White Island
Just after breakfast White Island appeared on the horizon, dolphins and flying-fish escorted us in, and as we approach plumes of steam were visible from many miles off. Lying at the northern end of the Taupo-Rotorua volcanic zone, part of the Pacific-rim-of-fire, it often emits clouds of steam and the occasional spurt of ash laden cloud can be seen over the island. Its Maori name is Whakaari (to make visible) and Capt. Cook gave the volcano its English name in 1769, inspired by the dense clouds of smoke or steam.
At the end of the 19th century, there was a huge demand for sulphur for farm fertilizer, and the first sulphur was mined on White Island in the early 1880s. An eruption on September 1914 caused a mudflow that swept the mining settlement out to sea, leaving only the cat alive and no trace of the 12 people that work there. Parts of the abandoned workings could be seen when we landed on the south-eastern side of the island. The White Island Sulphur Company gave the island to the farther of the present owner and in 1953 it was declared a Private Scenic Reserve, now administered by the Department of Conservation.
Wildlife abounds around the island, a colony of Australasian Gannets has established, petrels and other seabirds nest on the nearby islands and rock stacks including Whale Island; smaller but again an active volcano.
On a lighter note, second cups of coffee were not in demand at breakfast as White Island has a complete almost barren landscape with a complete lack of bathroom facilities.
