We smelt the inside of the Earth long before we saw it. It stormed up our nostrils, scorched our sinuses like a giant helping of wasabi, and made us cough and splutter.

Scientists have turned to an intriguing place to source cheaper, more efficient energy - blazing-hot magma kilometres below the ground.

Camping 200m inside an active volcano is understandably hot. Abseil 300m beyond that and you're not far away from cooking. "It would be like running a marathon with a wetsuit on," Auckland-based Geoff Mackley explained to the Herald on Sunday this morning from a hotel in Port Vila, the capital of Vanuatu. "It's very hot," he said. "It really saps your energy -- it's just extremely hot." Mackley was back in Port Vila recovering after leading a week-long volcanic expedition alongside fellow Auckland explorer and photographer Bradley Ambrose and Chris Horsley from England. Video/ Daniel Hines, Geoff Mackley & Bradley Ambrose

The eruption of a volcano on a small Papua New Guinean island on July 31 has again wreaked havoc on the lives of its inhabitants.

Mt Ruapehu has again felt the rumble of an avalanche - this time at its crater lake.

Mt Tongariro - long considered a peaceful neighbour to the rowdy Ruapehu - is much more fiery than we ever realised, says a scientist sharing new findings today.

Holidaymakers heading for Bali have suffered another setback after their delayed Air New Zealand plane was forced to return to Auckland today.

Views of Auckland's famous volcanoes are in the firing line as big landowners and property developers seek changes to the Auckland unitary plan.

When is our next big bang? That's the explosive question a team of scientists are going to try to answer.

Southern Chile's Calbuco volcano has erupted for the first time in nearly half a century, spewing a giant funnel of ash 10km into the sky.

A state-of-the-art underwater glider - the first of its kind in New Zealand - is set to uncover new insights into our offshore environment.

The volcanic alert level for Mt Ngauruhoe in the central North Island was escalated to level one by GNS Science today.

Flights between Australia and Tonga should be back up and running by Wednesday after plumes of volcanic ash above the small island nation grounded planes.

Large ash cloud from a volcano in Tonga is affecting flights in the region, with aviation authorities issuing an alert.

Kiwi Simon Turner took toasting marshmallows to the extreme this week when he threw his rod out over an active lava lake inside Marcum Crater in Ambrym, Vanuatu.

At first blush the proposal to ban cars from the summits of Auckland's volcanoes seems outrageous; on reflection, not so bad.

Japan could be wiped off the face of the earth by a massive volcanic eruption some time in the next century, killing almost all of its 127m inhabitants, a new study says.

Rescue workers have found 30 or more people unconscious and believed to be dead near the peak of an erupting volcano in central Japan.

Many of Auckland's volcanic cones, including those at the Domain and Mt Smart, have gained official Maori names under a Treaty of Waitangi settlement.

Incredible footage of a volcanic eruption shown sending a powerful shockwave rippling through the clouds above it has been captured by a holidaymaker.

Cruise around or fly over the volcano at any time and white plumes of steam and gas sit like a cloud above, spurting from its craters, hissing vents, steaming fumaroles and boiling mud pools.

A volcano erupted yesterday in eastern Papua New Guinea, spewing rocks and ash into the air and forcing the evacuation of local communities, seismologists and reports said.

A spate of small earthquakes around White Island today is not unusual and is nothing to worry about, seismologist John Ristau says.

A NZ couple who swam for their lives when the Indonesian ferry they were on sank say their experience should serve as a warning to other travellers.

Land slips on Maungawhau/Mt Eden have prompted a call for the Government to help ratepayers with urgent restoration work on Auckland's volcanic cones.

Two Kiwi tourists who braved 11 hours clinging to their capsized ferry in Indonesia swam in searing heat and swift seas for up to eight more hours.

The Crown is gifting some of Auckland's most historic and recognisable assets - 14 volcano sites - to a group of 13 iwi and hapu.