White Island and on to Auckland

I awoke at 7:45am this morning to ensure I had time for some breakfast before the trip.  I had a couple of bowls of Frosties (which I would regret later) and some juice before packing my stuff together and heading out.  I checked out of the motel and they said they would store my stuff whilst I was out on the excursion.  I then headed over to the wharf with my silver cone (this was in lieu of a ticket, as they are not using paper for environmental reasons) and my free gift (a bag containing sunscreen, sulphur soap, lip-balm and postcards) and awaited boarding.

Auckland Skytower by night

There were quite a few of us on the trip - about 15 'independents' (so tourists etc.) and a school party of about 30.  The kids all went and sat upstairs whilst the rest of us stayed downstairs out of the way!  We set sail at around 9:15am and the weather was pleasant and calm on the river mouth.  We past the statue of Wairaka on the Rock and headed out into the open seas.  White Island is approximately 48 nautical miles off the coast of New Zealand, which is a considerable distance in a small boat and when you can hardly see it from where you are.  It took about 1hr 20mins to arrive there, but this was the longest 1hr 20mins ever.  About 25 minutes into the journey we hit some weather, and the waves started hitting the boat and coming over the side.  Rain was coming down and the wind was blowing.  I started regretting having more than one bowl of cereals and began feeling very queasy indeed.  I was not the only one - an increasing number of people, particularly the students, started appearing towards the back of the boat in the open where I was sat.  Finally we all succumbed to the seasickness, and this lasted almost until we arrived at White Island.  Truly the most awful boat trip I have ever taken. 

Leaving White Island

However, arriving at White Island was a remarkable experience.  Looking around we could no longer see the coast of New Zealand and so it was just us and this active volcano crater in the middle of the sea.  We had to climb in an inflatable to take us to the land as the boat could not get close enough.  Climbing out on to the volcano was a pretty special experience - I could see the steam rising from vents, smell the sulphur on the air and the colours were amazing.  We had been given hard hats and gas marks before we arrived and these were needed.  The gas marks were mainly to filter the air when the steam got thick.  The steam was prone to giving temporary sore throats and causing coughing, but breathing through the mask seemed to negate this effect.  It did surprise me that only about 3 of us made use of these masks (not all the time, just through the particularly dense areas).  We had split up into the 'independents' and the school party to walk around, which worked well to keep us together and enable us to hear the stories about the volcano and those who had worked and died on it. 

Sulphur crystals

We walked around the old sulphur mining factory, much of which was destroyed in landslides that claimed the lives of those working there.  After one particularly vicious landslide, the place was just washed out to sea, killing all those there.  A week later a boat was able to get to the island and the only thing they found there was the miners' cat, who had survived.  Resourceful creatures, cats.   We then went around the crater looking at sulphur crystals, bright yellow in colour, and bubbling mud pools.  We then reached the actual crater edge and saw the lake (which had been rapidly evaporating into more of a puddle) and all the steam rising.  It was pretty awesome to be stood on the edge of such an active volcano.

Very sexy get-up here!

We spent about two hours on the island before heading back to the boat, where we were served with a packed lunch of both hot and cold items.  I was wary of eating anything, but was assured that the weather conditions were going to be much better for the return journey, so I succumbed.  Very nice it was too.  We then set off, checking out some seals basking in the sun on some rocks.  We enjoyed the sun and calm waters on the trip back and also had a good view of Whale Island - a nature reserve much nearer to the coast.  We arrived back in Whakatane at about 3pm.

I collected my luggage from the motel and then set off on my journey up to Auckland.  This was a 3hr45 minute stint and had been an unplanned part of my trip on this day so I didn't even have chance to check directions.  I blindly (not literally!) headed on up what I thought might be a good route, arriving in my least favourite city in NZ just as it was dark.  This did not help me find the hotel right on the harbour, because it was too dark to read the map.  When I did pull over, some bloke knocked on my window and offered me directions!  If someone knocked on my car window in London, I'd probably put my foot down and speed off before they mugged or shot me!!!  I found it in the end though and was thoroughly glad to have stopped driving!

White Island

Auckland further went down in my estimations when we went for a midnight stroll to walk off a late dinner.  Some couple, who clearly couldn't afford a room (and probably didn't know each others name), were just using the steps to get their thrills.  Nice to see Aucklanders are as cheap and classless as the chavs over in the UK!

White Island Crater Lake