Hey!! You guys have a bit of a problem with one of your*ahem* mountains? Bit dusty you say. Watch out for the big chunks of "dust".

Everyone O K??

Yeah...I heard that one of the volcanoes on the North Island decided to have a bit of a cough, fart and buuurrrp.

If I read the map correctly, the nearest to the eruption site is Radar...and he is quite some distance north of the volcano.

Looking at the map, I reckon if Mt Tongariro and/or Mt Ngauruhoe ever decides to really cut loose, it is going to be one helluva mess.

Cheers, Vince

Are they sure it was not one of those aboriginals using his old phone to contact the spirits? Maybe he did send a message to March now...

And I think it's a normal reaction of mother Earth to say there are more than enough people now and that they are putting lots of pressure on her internal affairs...

Where's Elvis!!!

Its all good down under.
Im about 200 km as the crow flies from that chain of mountains but there are other geothermal areas a lot closer, Rotorua is only 100km and thats a lot more active than Ruapehu, Ngarahoe and Tongariro. I drove past Sunday arvo on my way home from seeing younger son in Palmerston North, I could see steam from the crater which blew, its not unusual to see steam venting so hopefully its just a pressure release and not the prelude to a major eruption. The main State Highway 1 transverses the central Plateau of the North Island and you drive within 20 km of the crater which let rip.
Elvis is in the South Island so he's well clear of it.
Major issues are ash clouds and which ever way the wind blows. Its a very isolated area with minimal population bar Turangi Taupo and Waiouru. Waiouru being there Main Army base for NZ, which reminds me I saw 3 LAVs next to the road on exercise which is bloody unusual. Our predominant winds tend westerly , but its winter so we do get big southerlys which would push ash plumes north towards the main urban populations of Tauranga, Auckland and Hamilton.
Can't do anything about it but be prepared in case the wind pushes it this way. When I was in Whakatane I could see 4 different volcanoes including White Island which has also had a minor eruption this week. Ive been on White Island on a tour which was fricking amazing. Up close and personal with a major volcano.

Geologically the North Island is one big mess of volcanoes, most of which ae extinct (so we hope).
NZ Geology Lesson 101
There is a distinct line of volcanoes both active and extinct running from Mt Taranaki through Ruapehu, Ngarahoe and Tongariro, it travels north east through the caldera which is now Lake Taupo which is all thats left of a huge explosion many centuries ago. It is believed that the Chinese were able to observe the duster clouds when it blew and it is rumored that the sound of the explosion travelled around the world. Anyway I digress, the volcanic line then travels up through to Rotorua which is a very active geothermal area, biggest tourist attraction in NZ, most of the Rotorua lakes are craters. Mt Tarawera is also active and erupted big time in the 1800s which destroyed the famous pink and white silica terraces which were a tourist site even back then.
The volcanic rift then travels to Mt Patuaki (aka mt edgecumbe) then through to Whale Island about 8km off Whakatane then out to White Island a further 45km out to sea. We know for a fact that there are a number of undersea vents further up as well which go all the way up to the Kermadec Islands about 500km North of NZ.
Auckland our biggest city sits on an ancient volcanic field and most of the hills and mountains near Auckland are extinct volcanoes and vents (it'd be bloody interesting if one of them coughed).
The South Island by contrast is mainly mountains caused by folding and faulting as the ANZAC Plate and Pacific Plates push against each other - basic tectonic plates theory.

So yeah were sitting on shaky ground and yeah one day it may go Bang....What can we do about it...nothing! Am I going to move....No.

Glad to hear your OK Radar.

Shaken but not stirred?
Glad to hear that all is good Radar!
Elvis you right mate?

THANK YOU for your concern but we are fine thankyou other than plurry wet!!!! still persisting down and section is flooded again.
my Mum lives close to the mountains and has seen it all before, no real dramas just ash thats a pain.

Break out the canoes again Elvis...hey...mount a punt gun on one...you could have a ball with that mate.

Keep ya powder dry mate, and NEVER trust rising water, especially if its flowing.

Cheers, Vince

Never mind the farting mountain - what about the 10,000 square miles of floating rock?

Thats the result of Australian paying carbon tax.
Farts.

English Mike wrote:

Never mind the farting mountain - what about the 10,000 square miles of floating rock?

pumice is similar in density to cork and floats wonderfully. it is not hard either and can be carved/sculpted easy as. it can be as fine as dust or come in large lumps, most lumps we see are smaller than a foot ball but I cant imagine one even house sized being a big bother to a ship as its so light. if it gets semi waterlogged it may be different but shouldnt be too bad probably just scrap the rust off as pumice is great for that job.

WOW...that is a massive amount of pumice.

Cheers, Vince