Walking on the Crater of an Active Marine Volcano

Masking up for the volcano

From now on, it’s just a waiting game for that silhouette of an island with a distinct crater billowing out steam to get closer. As we get close enough to see various features of the island, the crew are handing out yellow hard hats and gas masks. Crikey, how dangerous is it going to be out there?!

Here we are, White Island! The boat anchors just off the shore and we load into a motorised rubber boat (sorry, we have no idea about boat lingo). The rubber boat takes four or five short trips to unload people at shore, then we step onto the rugged active volcano.

Stepping on Mars

After 285 days of being in lush forests, urban areas, snowy and glacier-covered mountains, rivers, lakes, and beaches, stepping onto the volcanic wasteland of White Island is another landscape trick up New Zealand’s sleeve. It feels like we’re stepping onto Mars. Smoke rages from the floor not too far in the distance and our next steps are going to take us closer…

Our guide, Kelsey, goes through a quick safety briefing, mentioning that it is not compulsory to wear our gas masks – we won’t be harmed by the fumes – but they will help stop our throats from getting irritated. With that, literally everyone takes off their masks… Such fools!

Getting closer to our volcanic destination!

A hotbed of geysers, colours, bubbling mud and more!

Following Kelsey’s footsteps as to not stand on something hot and steamy, we walk through a land vibrant with yellows, reds and oranges. Geysers great and small are lined with a yellow coating and constantly shoot out steam and bubbling muddy pools profusely splutter. The activity gets all the more crazy the closer to the crater we get until it gets to the point where the wind changes, we are engulfed in steam, and, hell, we wish we had our gas masks on! Everyone is spluttering and scrambling for their gas masks when our throats start to feel like someone is burning chilli in the kitchen!

We stop plenty of times during the 1h30min tour around the island with Kasey giving us heaps of insights into the research that goes on at White Island, as well as the island’s history and answering everyone’s main question: “Have you ever seen an eruption on the island?!”

Walking along White Island’s volcanic crater

The climax of our volcanic adventure comes with standing on the edge (or as close to the edge as health and safety regulations allow) of the crater looking down into a hotbed of activity. Green lakes produce rising steam, geysers add to the white clouds, and water spurts from under rocks. The place is teaming with photo opportunities that continues on our loop back to shore.

Along the way, we compare the taste of volcano juice straight from the hot streams, as well as stopping at the remains of a mining building coated in orange. It all adds to the effect this weird and wonderful volcanic wasteland has.