Champagne pool
Did you know that there is a Champagne pool in the world? Don’t get too excited, it is named that way because it bubbles like champagne in a glass. But it is pretty special anyway: it has bubbles of colored water and coughing, spitting mud pools and not only that, its excess water feeds another pool called Artist’s Palette, which is colored yellow because of sulphur deposits. Amazing right?
Champagne Pool is a hot spring located within the Waiotapu geothermal area in North Island of New Zealand. The name Champagne Pool is derived from the constant efflux of carbon dioxide gas, similar to a glass of bubbling champagne. The vibrant colours come from a rich deposition of minerals and silicate. The silicate structures around the edge of the pool are teeming with microbial lives.
The hot spring was formed some 900 years ago by a hydrothermal eruption, resulting in a crater 62 m deep and 65 m in diameter. Coloured water percolates up from underground, full of carbon dioxide, which forms bubbles near the surface where the water temperature is 74°C. At the edges of the pool, silica is lined with bright orange from antimony rich deposits that solidify out of the cooler water. Mercury, thallium, gold and silver are also deposited in the rocks.
Named as “One of the 20 Most Surreal Places in the World” Thousands of years in the making, visitors can choose one or all of three walks which take between 45 and 90 minutes.
Unique features include the world famous Champagne Pool naturally coloured springs, bubbling mud, steaming ground, expansive vistas, huge volcanic craters and sinter terrace formations.
The natural bush setting adds another dimension to the experience as does the Lady Knox Geyser which erupts daily at 10.15 am to heights of up to 20 meters.
 

More about booking travel to New Zealand