White Island

I visited White Island on a guided tour. Although rather expensive at NZD200, the chance of visiting an active volcano was too good to pass up.

Aerial view of White Island (photo from http://info.geonet.org.nz)

White Island is located about 48km from Whakatane. It is actually an underwater volcano. The base of the volcano is underwater, and the "island" is actually the peak of the volcano that is above water. It is an active volcano, the last major eruption occurred as recently as 2000. The island is monitored 24/7 by a group on New Zealand scientists, and any increase in seismic activity is immediately known. The tour company had been operating since 1997, and no one had been killed by volcanic eruption (yet), so it should be quite safe.

White Island on the day of my visit.

Our tour departed Whakatane in the morning by boat. The journey to the island took 1 hour and 20 minutes. Even far away, a giant plume of gas is seen, rising from the island. As we learned later, this gas is 85% water vapor, so it's not very dangerous.

When we arrived on the island, my first impression was the barren landscape. There's not a single tree, not even a blade of grass on the island. Not a single animal, except a few birds in the sky. It's like a scene from Mars (or how I imagined Mars would look like).

Mars?

The next thing I noticed was the smell. There's faint smell of sulphur in the air, similar to what you might experience at a hot spring. As we got nearer to the central crater, where most of the volcanic gas came from, this smell got stronger. When the smell got too strong, it was hard to breathe, and we had to put on our gas masks.

Alien from Mars, or me in a gas mask?

We saw fumaroles, mudpools and many interesting features. Our guide explained that the volcanic veins were rich in sulphur, and there used to be a sulphur mine on White Island. The mining activity ended in 1933, and the island is now a nature reserve.

The island is a unique experience. It is not "beautiful" in the same way as Auckland Botanic Gardens or Yosemite National Park, but is uniquely different from anything else I've ever seen. Rather than describe it, I'd rather just show the pictures...

Desolate landscape

Is this fumarole?

Trekking across Mars?

Fumarole

Rich sulphur deposit

View of the main crater

Mudpool

Remains of the abandoned sulphur mine

View from the beach

View from the boat

Far side of the island, far from the volcanic activity. Green plants are visible.

Bonus: on the way back to Whakatane, we spotted dolphins! A group of dolphins swam next to our boat. They seemed very playful, and were jumping out of the water. A nice end to a wonderful trip.

Friendly dolphins 1

Friendly dolphins 2