Alright this is more than a bit postdated (so much for my
promises). But on May 24th
my compatriats (Noel and Mark) and I set out for the 2 day drive to Whakatane,
which served as our launching point to White Island. We were able to spend 4 days on the island. Each trip involved dressing up in our
rattiest clothes (on a previous trip Mark managed to burn a hole in the butt of his pants from sitting on a bit too acidic ground), a 1.5 hr boat ride out to
the island, 1.5 hrs rushed fieldwork, and 1.5 hr ride back. It was a remarkably quick trip, but the island is
incredible. The entire place
steams and much of it coated with sulfur.
I definitely want to spend some more time on active volcanoes! My data has proven to be fairly
inconclusive at this point, but we’ll see. I don’t know if I can impart how excited I am about
this place, but maybe some photo’s will help.
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| Ruapehu in fine form on our drive up. |
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| Looking into the crater from the sea. |
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| Just an idea of the color scheme here. |
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| Even the walls be steaming. |
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| Walking to the crater! |
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| The average view of the crater (not a whole lot is easily seen). |
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| Requisite nerdy geo photos (assuming the other's don't count--which they should). |
