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Greetings from Rotorua, New Zealand! Brian and I are enjoying our holiday in New Zealand, so posting regularly during the trip may be difficult, but I thought I’d let you all know where we were.
In the meantime, check out this volcanic island we flew into this morning!

It’s called White Island, and is apparently New Zealand’s most active volcano.

The island usually emits a visible plume of steam and often spurts clouds of ash that can be seen for miles around. There is intense thermal activity on the surface of the island with boiling pools, holes of sulphuric acid, steam and natural gas vents. Locals say that this is the safety valve for the whole thermal region, releasing pressure that might otherwise result in an eruption inland.

We flew in on Brian’s favorite helicopter, the MD500, and landed right in the middle of the crater! It smells about as bad as you’d expect, but the scenery was like no other place on earth.

Since today is Christmas Eve, we’re planning to participate in the Midnight Mass services at the local Maori church in Rotorua. Hope all of you are enjoying your own Christmas Eve and Christmas Day celebrations!

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