#28 - Walking into a Live Volcano

After two months in Devonport, which is in the northern part of the North Island, we were on the road again heading to the southern part of the North Island and then to the northern part of the South Island, before going to the southern part of the South Island.  Got that?  You should see the maps in our glove box!  Without GPS we might be spending the night in places we didn’t intend to visit.

So our first (intended) destination was a small town on the east coast called Whakatane.  We headed this way on the recommendation of several people we’ve met while in NZ.  What makes this area special is White Island which is an ACTIVE volcano that spits and spews and steams on a daily basis.

The first part of the adventure was the boat ride to get there.  It was only about 40 minutes but they warned everyone to take medication if prone to sea sickness.  At first everyone was laughing away the idea that one could get sea sick in such calm waters.  Then we got into some pretty good sized swells and they weren’t laughing so much.  About half way into the trip the crew started handing out barf bags to those who were turning a certain shade of green.

Jeff and I fortunately were not among them.  But about 15 people did leave their breakfast in the bags.

Te Puia O Whakaari, is the Maori name for White Island and means “The Dramatic Volcano”, or “To Make Visible”, depending on translation.  It is New Zealand’s most continuously active volcano during the past 40 years.  And it is believed to have been active for at least 150,000 years.   In 2001 an eruption blanketed the island with mud and scoria and a new crater appeared.  Two years ago, a small eruption occurred with ash emissions.

The exposed and accessible part of the volcano is only the peak of a much larger submarine mountain that rises a little over 5000 feet above the sea floor.  The crater floor is less than 90 feet above sea level.  That is why you can get there by boat and walk a short distance to the rim of the crater.

Many years ago sulphur mining took place here and you can still see the remnants of the mines.  A lahar, or violent mudflow, killed all of the workers in 1914 and since then the main activity of the island is scientific research.  And also crazy tourists like us who think it’s cool to be hot.  So we learned that they are constantly monitoring the volcano’s activity via surveillance cameras and seismographic equipment.   The island is usually on an alert level rating of 1 or 2 on a scale of 0-5.  Most of the time the “activity” is limited to steaming fumaroles and boiling mud.

                        Remnants of the old mines







So as we approached the island we were given an explanation of what we were about to experience as well as instruction on how to use our safety gear.  This included hard hats and gas masks.  That’s just in case the volcano decided to act “frisky” while we were there.  It can be difficult to breathe because of the strong sulphur smell in the air.

It’s hard to describe what a rush it was to actually be standing in an active volcano.  We found some bright yellow sulphur nuggets along the path and could see how the streams of sulphur marked the surface where we walked. The ground wasn’t really uncomfortably hot, but we did have to watch that we didn’t step into boiling water.

Our tour was guided the entire way and they paid special attention to how close we got to the rim of the crater.  No sitting on the edge dangling feet. No human sacrifices to the Volcano Gods on this day.

We were in for a special treat on the boat ride back to Whakatane.  The seas were much calmer, and we were greeted by several pods of dolphins.  They stayed with us for quite a while, jumping and frolicking to our great delight!