Whakaari/White Island Wander (Bay of Plenty) Ohope, North Island, New Zealand
By G_G_G on 01-Dec-09. Waypoint GC2X2KZ

It has come to my attention that the CO is no longer active on Geocaching.com and is not maintaining existing caches. As such I am archiving this cache to ensure geocachers activities are not impeded. If the CO wishes for this cache to be unarchived then they may contact us and, assuming it meets the guidelines, we will be happy to unarchive it.

Fantastic cache, but it needs an active CO.

Completed the cache as required, but couldn't get the answers verified by the CO because it appears he is now an inactive user.

Will upload photos of proof of visit in a few days when I'm not on mobile.

Edit: photos uploaded.

This entry was edited by Wicm on Sunday, 13 April 2014 at 23:10:54 UTC.

Day 22 of our NZ Holiday brought us to White Island.
What a stunning place.
It was really incredible and we both enjoyed the walk on the Island.
Thank you for showing us this great spot.
Unfortunately we couldn't send a E-Mail with the Answers, so please contact us if you want to know our answers.

MfG
Coint82
26.02.2014 / 12:00

This is definitely one of the most stunning places on earth. We absolutely enjoyed our short stay on White Island and to solve the cache! The walk at on the island is very interesting and the colors are just incredible. It definitely deserves a favorite point from us!

Many thanks for this awesome cache and greetings from Germany

What a great place, love geocaching like that. Pure adventures, a good feeling, thanks for that!
We picked a windy day, a lot of people did´nt enjoy the travel on the boat, but on the island everything was great. Thanks and greetings from Germany

That was a really amazing tour on White Island, one of the highlights on our trip through New Zealand. We got stunning views. Thank you for the cache, La Vida

Beautiful day to visit today! Photos to come

Amazing place... Glad I had a gas mask though. TFTC (answers to follow in email)

The cache owner didn't respond when we've sent in the answers so I hope it's ok to log the cache now.
It was an exciting adventure to visit this island. The weather was perfect. We took many photos. One of the guides helped us with the missing answers.
Photo will be added later.
Cheers
Alina & Kalle

Wonderful trip with dolphins and a fascinating marine volcano

This is a fantastic active volcanic island. A great location for an EarthCache and hence deserving of a rare fav. point from me. We landed by helicopter and had a guide with us who knew a little bit about the geology (but not much). I was over here for a conference and took the opportunity to visit the island and see some geology - as it happens. I was not disappointed. TFTE melvilla

We did the trip to White Island, and it was spectacular!! Like nothing I've ever experienced before! I collected the answers to all the questions and have emailed them to the CO, hopefully they are right

Thanks for the earth cache in this amazing location G_G_G!

What an amazing adventure. To walk on an active volcano is so crazy. I cant believe, that some people work there....an it is a very strange feeling, if you know, that the last eruption was 3 weeks before..thx for this amazing cache

# 814

We visited the Island on our vacancies.
It was an unforgettable experience.

Many thanks to the team of White Island Tours who helped us to answer the questions.

Team BeAn

We had a fascinating trip to the White Island today! Very lucky we could go though, because the previous days the tour had been canceled... Definitely the highlight of our NZ-tour, although we have seen many other beautiful and stunning places!
TFTC!
PS: I still have to log 2 other earthcaches we did here in NZ, so this is my #400!

I've been looking forward to this cache since at least 6 month!
Our first stop in NZ after Auckland was Kerikeri. I told our host there about the plan to go to the White Island and he told me that precisely that day (20/08) he saw on the news that the volcano had erupted!
Ohoh...would it still be possible to do the tour??? Watching the news almost every day I noticed that there was no more activity at the volcano.
Arriving in Whakatane the tour organizer could not confim the visit of white island til the very last moment but not because of volcanic activity... They were worrying about SEATIDES and WEATHER conditions! (An issue I even hadn't thought of...)
Well today it has been D2,5T4,5! getting off & back on the boat, wasn't easy...Our guide showed and explained many interesting things to us... AMAZING! Thanks for placing an earthcache in this amazing, stunning, incredible, hazardous, breathtaking environment!
Greetings from Luxembourg!
[blue]+1 FP[/blue]

Answers sent to CO. What a beautiful and exotic place...imagine walking on a living volcano! t4tc

Went with Pandabär13 in Sun 2nd June to White Island! Have sent details to cache owner but no answer at all Well we have sent all the required answers and also will post a pic. Thanks for providing this cache on this Island. We had an awesome day in a special place! Tftc!

