December - Mt Yasur: an experience of volcanic proportions!

We finally made it to the crater of the world's longest, continuously erupting volcano .... hooray!  A bit of a challenging climb for me, but I made it. That was after an extremely rough, bone-shaking drive through the jungle in the back of a 4x4 cab ute - and then back again!  Let me tell you that by the time we got back to our bungalow, some 6-7 hours later, we ached in places we didn't recognise. We banged along volcanic ash roads damaged by rain which left deep washaways, detoured around even rougher spots which disappeared into deep gullies and along simple wheel ruts. Between partially vegetated black ash dunes, which were strange to our eyes, and across a vast moonscape of ash plains, we clung to the car frame until ........ there it was - Mt Yasur!  We were dumbstruck! It is simply awe-inspiring. 

Before we plunged to the heights, but hopefully not to the depth, of this mighty natural phenomenon we drove through vast ash plains. What a fascinating otherworldly panorama! The blackish ash is broken by swathes of pinkish-yellow hardened lava and on the fringes the jungle creeps in unrelentingly albeit slowly.  The rock is a strange consistency and the colours interesting - it all comes from the belly of our mighty planet earth. 

To the Entani tribe, who protect this mountain, it is sacred: the name Yasur means ‘god’. Before we could approach the mountain, a special ceremony was performed by the villagers to seek his blessing and permission. We also had to get the green light from the Bureau of Meteorology who continuously monitor the volcano's ferocity from near the crater.  The volcanic activity is reported as Volcanic Alert Levels from 1 to 5 - if it reaches Alert Level 5 the entire island is evacuated.  On the day we visited, Mt Yasur was relatively 'benevolent' at Level 2, but four days later it had gone to over Level 3 and Yasur made himself very vocal (and there was an earthquake which hit offshore). Then Mount Yasur was off limits to visitors because the volcanic acrivity was unpredictable and so the area way too dangerous.  Our visit was obviously meant to be! 

The ash plains are a panoramic moonscape. Fascinating!

The black ash is broken by swathes of pinkish-yellow hardened lava. Slowly slowly the jungle encroaches 

We were treated to a couple of ceremonial dances by the Entanai tribe. Once these were performed only by men but today everyone joined in.

Mt Yasur quietly, or not so quietly as it turned out, smoking. 

The colours of the hardened lava were beautiful

Yasur's crater hides behind this massive ash-dune. The slippery slopes attract a few daredevils including Jacky Chan. 

And finally the crater was almost in sight. One final slope before we could peer into the maw of this fiery giant. 

With Lindsay in front egging me on and Daniel, a darling local guide, ensuring I was OK from behind, I made it up the slope

Close to the rim - all smiles.

The safety railing is on the very edge of the  crater!! Thin bamboo sticks nailed together and painted white 

The ground fell away precipitously from the ‘guard rail’. If you went over that would be the end as it is a slippery slope with a very loose surface straight into the vents - there were two. Needless to say we didn’t lean on the rails!  Daniel, my darling guide from the local village, kept his eye on me and brought me little treasuers - sparkling jet, solidified lava thrown up into the sky by Yasur to fall tinkling around us.

The scene before us was spectacular, awesome, overwhelming, mighty, mesmerising - and very hard to tear yourself away from. Billowing smoke, gas and ash, molten fragments of the earth's innards, some huge, burning shapes the size of small trucks shot high into the sky only to tumble back in to the hellish vents which had spat them skywards. Fiery offerings to the dying sun. The entire time we were there the volcano huffed and puffed, groaned, crackled and roared. Quite terrifying yet absolutely mesmerising. After a few hours riveted to the spot at the crater's edge peering into not one but two vents, our joints had seized up and reluctantly we all trooped  back down to the 4x4s - in the dark. We were taken, still a bit dazzle-eyed, back to the Entani village where a huge feast of delicious fruits and other delicacies had been laid out for us. What a day! What a truly unique spectuclar humbling experience. The videos should make it come alive if only for a few moments! 

This was a safe, 'quiet' day but the volcanic activity we witnessed might give you some idea about the potential power of Earth's inner core, what lies beneath our feet. Four days later the ground shuddered as a magnitude 7.5 earthquake hit some way offshore to the west of us but it send small tsunamis crashing well beyond the high tide line just in front of our bungalow. That night and the following day there were storms and torrential rain but fortunately we only got one of two drops through the roof. It was a little exciting to say the least!  Exciting but a little unnerving.  That day the Volcanic Alert Level was over 3. The power of the Earth is something we can't ignore and need to comprehend - no military power on earth has quite that kind of power (perhaps one should not tempt fate!).

One last word on mt Yasur. emember the 2015 movie ‘Tanna’?  Well this is where the two lovers died, leaping into this crater. Makes you shudder. The Yakel tribe who played in the movie still live on the eastern side of the island - we visited them later in the week and met some of the stars of the movie.