A Trip to Australia and New Zealand
White Island and the Mercury Island Group
Between Tauranga and our next port of call we had a day of cruising - the high points of which were an active volcano on Whakarii (aka White Island) and the Mercury Island group.
The Mercury Islands (aka Iles d'Hausse) are located eight kilometers off of New Zealand's North Island's Coromandel Peninsula. As is the case with most of New Zealand, these islands are the result of volcanic activity. There are seven fairly large islands and a number of smaller islets in the chain and all of them are protected as a nature reserve. The largest island, Great Mercury, is the only inhabited island. It is owned privately and operated as a very exclusive and astronomically expensive resort.
The Maori knew the volcano as Te Puia o Whakaari which means "Dramatic Volcano." In 1769 Captain James Cook renamed it "White Island" because of the cloud of white steam rising above it. Whakaari is located in the Bay of Plenty about 48 kilometers off the coast of the North Island of New Zealand. It is, in reality, the tip of an active volcano which currently rises about 1600 feet from the floor of the sea. At the end of the nineteenth century and again in the early decades of the twentieth century, sulphur mining went on sporadically. Today it is privately owned and protected; however, properly authorized tourists and scientists can gain access to it. Because of the island's accessibility it is the subject of extensive study by volcanologists from around the world. It is also home for several bird colonies and the waters around it are rich in a variety of different kinds of fish and marine animals. Whakaari last erupted in 2000.
We spent the day on deck watching for birds and marine animals. We did well with the birds, but did not see any of the dolphins or other animals that inhabit these waters.