Hello Cacheowner. I have written you an Email with the Log answers. Did u Receive this Mail?

Visited White Island together with crispyhaugio.

Wonderful impressive place!!!
TFTC

This Earthcache has been a highlight of my caching to date.
It had always been on my to do list and now its on my Dun List.
Facinating the history of the Island and the history that it has faced over the past approx 100 years. The guides were great and made the walk about interesting especially with the stories that they told as part of the history lesson.

I especially want to acknowledge the family of the current owners of the island whose ancestor's reason for buying the Island was "I had always wanted to own a volcano!!!!".
May it long stay in private ownership and out of some government departments portfolio.

Thank you for bringing Mrs Dragon and I to this remarkable place.

Thanks for the Earthcache

What an interesting earthcache. We did the trip to White Island and enjoyed it very much. At the end of the trip, we had to ask one of the guides for the answers to some of the questions. At the trip today a journalist and a photographer was joining. They were writing an article about White Island. The article was brougth in "The New Zealand Herald" on the 4th of march. So now we figure at a Photo in a New Zealand newspaper. Great. Of cource we bougth a copy of the paper the next day.

Thanks for the cache. Greetings from Denmark.

P.S. Pictures will follow

/Fodtusserne

This entry was edited by Fodtusserne on Thursday, 11 April 2013 at 13:23:26 UTC.

This entry was edited by Fodtusserne on Thursday, 11 April 2013 at 13:24:05 UTC.

Without doubt the absolute highlight of our trip to New Zealand so far and what an absolutely unique opportunity to visit and walk around the crater of an active volcano!
Although it was a nice day, the crossings were pretty rough (or at least by my standards they were - a hardened sailor would probably be tutting and rolling his eyes at the conditions) but it was well worth the minor discomfort when we arrived there.
The landscape was barren but at the same time vibrant with colour from cream to yellow to orange to red in places, caused by amongst other things, the sulphur deposits.
To see steam venting at temperatures that would strip the skin from your bones close up was amazing and we were forever aware of the seething inferno that was going on under our feet.
The smell wasn't the best - after all what do you expect from air rich in carbon dioxide and sulphur dioxide, but there were two options to combat this. Either put on the gas mask provided, or suck on a sweetie!
The sweetie was the practical option and the gas mask for the photographs
A fabulous, fabulous Earthcache and a wonderful location which we feel absolutely privileged to have experienced. Thank you so much for this cache!

twomax

This entry was edited by twomax on Sunday, 03 March 2013 at 05:55:03 UTC.

This entry was edited by twomax on Sunday, 03 March 2013 at 09:46:34 UTC.

My other half and I visited White Island today. Boy did we enjoy it. I have always wanted to go to a volcano and today did not disappoint. The boat trip over was fairly rough and we both felt really sorry for one bloke in particular who was very sick.
The transfer from the big boat, to the little boat to the shore certainly got my heart racing. Thankfully the tour around the creators was much more relaxing and even better involved far less climbing than I was expecting. I have taken so many photos and cant wait to sit down and look at them all again when I get home. White Island certainly put on an excellent show for us, spurting heaps of gas and material into the air, making some really loud booming sounds and generally doing everything you expect a volcano to do, short of lava.

Thanks so much for the cache GGG. I haven't heard back from the owner nearly a fortnight later, so I am logging my find. Happy to rescind find if required.

Thanks again - LouiseAnn, visiting from Melbourne, Australia

This entry was edited by LouiseAnn on Monday, 11 February 2013 at 00:46:59 UTC.

This was the highlight of our visit to New Zealand! Thanks for having a cache here too! Confirmed our answers with our guide. Emailed answers. In disucssions with the guides, cacher/guide Ruruwha who was the previous logger was not on our boat today, though some thought they knew who that was.

Had perfect weather! Calm seas for the trip out (Momma Mammoth has no sea legs and was very grateful), we saw a large pod of dolphins! Amazing! None of the still pics turned out, but I'm hoping I can grab one or two from the video that was a little better. Just enough of a breeze to keep the steam wisking away from the crater.

