I am visiting Te Waikoropupu Springs, i.e. Pu Pu Springs, the clearest water in the world, except for a spring under the Ross Ice Shelf in Antarctica. They are also the largest freshwater springs in Australasia. This whole lake behind me is bubbling and churning as about 14 cubic meters of groundwater wells up from the marble bedrock each second at 7 kilometers per hour! The largest vent is 1.5 meters wide! And there are 8 vents in this main pool. Whew! Its pretty chilly water, but compared to Lake Superior, its a balmy, constant 11.7 degrees celsius. Oh, and once water enters the ground up in the mountains and starts trickling its way through crevices and cracks, it takes between 2 to 10 years for it to surface here at Pu Pu Springs. No wonder this place is sacred to the Maoris.