White Island/Whakaari

Although New Zealand is not consistent with my "Images of Outback Australia", I would like to share my images of this beautiful stark island. I share the horror of the recent dramatic events at White Island and feel deeply for the tourists who were visiting the island when this natural disaster unfolded. Most particularly, as, thanks to a generous gift from my daughter who was living in New Zealand at the time, Rex and I were given the opportunity to visit White Island way back in 2009. There are very few photos of people on my website however, I have included some in this gallery.

The North Island of New Zealand is home to thermal activity at other locations, the most widely known being Wai-O-tapu in Rotorua, which I also found to be an amazing place to visit, so White Island was not considered an extreme place to visit. We were told that the thermal/seismic activity was monitored.

The weather was not great in May, and we were the only passengers on the helicopter. White Island was deserted when we arrived. A small number of tourists did turn up from a launch a little later, however. This was one of the most memorable trips I have ever undertaken, and not only am I deeply saddened at the disaster of the eruption on White Island, but I am also deeply saddened that due to this eruption it is no longer accessible to tourists.

White island is situated in The Bay of Plenty, 48 kilometres east off the North Island of New Zealand. It is about 2 kilometres in diameter and rises 321 metres above sea level. It covers an area of approximately 325 hectares and is the peak of a much larger submarine volcano which rises up to 1,600 metres above the seafloor. In earlier times White Island was home to a busy Sulphur Mining enterprise which ended in the 1930s and rusted remains of the structures and equipment still remain on the island.

There was much to see in the amazing colours of the minerals and the thermal activity of the terrain.

I recall saying to the guide, who was insisting that we put on our helmets and gas masks, "Why do we need these?" And, as we moved around different aspects of the terrain, at least the use of the gas masks became obvious.