby Rotorua, the world is leaking!  Gas and steam bubble up to the surface in all manner of places - some simply at the roadside.  There is no immediate danger, but everyone is aware of the fact that the power of nature is a more significant time bomb here than it is elsewhere.