Bay of Plenty Times
  • Bay of Plenty Times home
  • Latest news
  • Business
  • Opinion
  • Lifestyle
  • Property
  • Sport
  • Video
  • Death notices
  • Classifieds

Subscriptions

  • Herald Premium
  • Viva Premium
  • The Listener
  • BusinessDesk

Sections

  • Latest news
  • On The Up
  • Business
  • Opinion
  • Lifestyle
  • Property
    • All Property
    • Residential property listings
  • Rural
    • All Rural
    • Dairy farming
    • Sheep & beef farming
    • Horticulture
    • Animal health
    • Rural business
    • Rural life
    • Rural technology
  • Sport

Locations

  • Coromandel & Hauraki
  • Katikati
  • Tauranga
  • Mount Maunganui
  • Pāpāmoa
  • Te Puke
  • Whakatāne
  • Rotorua

Media

  • Video
  • Photo galleries
  • Today's Paper - E-Editions
  • Photo sales
  • Classifieds

Weather

  • Thames
  • Tauranga
  • Whakatāne
  • Rotorua

NZME Network

  • Advertise with NZME
  • OneRoof
  • Driven Car Guide
  • BusinessDesk
  • Newstalk ZB
  • Sunlive
  • ZM
  • The Hits
  • Coast
  • Radio Hauraki
  • The Alternative Commentary Collective
  • Gold
  • Flava
  • iHeart Radio
  • Hokonui
  • Radio Wanaka
  • iHeartCountry New Zealand
  • Restaurant Hub
  • NZME Events

SubscribeSign In

Advertisement
Advertise with NZME.
Home / Bay of Plenty Times

Gaping crater wound left by lahar

By CARLY UDY
Bay of Plenty Times·
19 Mar, 2007 09:50 PM4 mins to read

Subscribe to listen

Access to Herald Premium articles require a Premium subscription. Subscribe now to listen.
Already a subscriber?  Sign in here

Listening to articles is free for open-access content—explore other articles or learn more about text-to-speech.
‌
Save

    Share this article


Rutted brown and white crevasses. Razor sharp peaks. Patches of illuminated white. Asphalt rocks unmarked.
As we near Mt Ruapehu's Crater Lake in Volcanic Air Safaris' Tauranga helicopter, the first signs of our lifeless alpine surroundings appear.
From our seats, myself, pilot Tristan Evans and Safaris' customers Geryl Archer and Robin Dutton,
are level with the clouds _ rolling white masses that disguise some of the central North Island's most beautiful landmarks.
The Blue and Green lakes sparkle _ luminous static running their way across the surface of the water. Without the harshness of the lake's space-like surroundings, they could be tropical seas.
Billows of smoky clouds give way to blackened mounds, some with strips of white wedged between their mountainous crevasses.
As our helicopter, a Hughes 500, hovers precariously above the Crater Lake, we get our first glimpse of what we came here to see.
The afternoon sun has got here first, and is creating shifting patterns across the still grey and milky water.
An unusual thin green liquid swirling in the middle of the lake catches our attention.
The perfectly formed crater is protected by blackened mountain ledges and our helicopter lurches and sways in the wind as I attempt to focus my digital camera.
Thick slabs of untouched snow are seemingly iced around one side of the crater.
The entire scene reminds me of the start of one of the Lord of the Rings movies, where viewers are given a drifting and moving birds-eye-view of the majestic mountains, Ruapehu, Ngauruhoe and Tongariro.
To the left of Ruapehu we notice the crater's gaping wound.
Soft and dark volcanic rock torn from its body. A drying trail of water leaving the rocky mountainside temporarily stained.
Tristan _ who occasionally teaches people to fly in this mountainous terrain _ circles the Crater Lake and we see the muddy, swollen Whangaehu River, swirling 8000 feet below us.
"It's made a mess of that river," he observes.
The sullen-looking river slithers like dozens of snakes in different directions down the valley, almost camouflaged by the soiled banks beside it.
Surprisingly though, the aftermath is not as bad as any of us had envisaged and the Crater Lake is fuller than expected.
Robin, owner of Tauranga's NZ Botanicals, makes the observation first.
The Tauranga businessman, along with Mount Maunganui retiree, Geryl, paid $850 each for the experience of seeing first hand the aftermath of the lahar.
Geryl sees it as an opportunity too good to miss. "It's a once in a lifetime opportunity really," she says.
Robin agrees: "I enjoyed it all."
We do not travel as far as the famous Tangiwai Bridge. Two-and-a-half hours in the air reveals a stark contrast between the landscapes we see. To get here we have travelled over hundreds of perfectly aligned forest greens, paddocks that resemble different shades of green patchwork, glass houses, power plants and the majestic Lake Taupo _ a rippling panorama of ever changing blues and hues.
Travelling into a head wind, we are bounced around. Tristan comments: ``It's a bit like going over the judder bars at 100kms ... hills are the same as sand bars with water.'' Cocooned in the helicopter, our large glass windows act as insulators. Rainbow colours dance around the cabin. Our hot house gives views to some of the most spectacular scenery the North Island has to offer.
On our return journey we all have time to reflect on what we have seen at the Crater Lake.
No-one speaks for a while until Geryl comments "that was amazing".
We all nod in agreement.
#If you are interested in a flight to the Crater Lake, phone Volcanic Air Safaris Tauranga 0800 737 700.