Fabulous walk around the crater. Not sure what I was expecting but it was awesome! Looks like a completely different planet. The big ones were formidable. It was amazing to have these teen tiny little vents with steam coming up between your feet as you walked.

My blue cotton should bag turned quite green out there! Had a swim off the boat when we got back on board, and a quiet ride back to shore.

Posted a few picks -- have hundreds more. It'll be fun sorting them all out.

This was one of my most exiting days on my NZ trip. Leaving from Rotorua in the morning, I arrived on time and boarded the boat with my fellow other muggles. The boat trip was very enjoyable with a lot of dolphins swimming alongside the boat for some time. The sea was calm, the weather became better every minute.

On the island you feel like somewhere else in the universe, or maybe some millions of years ago. It was fascinating to see the Earth from such a different angle being so close by. We could not really see into the crater based on the steam and the wind blowing towards us. Happy to have the mask! The lake was dried up. Fast changing island!

Answers sent. Thanks for putting an Earthcache out here! It was really worth the visit!
smorp7


This entry was edited by smorp7 on Thursday, 07 February 2013 at 10:09:49 UTC.

Been meaning to log this for a while...I've been guiding (part time) on the Island with White Island Tours...most enjoyable meeting people from all over the globe.
The island is always changing, I was lucky enough to be on the island when it was erupting in August 2012, not big eruptions, the lake was flowing into the latest active vent and throwing out the muddy water and rocks, an awesome sight and sound.
At present that vent has a solidified magma dome poking out of it, something not seen on the island before....
Heaps of dolphins around the boat today, another big pod that wanted to play but we were heading for home after playing with their cousins....

We all know that we have a father and mother, but I had never known my father. I had looked for him several times, but without luck, but then one day, when I was sitting together with my friend Google, I came in contact with a guy, who did some genealogy. I contacted him and he could give me the information I needed. I found my father in New Zealand and a fantastic sister in Australia, so since start of the 2000, I have been in NZ and AUS many times.

I’m fascinated of Islands and since the first time I passed through Whakatane, I tried to come out to White Island. I tried four times, always by boat, but they were canceled because of bad weather.

The third time, I was told, that I could also go by plane or helicopter. There was no helicopter this day, but there was a plane. We were two, a Scotsman and I, and we had a really nice flight around the island, but of course we couldn’t land on the island.

The year after, I tried again, and again the boat was canceled, but this time I got a seat in a helicopter and got my wish fulfilled. Unfortunately, when you go by helicopter, you only have about 1-1,5 hour on the island, so I will try again to go by boat, the next time I pass by Whakatane.

Answers to questions forwarded to cache owner.

My cache #500

This entry was edited by Straddie on Wednesday, 28 November 2012 at 05:36:43 UTC.

The trip to the white island was the whole time on my to do list and fortunatly I found an other Aupair who came with me. We had beautiful weather and enjoyed the wonderful day and the amazing visit. On the way to the island I read some of the books on the boat about white island. So I found some of the answers there. But for the others I needed the help of the really nice and helpful staff. They were wondering why I want to know these specific questions and I told them about a the little game . It was really worth it and I was so happy that I did this tour here in NZ during my Aupair time. Thanks for that wonderful cache on a really breathtaking (in the true sense of the word ) and special place on earth! TFTC and greetings from Germany, searching_star

Ever since we knew we were going to NZ for our holiday, the White Island was on top of our list for the things to do. And when coming to Rotorua, one of the first things we did, was book a tour to White Island. We decided for the helicopter tour as this would be a once in a lifetime experience.
And I'm sooooo glad we did it. It was just wonderful! Words can't describe that experience. Walking on an active volcano, see how everything is still developing. We had a great tour guide who told us so many stories about White Island and how it is changing from tour to tour. Even she discovered some new hole on the island. We asked her some of the Earth Cache questions, but she was at a loss answering them and was curious why we would want to know such things. Not even scientists that she has taken to the island wanted to know such specific things
But google was my friend and the answers sent to the owner.
This earth cache is definitely worth a favourite point! Really loved the tour

Thank you so much for providing an earth cache at this spectalur place!

Ina aus Wien & stst.31415

In December 2009 we made a wonderful trip through New Zealand. One of our excursions took us to White Island - an experience that we will never forget!
We took a small helicopter from Whakatane - only both of us together with the pilot, who was also our guide on the island. As we are very intererested in geology as well as in volcanism we had for sure a lot of questions...

