Conveniently located on the lakefront in Rotorua, a short walk from the centre of town will get you to the helicopter pad by the water. Rising gently up from beside the lake, you’ll set off to land on both New Zealand’s only permanently active off-shore volcano & the site of the largest eruption in New Zealand’s living memory, Mount Tarawera. Flying directly over White Island will give you overhead views of the active crater before landing on ‘the moon’! Enjoy a leisurely guided tour of this lunar like surface, seeing ‘fumaroles’, hot streams, vibrant sulphur formations and, of course, the steaming crater. Constant activity forms and removes features and the crater lake changes in depth and temperature regularly, so from one day to the next this landscape is different.
Your pilot guide’s expert commentary will tell you all you need to know, including about this privately owned volcano’s long abandoned mining ruins. The majestic Mount Tarawera volcano dominates the landscape inland & landing on it offers privileged views of the cavernous craters & domes revealing the power of the eruption in 1886, which devastated the area including the Pink & White terraces, once claimed as the eighth wonder of the world. This flight also takes in the stunning Lakes District and National Parks.