The Pink and the White Terrace springs were around apart. The White Terrace was at the north-east end of Lake Rotomahana and faced west to north west at the entrance to the Kaiwaka Channel. Te Tarata descended to the lake edge around below. The Pink Terrace lay four fifths of the way down the lake on the western shore, facing east to south-east. The pink appearance over the mid and upper basins (near the colour of a rainbow trout) was due to antimony and arsenic sulfides, although the Pink Terrace also contained gold in ore-grade concentrations.