Sunday, September 7, 2014

Green & Blue Lake Lookout

Blue and Green Lakes Rotorua - Māori names are Lake Tikitapu and Lake Rotokakahi. These two lakes in Rotorua sit side by side and yes, one is blue and the other is green.

There is a point in between where it is high enough to view both and on a good day the difference is quite marked.

Lake Tikitapu (Green Lake) to the left & Lake Rotokakahi (Blue Lake) to the right

Green Lake

Lake Rotokakahi or Green Lake, is one of four small lakes lying between Lake Rotorua and Lake Tarawera in the Bay of Plenty region of New Zealand's North Island. Rotokakahi means the lake of the shellfish "kakahi". Rotokakahi is sacred to Maori and Motutawa island in the middle of the lake is the burial ground of many Maori ancestors. The lake is privately owned by local iwi (tribes) and no swimming, fishing or boating is permitted.

The Green Lake is 21m (69ft) below the level of the Blue Lake. It has an outlet by way of Lake Tarawera (further along Tarawera Rd) which is then 98m (322ft) lower again than the Green Lake.

Blue Lake

Lake Tikitapu, the Blue Lake, is the closest to Rotorua and its clear, clean crystal blue water is popular with boaties, swimmers and water skiers. There is an easy walking track which encircles the lake with incredible views towards Rotokakahi, the Green Lake. A perfectly lovely spot for a picnic, there are delightful sandy beaches and grassed areas with barbeques and rubbish bins provided. is one of our more popular lakes that caters for swimming, water skiing, jet skiing, walking, running, biking, barbecues and all sorts of local events. It is one of our more popular lakes that caters for swimming, water skiing, jet skiing, walking, running, biking, barbecues and all sorts of local events.

As a collapsed volcanic crater, it is shallow as lakes go with the deepest section being about 27m. If you're looking at it from above, in certain lights it looks quite blue/aqua/turquoise in colour. This is due to it having a pumice and rhyolite bottom which the sun reflects up. It's roundish (about 5km) and takes about an hour to get around if walking at a brisk pace.