Taupo’s rogue bore

Published date06 January 2022
Publication titleTaupo Weekender
But this unremarkable hole in the ground is the site of the rogue bore, otherwise known as Bore 204, a now largely-forgotten geothermal crater created unintentionally and spectacularly by drillers exploring the perimeters of the Wairakei Geothermal Steamfield in 1960. What began as a well-drilling exercise using a drill bit and some casing became an uncontrollable geothermal eruption that went for nearly 15 years, shaking the ground around it, shooting plumes of steam into the air that were sometimes visible from as far away as Hamilton, and creating a tourist attraction throughout the 1960s

Nowadays the rogue bore is best-known as the name of a local craft beer brewery.

But in its heyday it was a fascinating reminder of the power of the geothermal resource lying beneath the Taupo district. Online encyclopedia Te Ara recounts how Rotorua-based journalist Ross Annabell dodged locked gates and warning signs to visit the rogue bore. As he described in Hot Water Country (1962):

‘Below us was a small steaming lake about 90 metres wide, set in a sort of crater about 15m deep, with earth walls which shook visibly under the continuous impact of some hammer-like subterranean force ... in the crater bottom a furious, steaming, boiling lake of dark grey murky water was in violent motion, stirred by almost continuous steam eruptions. The pressures built up every two or three minutes to a furious geyser eruption which hurled a column of dark muddy water nine up to 15 metres into the air, with an accompanying column of steam which shot more than 90m above the hilltop ... it was horrifying, yet utterly fascinating. We felt like running, yet our legs remained immobilised by mixed fright and curiosity. It was far more than a tourist spectacle; it was a feel, a pulsating, horrifying feel that reverberated through the very soles of our feet.”

A terrible year

In modern Taupo, the rogue bore is largely forgotten. But long-time locals still remember it well, including former head of humanities at Tauhara College, Jan Habib.

As a keen historian and former history teacher, Habib has kept photographs, newspaper clippings and scientific reports from the period.

Her father ACL (Lindsay) Fooks was the project engineer on the Wairakei power development project from 1952 until the early 1970’s and Habib says the whole family always took a close interest in what was going on at the project. Whenever a new well was opened they were there.

“We all used to go out and have a look, which you wouldn’t be allowed to do today,” Habib recalls. “And when they were opening a bore, Dad would say ‘it’s opening in five or 10 minutes’ or whatever. If you weren’t ready, you missed out and he waited for no one.”

1960, the year of the rogue bore, was “a terrible year for Dad”, Habib recalls.

In March, a different bore, Bore...

To continue reading

Request your trial

VLEX uses login cookies to provide you with a better browsing experience. If you click on 'Accept' or continue browsing this site we consider that you accept our cookie policy. ACCEPT