Whakatani, New Zealand
Sunday, October 15, 2006
We boarded the surprisingly luxurious cruiser (we were used to patched-up fishing boats in South America) and were quickly on our way on what turned into quite stormy seas. Emma had taken an appropriately named Ginger tablet to ease sea sickness and we arrived a little qeasier 3hrs later at White Island, an active volcanic island in the Bay of Plenty and named by Captain Cook because of the plumes of white steam from the crater. A dinghy ride ashore and we were issued with gas masks and hard hats (what they'd do in a volcanic eruption we weren't sure) before touring the steaming sulphuric lake, geysers, mud pools and sulphur mounds. The island has an unsuccessful mining history and there are several ruins of sulphur processing plants most of which (complete with miners) have been washed out to sea by landslides. Returning to the cruiser, Emma passed on the offer of lunch but accepted more sea sickness tablets that served her well on the very very bumpy ride to the mainland. We drove west along the coast to Mount Manganui and parked next to the beach to barbeque our trout, very tasty! Unfortunately the beachfront is also the cruising lane for 40 year-old men (fondly and locally known as "hoons") and their overly polished saloon cars so we moved onto a residential street for a better night's sleep.
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