There are two different ways that geothermal hot springs are heated. The most common way is non-volcanic, where the water is heated by geothermal gradient by passing through rocks that are very hot inside the Earth’s interior. The other way in which hot springs are heated is volcanic zones. Yellowstone National Park is an example of this. The water is heated by magma inside the earth’s crust. It is very common to have hot springs with temperatures near boiling point. When in a volcanic zone water is often superheated, creating pressure and steam, resulting in a geyser. The average temperatures of hot springs used for swimming are 98 degrees F (36.7 C). Flow rates of hot springs range from little seeps to rivers of hot water.

People have discovered therapeutic uses for the natural hot springs. Heated water is able to hold more dissolved solids. Warm and hot springs often have high mineral content, containing Calcium to Lithium and even Radium. With the warm water and its mineral content hot springs are a great way to relax your body.

Swimming in these hot springs can also be dangerous with several illnesses that are common. Hot springs create ideal conditions for infections to spread on the body. The common types of infections are Naegleria Fowleri, an amoeba that lives in warm waters, can also be the leading cause to Meningitis. Deaths have been attributed to this amoeba that enters the brain through nasal passages. The other two less common infections are Acanthamoeba, and Legion Ella Bacteria.

Rotorua is one of the world’s most spectacular Geothermal Wonderland’s, with five main Geothermal Parks. Whakarewarewa, has the largest geyser in the country, and is one of the most visited. Tikitere (Hell’s Gate), is Rotorua’s most fierce geothermal park. It contains whirlpools of boiling water, and the largest hot waterfall in the Southern Hemisphere. Waimongu is a tribute to the devastating eruption of Mount Taraweraover 100 years ago (1886). The park contains multi-colored lakes and stunning landscape. Waiotapu includes some of the most colorful volcanic features (NRA went here). Orakei Korako, the Hidden Valley, is accessible by boat; this park is lauded by Lonely Planet as “Possibly the best thermal area left in New Zealand and one of the World’s Finest.”

Meningitis is a medical condition caused by inflammation of the protective membranes covering the brain and spinal cord. The common symptoms are headache, and neck stiffness, along with fever, confusion or altered consciousness, inability to tolerate bright light, or loud noises. The way in which Meningitis is diagnosed is by lumbar puncture, which involves inserting a needle into the spinal cord to extract a sample of cerebrospinal fluid that envelops the brain and spinal cord. This must be treated promptly with antibiotics and several antiviral drugs. Without prompt treatment it can lead to deafness, epilepsy, and hydrocephalus. Ways to prevent getting Meningitis in hot springs are by keeping everything from your neck up completely dry. After getting out of the water, when drying keep your towel away from your face. Do not put your hands into your mouth, and wash your hands as soon as possible. Those are the simple ways to prevent a very harmful infection.

Note- Ross submitted some great photos and examples of NZ hotsprings.  Unfortunately, they were unreadable from our base.  Thank you Ross and readers for being patient as we sort out the bugs.

Recently, the New River Academy visited New Zealand’s Hukah Falls. Hukah Falls is a gigantic waterfall on the Waikato River. Before it was damned, the Waikato used to be the  biggest river in Austral Asia. Hukah falls is around 25 feet tall with clear turquoise water and massive volume all flowing out of a very narrow canyon gorge. It has been a sacred place to the Maori people for a long time. When I first saw it I was amazed at how gorgeous it was. The water was amazingly blue and clear and looked so refreshing. The water was too high to run in a kayak that day but it was still fun to try and pick out which line you would take if you were to run it. The place was probably one of the most beautiful places I have been to and it is just an example of the beauties of New Zealand and the Earth.

    The New River Academy has been going to many Maori related cultural activities and I realized I knew little about Maori religion. So I decided that for this blog, I would look up a few Maori gods and their creation story, which goes hand in hand with their gods.

Students visit a Maori Cultural exhibition. (c) Belle Burche

    The story begins with sky father (Ranginui) and earth mother (Papatuanuku) lay in a tight embrace. They had many children who lived between them in darkness. The children wished to live in light so they forced their parents apart separating the sky from the earth and creating the world we live in today. The Maori believe that rain is the tears of sky father for earth mother and that mist are sighs of warmth as her body yearns for him.
    After the many attempts it took to separate them some of the children began to wish that it had not been done and went into a practical war against the other children. The main one of these is Tawhirimatea, the god of storms. He has children of his own such as wind.  Tawhirimatea attacks the other children such as Tane, the god of the forest and Tangaroa, the god of the sea. All of these fear the attacks of Tawhirimatea, except one group, Tu, which is human kind. All of the gods are bickering now between each other, however Tu subdues them all except Tawhirimatea, the god of storms.
    Tane however decides that Rangi (father sky) should be appropriately dressed and so he searches out heavenly bodies such as the stars, the moon, and the sun and throws them up on to Rangi dressing him in an appropriate matter.
    After reading about this creation story I have begun to see many connections between the Maori religion and the Greek mythology. Both of them begin with the old gods who are the sky and the planet. And in both their children wish to leave and so in Greek mythology they kill them and in Maori simply separate them.
These connections between the two begin to make me question if there was a connection between the two cultures and if there was, what was it? Was it a common ancestor or just interaction between ancestors?

