White Island

Visit a live volcano

White Island 48km of the coast from Whakatane is New Zealand's largest and one if it's most active volcanoes. More than 70% of the Island is below the sea from where It has slowly risen over the past 150,000 years. Plumes can frequently be seen from the mainland rising more than 10km into the air. The island produces several thousand tonnes of toxic gas everyday making the island practically uninhabitable. A sulphur mining camp was based on the Island until a tragic landslide killed 12 miners in 1914. The mine reopened for a short time in the 1920's. The Sulphur was an important commodity used for fertiliser, exported as ore and used in the production of sulphuric acid.

If you've never experienced a real volcano before, and even if you have, visiting white island is something you should definitely put on your must do list! As you wind your way around the inner crater of White Island, you could be forgiven for thinking you'd just landed on the moon.� Hissing fumaroles emitting bursts of steam are surrounded by glittering yellow sulphur crystals.� Humans are dwarfed by steaming mounds and jagged, broken rock formations. Watch your step for pockets of bubbling mud and hot streams of volcanic wonder juice!�� Cautiously venture right to the crater's edge to peer down through eerie mist to a simmering lake of colourful acid A visit to White island is an experience you'll cherish for ever! Peejay tours depart from Whakatane daily at 9:15 am year round. They have an extra departure at 8am from December to February. The trip takes around 6 hours.

Links

Check out the following links:

• Visit White Island

All about Jandals

Jandals are the Kiwi equivalent of flip flops or thongs, (the kind you wear on your feet that is)! They became a huge hit in NZ after the 1956 Olympic games in Melbourne. An Aucklander came up with the idea after seeing the Japanese teams sandals, and created a kiwi icon in his back yard shed. The name Jandal is a hybrid of Japanese sandals. While you may have never heard the term Jandal before, they are world famous in New Zealand! More people buy blue jandals than any other colour.