Phil on Mt Maunganui near Tauranga
Eating ice creams in mid winter! 
So having not seen active volcanoes in Hawaii, my wonderful thoughtful husband picked me up from the airport as I returned from Hawaii and drove us down to the Bay of Plenty to visit White Island…..what a star!
It was an awesome trip. We travelled for 2 hours by boat out to the island, seeing a little steam cloud above it. Kitted out with gas masks and hard hats we set off for a tour of the island…seeing and smelling some incredible things. The crater lake was just so weird and mysterious….shrouded in steam and gurgling away. Steam jets just were hissing along some of the walls and then there were these incredible mud spots that just put Rotorua to shame. Although it hasn’t erupted since 1998 it certainly felt like it was pretty active.
Cooking dinner on the beach - forgot my wooly hat so had to make do with alternative headgear!
Sunrise
The island hissed and steamed away
Fully protected up!
Looking out over the volcanic landscape
In front of the crater lake - the levels are rising currently
Warming up my hands
Darth Phil
Yellow weird sulphur formations
Cheese!
The remains of the sulphur factory - 11 people died when White Island erupted
Back on the boat leaving behind the volcano
Relaxing that evening in hot mud baths near Rotorua