Volcanic attractions

New Zealand is a very safe country to travel around. Grizzly bears, venomous snakes and poisonous shellfish belong to other parts of the globe. Here, in the land of volcanoes, it's the scenery that has the potential to hurt us.

White Island or Whakaari, off the coast of Whakatane, is a steaming, sulphurous, living island still capable of throwing around a sizeable rock.

The island acts like a giant sponge soaking up rainwater which, after being heated a few kilometres below the surface, rises, hisses and erupts in spectacular fashion. The island is so unstable that sulphur mining was abandoned years ago. But tourists can come to the island on boat or helicopter tours and walk around areas of the volcano.

PeeJay Charters (www.whiteisland.co.nz) runs boat tours leaving Whakatane each day, weather permitting, for the 80-minute journey to the island. Once there, the company issues tourists with a hard hat and a gas mask before the two-hour tour.

Another spectacular volcano to visit is Mt Tarawera, near Rotorua. You can either walk up, or a four-wheel-drive tour company (Mt Tarawera 4WD)) will drive you to the top.

For a history of Mt Tarawera's 1886 eruption, look at the website www.buriedvillage.co.nz