We got unforgettable impressions! This is why we are so happy that this wonderful place is now available as an earthcache.
(Answers have been sent to the co)

Thanks for this EarthCache from Germany,
LePetitDiable

#1500

Visited the Island by helicopter. A really enjoyable experience. For most of the time we were the only one's on the island. Have sent the answers to cache owner. TFTC.

During our holiday in NZ we also visited White Island and although the trip to the island was horrible ( strong wind, big waves,...[xx(] ), we enjoyed our stay on the island. It was fantastic!
This is really a great place for a geocache.
Sent answers to owner, thank´s a lot for the cache and greetings from Austria!

What a great way to celebrate my first half century. This trip was a birthday present from the family. Was glad to see that there was a cache associated with the island.
Saw a big pod of dolphins on the way over that came to play with the boat.
The sea was fairly flat which made for a comfortable trip, just enough swell to get wet if you stood up the front of the boat.
Its amazing that people lived and worked in such a hostile environment. The steam floating around the place discoloured a few people's shirts in the short time we were on land.
The trip back was a bit rougher but still good. Finished a good day with fish & chips on the wharf.

I trust the answers are on target.
Thanks for a great cache.

A geocoin visit

An earth cache on White Island that we will remember for many years to come. The crew of White Island Tours aboard the 73 foot 'Peejay V' were fantastic and knowledgeable. The sea conditions were a bit challenging but made reaching White Island seemingly appropriate for this almost moon-scape land. This was our second visit for Simon and Linda but our first for our son Ryan. We were just as amazed second time around and pleased we had made the effort. If you ever get the opportunity to visit White Island this is one of those "must-do" experiences. TFTC cheers SiLiRy

What a great cache in a great place. Of course this gets a favorite!

Tim threw up on the way over- (it was hard going), but the staff aboard were great and looked after us well.

The walk on the island was fantastic, and as we were asking our guide the questions for the cache I realised I was talking to a fellow geocacher- Ruruwha. What a coincidence. Funnily he didn't know there was a cache on the island, so expect a log from him soon!

What a place this is- beautiful and terrible all at the same time, and a dream for us- both interested in volcanos and the geology of the planet.

We've separately posted the answers to the CO, (sourced directly from our guide) so hopefully those are correct, but if not- let us know and we'll do the research to get them right!

Photos attached as to proof of being there!

Thanks for the great cache

We visited the Island in December by helicopter. A fantastic and unforgettable trip. We have sent the answers to the owner. TFTC

Decided to log this one because, on our whirlwind trip to NZ, we knew this one didn't need GPS co-ords, just a visit. We certainly visited! We came by boat - a pleasant trip over followed by a roller coaster ride on the waves home. The volcano is an amazing assortment of colours and sounds and smells. It's the first thing we talk about when relating stories of our holiday in NZ.

What a great day! Pilot whales and dolphins en route and then the Island itself. It was literally breathtaking at times. Hard to imagine men lived and worked here at one time. Many thanks to G G G for setting the cache and Pee Jay for getting us safely there and back.

We visited White Island as part of our trip to New Zealand in Mar 2006. This was before we began geocaching. We flew out by helicopter. Walking in the crater was brilliant but you couldn't stray from the set routes. We had to wear the gas masks when we were near the crater lake because you could hardly breath for the sulphur. Very surreal but would recommend it to anybody. All in all a fantastic experience.

This was an experience we will never forget. Definitely worth the trip.
We came by helicopter -- landed in the crater. Only needed the gas masks for a short time.

Answers e-mailed to G_G_G.

Amarakana

This experience is not for young children. We did need to use the gas masks for a short time period.

Came to the island by helicopter. That was an experience by itself.

Answers e-mailed to cache owner.

Shutterqueen

Found with JDSavannah. Stunning place!!

I have thought about a cache here for years, but the remoteness and how to find one while with a guided party has put me off. Great to see one here. Attached are a couple of pics, I know the log says no GPS pictures, but i think a geodetic one (Trimble R7) may be worthy of note ....this was taken during a deformation survey on June 14. The other is a suplhur cone/fumarole.

Answers to questions forwarded to cache owner.

Thanks and enjoy your visits.

Published

It was the best journey during my NZ Trip. Greetings from Germany