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Sorry for the lack of updates AGAIN. I actually wrote this blog entry on Monday but for some reason it deleted it instead of uploading it and I couldn't muster up the energy to write it again!
Last weekend was amazing. We left for Whakatane on Friday night and met another girl from Liverpool for dinner. The next morning was an early start as the boat ride to White Island takes nearly two hours. After one and a half hours of sailing, the captain announced that the tide was too low to safely land the boat on the island and we had to turn around. We spent the rest of the day driving round the East Cape and then went back to Whakatane in the evening for pizza and a cinema outing (hint: NEVER watch Green Lantern it's awful). Take 2 of the White Island expedition was much more successful and we made it to the island via a bit of dolphin spotting and several gallons of vomit (not mine thankfully, although apparently I was looking rather green). As we got off the boat we were all handed a hard hat and gas mask in case of an eruption. The last time the island erupted it killed everyone on it, so this was not exactly reassuring! The island smelt really strongly of rotten egg and there was steam rising up from everywhere. White Island is the only place on earth with sulphur rivers and the toxins coming from them were so strong that we all had to put on our gas masks. In the centre of the island was a pool which was over 100m deep and reached temperatures of up to 85oC with a pH of -0.4 (which I didn't even know existed).
This weekend we are going to Rotorua, which is the 'geothermal capital of New Zealand.' I will let you know all about it when I get back.
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