After the disappointment of our first weekend trip arrangements going astray, we embarked on our explosive weekend with apprehension. We headed North in the Grape of Wrath, through a windy gorge to Whakatane. Maori pronunciation is something we are still very much getting used to, a few key elements we have picked up are that vowels are pronounced similarly to French vowels and 'wh' is said as 'f', so we were actually staying near Faka-tar-nay. From here we headed out early the next day on a two hour boat trip to an island that was entirely made up of the top of a volcano, otherwise known as White Island. We consumed multiple anti-sickness tablets in order to keep any sea nausea away, in turn allowing us to enjoy the waving seals we passed on our way.

The volcano last erupted in August 2013, spewing gas and boiling mud (it doesn't have lava). It currently has a constant low level of activity, meaning it is always spewing out sulphurous gas clouds, rumbles occasionally and has hissing, popping and bubbling bits. Before disembarking the vessel we were supplied with hard hats and a gas mask, which we all couldn't help but think was only for effect.

A short guided walk around the volcano took us past bubbling pools, sulphur chimneys and grumbling ground whilst occasionally being rendered breathless by the intense sulphur, necessitating the use of the gas masks (sulphur dioxide is converted into sulphuric acid in your lungs and so is considered slightly toxic). Our safety briefing had advised us to not stray too far as in places the ground was thin enough to fall through and you would boil in the pit below. Needless to say our group of 20 moved as one unit for the rest of the tour. The walk took us to the edge of the main crater, where turquoise fluid bubbled beneath us. The whole experience was really quite 'breathtaking'!

The tour wasn't without half-time snacks. We drank from the hot streams and were invited to lick sulphur rocks, which surprisingly tasted of sherbet! Maybe the fizzing sensation was our tongues slowly dissolving in acid but either way it tasted good and can't have been worse for us than Friday night cocktails at Greg's parent's house.

The following day was spent on an epic walk up sheer hillside with the most ridiculous map possible. An exact replica is shown below. The instructions failed to mention the near vertical scree slope we had to climb before reaching the summit, needless to say we were all overjoyed and ever so slightly sweaty when we saw the rocket shaped trig. We eased our aching muscles in a nearby hot spring, which to our surprise was a 50m swimming pool filled with bath temperature water with an overlying haze of sulphurous steam, before heading back to Gizzy.

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