Ronan the Vulcanologist

Saturday, March 21, 2009

Although we stayed close to home yesterday (Mark was on back-up call this week), we wanted to get away somewhere special for Ro's birthday today. Ro absolutely loves volcanoes - I think he's been fascinated by lava ever since seeing Star Wars Episode III, and he reads his volcano book almost every night. As luck would have it, we live right next to a belt of geothermal activity just east of us (which includes Rotorua), and there's a live marine volcano called White Island. To get there, we had to drive to Whakatane (the "Wh" is pronounced "F"), a little over an hour away. We got an early start, Ro especially - he woke up at 3am he was so excited about going to see a volcano, and wouldn't go back to sleep. Fortunately, he napped on the way.

The drive there was through some very pretty coastline and farmland, and we found the tour place without even looking at a map. Whakatane's not very big. They've got quite an operation going for the tours. White Island Tours has two boats leaving at alternating times, and their own motel, with a nice cafe (with some incredibly good croissants) and souvenir shop attached.

See link: http://www.whiteisland.co.nz/

Sherry thought for a bit and realized that this was Ro's first real boat ride. As we pulled out of the small harbor, past the iconic statue of a Maori girl at the harbor entrance, we watched New Zealand fade into the distance as we were served morning tea on the swaying, rocking upper deck of the boat. And Ro didn't even get seasick! Sherry, on the other hand, along with a couple of tween boys and a woman, got violently ill towards the end of the trip, which takes about 90 minutes. Dry land never looked so good, and due to her illness we were some of the first people ferried off the boat in the rubber dinghy. The transfer from the bobbing dinghy to the rock outcrop lined with rusty iron bars ("the dock") was a little tricky for Ro, requiring a helpful shove or two, but we all made it safe and sound.

Sherry & Ro on the Pee Jay V, pulling away from Whakatane

Ro enjoying the ride with Whale Island in background

Approaching White Island

We were all issued gas masks and hardhats to use on the island. The tour operators don't recommend the tour for kids under 8 years old, so Ro was the only young kid on the tour. We looked at today as a test of his maturity, since it required strict obedience for pretty much the entire day, as there was no shortage of ways he could have met an untimely end on this trip if he so chose. We are extremely proud to say that he passed with flying colors. In fact, he was consistently better behaved today than, well, before he could talk...lol. Although he got a little rambunctious towards the end of the boat trip back to the mainland, he was still in his happy place, with no whining in sight.

Ronan ready for whatever the island throws at him

Sherry & Ro on White Island

The interior of White Island is basically a desolate, almost alien-looking landscape, with steaming fissures, milk-white streams, bubbling pools of unnatural-colored liquid, bright yellow sulfur deposits, hollow domes of earth that can give way at any second, and a boiling lake - the color of which can only be described as green antifreeze. Most of the island is hollow, or at least VERY porous - you can tell by dropping a heavy rock on the ground and listening to the hollow "thud", which our tour guide demonstrated...at the end of the trip. The crater is constantly changing, with the biggest recent changes coming last November as a whole cliff face caved in to reveal a huge hissing vent. The island has gone through several failed attempts at sulfur mining dating back to the 1800's, and burned-out remnants of the mining factory can still be seen there.

The Hills at some steaming vents on White Island

"Follow The Yellow Brick Road"

Our tour group with a sideways-steaming vent in background

Ro likes the boiling green lake

Hard hat + scarf = Sherry Chic

Ro & Mark at a bubbling pool

Helping Ro across the stream

Ro at the old sulfur processing factory

No sooner did Sherry see the rocking boat from the dinghy on our return, than she began to get sick again. Over the course of about an hour, the rest of the passengers were loaded, some of us (i.e. Mark and some other passengers) went for a swim beside the boat in the key lime-green water, and lunch was served. Once the boat weighed anchor and started moving again Sherry felt better, as the waves weren't as rough on the way back. We got to see some of the exterior of the island on the return trip; a few parts of it were quite lush, with thousands of birds, but we didn't see a single scrap of vegetation in the caldera.

Waiting for the dinghy to take us back to the Pee Jay V

Mark swimming off White Island

Ro loved playing on the bow of the boat, although he had to be reminded more than once to "keep both feet on deck!" Eventually, he got cold (he had stripped down to just a pair of jeans and his hat), so he cuddled up with Sherry, who was already bundled up in her fleece, windbreaker, and scarf. Mark, meanwhile, was letting his bathing suit air dry on him.

Sherry & Ro sacked out on the foredeck

We got a real treat about 2/3 of the way home, as we encountered a school of dolphins. Simply magical! They were right underneath us as we peered over the bow - there had to be at least a dozen of them at one point, bobbing and weaving around the ship, and we watched them for a good ten minutes.

Dolphins cavorting off the ship's bow

Sherry was ravenous when we got to shore, since the little bit of lunch she had on the boat came right back up shortly afterwards. The cafe was closed, as was the nice restaurant next to the dock, but Mark lucked out and the Fish & Chips place was open. The fish was excellent, but Sherry's burger - uh, not so much. We got it as takeaway, and ate at the waterside park where Ro could play on the jungle gym. He's finally getting the hang of the "flying fox," which seems to be omnipresent at playgrounds around here - basically a metal ring on a track that you grab onto and works like a zip line. He discovered (with some coaching) that it works much better if you get a running start - no more getting stuck in the middle!


We were all exhausted when we got home, crashing on the couch with The Golden Compass on TV and some leftover pizza. A Saturday well spent...ahhhhh.