We kept a close eye on the weather report today as we had booked a helicopter tour to White Island. On the way to the lakefront heliport we visited the Maori village and church first before “checking in” for our flight.
As flights were busy we departed 30 minutes late for a 40 minute flight to White Island, an active volcano about 100 Km from Rotorua. After landing and putting on a hard hat and getting a mask our pilot/guide escorted us on the crater floor along sulfur gas blowing yellow vents to the main active part of the volcano where steam rises 100’s of meters up in the sky. Most of the time there’s a lake here too but a few weeks ago in one night almost all of the water disappeared. Before we got back to the helicopter we passed the jetty where the ferry lands and the now abandoned mining building.
A walk in Kuiraui park, another geothermal area, ended the visit to Rotorua.