As I said earlier, we left Auckland at midnight and, since it was a short sail to 
Tauranga, we were scheduled for a day of scenic cruising the Mercury Islands and White Island. Because these islands are so close to Auckland, we were there by sunrise even though we were sailing very slowly. In fact, we were sailing so slowly that the ship’s stabilizers were ineffective, resulting in a bit of rolling. I don’t think it really bothered anyone but it was definitely noticeable. The islands were scattered all across the ocean, just small chunks of land protruding from the water. It was very scenic, just as I had come to expect from the entire country.
Then around mid-day, we approached a much larger island situated by itself in the middle of the ocean. As we got closer, I saw what I thought were clouds or mist hanging over the summit. Then I realized that I was looking at an active volcano, with clouds of smoke billowing from fumaroles within the caldera. All of a sudden, White Island became much more interesting! As we sailed around it, the on-board naturalist came on the P. A. system and gave a little background on the island. Several attempts had been made over the years to set up operations to mine minerals (sulfur, I believe), but they were never commercially successful. Plus, the workers got sick so mining operations were abandoned and the island is now privately owned. One side of the volcano collapsed at some point, providing a great view inside the crater. Also, there is a small gannet colony there. And that’s all I remember about White Island!
Except that we sailed around and around the thing for more than four hours. The Captain said that we would stay in the neighborhood until sunset to give us the opportunity to take some pictures and that’s what we did. Actually, it was very pretty with the sunset behind the island but I can’t believe that was the reason for the long stay. I think that we just had to kill some time before heading for our next port.
Tauranga, we were scheduled for a day of scenic cruising the Mercury Islands and White Island. Because these islands are so close to Auckland, we were there by sunrise even though we were sailing very slowly. In fact, we were sailing so slowly that the ship’s stabilizers were ineffective, resulting in a bit of rolling. I don’t think it really bothered anyone but it was definitely noticeable. The islands were scattered all across the ocean, just small chunks of land protruding from the water. It was very scenic, just as I had come to expect from the entire country.
Then around mid-day, we approached a much larger island situated by itself in the middle of the ocean. As we got closer, I saw what I thought were clouds or mist hanging over the summit. Then I realized that I was looking at an active volcano, with clouds of smoke billowing from fumaroles within the caldera. All of a sudden, White Island became much more interesting! As we sailed around it, the on-board naturalist came on the P. A. system and gave a little background on the island. Several attempts had been made over the years to set up operations to mine minerals (sulfur, I believe), but they were never commercially successful. Plus, the workers got sick so mining operations were abandoned and the island is now privately owned. One side of the volcano collapsed at some point, providing a great view inside the crater. Also, there is a small gannet colony there. And that’s all I remember about White Island!
Except that we sailed around and around the thing for more than four hours. The Captain said that we would stay in the neighborhood until sunset to give us the opportunity to take some pictures and that’s what we did. Actually, it was very pretty with the sunset behind the island but I can’t believe that was the reason for the long stay. I think that we just had to kill some time before heading for our next port.
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