Students take a cultural field trip to learn about the Maori culture.  Photo by Belle Burch 

  Ta Moko is the permanent body and face marking by indigenous Maori people of New Zealand.  Unlike the tattoo or tatau, where the skin is punctured, the skin was carved by chisels, known as uhi. The skin was left with shallow grooves, rather than a smooth surface. This was an incredibly painful tradition and is no longer in practice today.   
 The Maori, who came to New Zealand from eastern Polynesia, used the moko to define social class.  The higher your rank within a tribe,  the more markings you would have. Means of gaining rank include being a brave or skilled warrior, and looking after the family. The one exception is that the son or sons of the chief of any tribe will receive his fathers Moko as birthright.
Apart from the clear display of social status and rank, the traditional markings were used to make a person more attractive. Women typically receive moko on their lips, called kauae, and their chins aswell. Men traditionally wear moko on their face, bottom, thighs, and stomachs.
The moko was largely abandoned in the late 1800’s because of the european influence. However, in the modern age, moko has made a comeback and can be seen on the descendants of native Maori tribes in New Zealand.  The moko is used by both men and women as a sign of cultural identity, and is common place on most parts of the body including foreheads, backs, necks ankles and calves.
With all the benefits of the modern age and the resurgence in ta Moko. There are also some increasing concerns. One of these is the use of moko by non-Maori people. Ta Moko is an important reflection of the impressive revival of Maori language and culture.
By Keegan Grady

by Michael Jorgensen
    At Solscape the New River Academy learned about the idea of embodied energy from Phil.  It is the idea that every thing produced has some energy taken out of the earth to create it and at some point some or all of that energy will return to the earth.  Some things made of oils can never return to the earth, and will never decompose, such as plastic, while others that are purely organic will return entirely to the earth, such as an apple.
    To start off with something familiar lets talk about a Bliss-Stick kayak.  The energy that goes into a kayak can be seen in its price. One can pro-deal a kayak for around 300 dollars implying that all the production cost (excluding design and mold making) can be covered by 300 dollars. Now to convert to some measurement of energy, that is depending on the current market, about  3 barrels of oil, or 100 gallons of gasoline. Now how much of that energy will ever return to the earth?
    All of the plastic will, by all practicable purposes, never return to the earth. Plastic is a huge polymer synthesized from oil and can only be recycled not decomposed.  As to the out fitting of the boat, some of that is plastic, but the rest is metal, cord, foam, and cloth. The cord cloth and foam are all just as bad as plastic, they are (unless it is cotton, silk, wool or another organic material) just as impossible to be returned to earth. The metal over time will eventually rust and return to the earth as oxidized ore, but that is a fairly slow process.
    So until a natural plastic is discovered (which will never happen because otherwise plastic would not have been made in the first place) what can we do to reduce our impact, as kayakers, or as people.?
    We can buy fewer kayaks (reduce), buy used kayaks (reuse) and try to  buy kayaks made from older kayak plastic (recycle). As people we can try to buy only things that we know will return to the earth. so don’t buy plastic bottles, polypropylene shirts, or any thing made from plastic and oil.  We must also try to use for as long as possible the things we have already bought, and then try to recycle them. Also as smart consumers we need to know the what it means for the earth if we buy a fleece made of 50% recycled materials or a wool sweater. (which would you choose?) Through buying the fleece you are creating 50% of it that will never return to the earth and taking half the responsibility of the rest of it, depending on how many previous uses the recycled materials had. If you bought the wool sweater then you are responsible for nothing. If it was finished with the environment in mind it should biodegrade entirely on its own.
    The current problem we face today is a complete lack of motivation for companies to be “green”. Without a effective carbon tax or cap and trade system companies only goal is to make money. But some people are attracted to a supposedidly environmentally friendly company, the new goal is to be economically efficient (usually not “green”) but to appear to be green.
    So for now we just have to do what think is right, (which is usually more expensive) and hope that Barack Obama sticks to his promise of installing a carbon tax, or cap and trade system, which if done properly could be a huge step in the right direction.
Some green and cheaper ideas
-drive less, bike more
-only buy one water bottle, and reuse after you have bought 10 plastic ones that is the cost of one reusable water bottle
-buy a fuel efficient car
-turn down your water heater at home from 140 to 120 degree

The Kaituna river area is one of the most unique and beautiful places on the planet. Our video class has spent the time documenting it to give you a look into this gorgeous place. I hope you enjoy it!