Saturday, January 19, 2008

White Island

"So what did you do for excitement today?"

"Not much . . .
just went for a boat ride . . .
and then a walk . . ."















A four hour boat ride in the South Pacific Ocean,
with enough winds and underwater turbulence to create a 15 foot swell!



































Two whales came out to help!



Getting closer to the Island . . .















Landing on White Island, shuttled in a small rubber raft to a rock reef.






























and then a 2 hour hike across a barren hot steaming island with landscapes of seeping molten sulphate, boiling mud pools and smoking volcanic ash!









Finally reaching the edge of a FRICKEN ACTIVE VOLCANO ! ! !



Crater Lake on White Island.



On the "edge" of an active volcanic crater at:
White Island in New Zealand!