White Island

We walked through the living, breathing, killer crater of New Zealand's only active marine volcano. White Island is connected to the same system of volcanoes that rumble around Rotorua and Taupo. The same group that helped form the North Island and has been responsible for some of the world's greatest eruptions.

The shuttle picked us up from a hotel down the street and took us 85km, past Lakes Rotorua, Rotoehu and Rotoiti, Rotoma, and past Mt. Egmont, to the coastal town of Whakatane (fah-kah-TAHN-eh). Then a boat took us 29km to White Island. The boat can't actually dock at what's left of the White Island wharf... so we had to use inflatables to get to the actual island.

We spent about two hours trekking over the crater's wasteland, exploring the vents, the boiling mud pools and the crater lake. The lake is extremely acidic. In fact, on the pH scale, some scientists have placed it at -0.5... yes, even more acidic than pure acid. (On the pH scale, 14 is alkaline, 7 is water and 0 is acidic.)

The activity on White Island is actually relieving some of the pressure on the area's volcanic system. Without it, other volcanoes could erupt sooner... perhaps even in Auckland. Ngauruhoe, by the way, is being watched closely because it's due for some kind of "release."