Found the "eighth wonder of the world", lost in New Zealand over a hundred years ago

Once upon a time in New Zealand there was a place that everyone who saw it was called the eighth wonder of the world. It was called the Pink and White Terraces, and it represented a picturesque landscape on Lake Rotomahana. In the 1880s there was a strong volcanic eruption that hid terraces. For a long time, their exact location could not be determined. But recently, an enthusiast who wants to restore the former greatness of the eighth wonder of the world, said he knows where terraces can be. And he helped him in this diary of the geographer of the late 19th century.

Buried beauty

Pink and White terraces in the Maori language are called Otukapuarangi ("Fountain of the Cloudy Sky") and Te Tarata ("Tattoo Rock"). The terraces were located on the shores of Lake Rotomahana, near Rotorua. At the end of the 19th century, it was a real tourist Mecca of New Zealand: travelers from all over the world came to these picturesque places, and they were not even afraid of the many-month journey that had to be done on a sailing ship in order to get here.

Photo: Pink and White Terraces in 1880 / Source: General Photographic Agency / Hulton Archive / Getty Images

Such popularity is not surprising. The Pink and White Terraces were formed by hot geothermal waters that came from two geysers near the lake and cascades fell along the hillside from a height of eight floors. The white and pink layers of silica, which formed terraces in thick layers, gave them names. White terraces were considered more picturesque and occupied an area of about three hectares. But tourists preferred the more compact Pink Terraces for swimming.

But this paradise idyll was disturbed by a volcanic eruption that occurred in June 1886. It changed the landscape around the lake beyond recognition and erased a natural miracle from the surface of the earth. A huge cloud of thin volcanic ash covered the surface of the terraces with a blanket of debris more than 15 meters thick.

The adventure continues

The exact location of the terraces buried under the ashes was unknown until recently. However, there was one enthusiast who believes that terraces can be literally pulled out of the ground and returned to people. This is Rex Bunn, a researcher daydreaming in Pink and White terraces.

He joined the work of an international research group in 2011, when scientists suggested that pink stones found at the bottom of the lake may belong to long-lost terraces. This prompted Bann in 2014 to launch a project to drain the lake and restore the terraces, the cost of which was estimated at $ 6 million. However, scientists dissuaded him, noting that lowering the water level in the lake could lead to new eruptions of magma.

In the photo: Lake Rotomahana today

However, Bann accidentally stumbled upon the diary of geographer Ferdinand von Hochstetter. This researcher was hired by the Austro-Hungarian Empire in 1859 to join the expedition to study the South Seas. When they arrived in New Zealand, the colonial government asked von Hochstetter to conduct research on the North Island. He spent many months on the island and documented the exact position of the Pink and White Terraces.

Scientists have indicated 10 signs of this place. Most of them were destroyed by a volcano, but some remained. Based on these, Bann came to the conclusion that the terraces are not at the bottom of the lake, but on the shore, covered with only 15 meters of volcanic deposits. He is already negotiating with the indigenous tribes who own this land in order to make radar and drilling surveys of the area, and in the future to restore some of its former splendor.