White Island is an active volcano about 30 miles off the east coast of the North Island, near the town of Whakatane, the most active marine volcano in New Zealand. We rose early to catch PeeJay 5 for a 90 minute cruise out to White Island. As the island grew on the horizon, steam being emitted from inside and slowly rising out the top started to become visible. On the yacht we were issued gas masks and hard hats for the tour. The hard hats may have been overkill, but the gas masks would soon prove indispensable. Upon arrival at the island, the yacht parked offshore a bit and we were (supposed to be) ferried to shore on a small inflatable dinghy, but as soon as we pushed off the boat for shore, the motor on our dinghy gave out. I, of course, was sitting on the front of the dinghy and got the privilege of paddling us back to the boat once we'd drifted away. No easy feat, mind you, considering we were fighting the wind and waves and loaded down with people.
Dinghy fixed and back on schedule, we bounced onshore and were greeted by bleak, otherworldy surroundings. I dug into the beach with bare hands and the sand became almost too hot to touch within six inches. A milky stream flowed past into the ocean. The overwhelming smell of sulfur flooded my nose, and steam was hissing from vents all around. It was powerful, and impossible to be completely at ease standing on such unstable earth, especially considering it had been an unusually seismically active morning. (The previous night we experienced 6 "feelable" quakes, but I only felt one.) We started our walk to the biggest steam vent and on the way saw bubbling mud pools and earth stained bright yellow from crystalline sulphur deposits. As we approached the vent, the the roar became deafening. The vent spat out incredibly hot steam at such an amazing rate. It was mesmorizing to stand and watch the angry earth spew out such massive volumes. At the vents the gases became intolerable and I was thankful for the gas mask. The fumes stung my eyes and nose and caused coughing fits. A short walk west of the vent led us to the central crater lake, an ethereal green lake of extreme acidity and temperature. At times hot enough to boil, and more acidic than hydrochloric acid (the pH is actually negative sometimes), it wasn't the greatest place to take a quick dip. Back down from the central crater onto the flats created by the most recent eruption and subsequent lahar, we stopped for a quick photo at some more of the bubbling mud pools then ended our visit to one of the creepiest yet amazing places I've ever been by climbing through the ruins of the sulfur mining factory that was destroyed by an eruption about 100 years ago.
ALEC WATSON