Advertisement
Advertise with NZME.
Advertisement
Advertise with NZME.
Save

    Share this article

Latest from Bay of Plenty Times

Bay of Plenty Times

'Sustained period of cruelty': Starship doctor slates child protection agency failings

Bay of Plenty Times

Eastern BoP mayors unite against council amalgamation

Bay of Plenty Times

'Mind-blowing': Chef's two-ingredient meringue breakthrough


Sponsored

Solar bat monitors uncover secrets of Auckland’s night sky

Advertisement
Advertise with NZME.

Latest from Bay of Plenty Times

'Sustained period of cruelty': Starship doctor slates child protection agency failings
Bay of Plenty Times

'Sustained period of cruelty': Starship doctor slates child protection agency failings

An almost identical case occurred two months after Malachi's death, the doctor said.

16 Jul 05:15 AM
Eastern BoP mayors unite against council amalgamation
Bay of Plenty Times

Eastern BoP mayors unite against council amalgamation

15 Jul 10:57 PM
'Mind-blowing': Chef's two-ingredient meringue breakthrough
Bay of Plenty Times

'Mind-blowing': Chef's two-ingredient meringue breakthrough

15 Jul 09:44 PM


Solar bat monitors uncover secrets of Auckland’s night sky
Sponsored

Solar bat monitors uncover secrets of Auckland’s night sky

06 Jul 09:47 PM
NZ Herald
  • About NZ Herald
  • Meet the journalists
  • Newsletters
  • Classifieds
  • Help & support
  • Contact us
  • House rules
  • Privacy Policy
  • Terms of use
  • Competition terms & conditions
  • Our use of AI
Subscriber Services
  • Bay of Plenty Times e-edition
  • Manage your print subscription
  • Manage your digital subscription
  • Subscribe to Herald Premium
  • Subscribe to the Bay of Plenty Times
  • Gift a subscription
  • Subscriber FAQs
  • Subscription terms & conditions
  • Promotions and subscriber benefits
NZME Network
  • Bay of Plenty Times
  • The New Zealand Herald
  • The Northland Age
  • The Northern Advocate
  • Waikato Herald
  • Rotorua Daily Post
  • Hawke's Bay Today
  • Whanganui Chronicle
  • Viva
  • NZ Listener
  • Newstalk ZB
  • BusinessDesk
  • OneRoof
  • Driven Car Guide
  • iHeart Radio
  • Restaurant Hub
NZME
  • About NZME
  • NZME careers
  • Advertise with NZME
  • Digital self-service advertising
  • Book your classified ad
  • Photo sales
  • NZME Events
  • © Copyright 2025 NZME Publishing Limited
TOP