NZ-1 North Island: Active Volcanism, Neotectonics, Geothermal Activity

 

Post Trip Saturday 11 August to Thursday 16 August 2012 (6 days and 5 nights)
Start/Finish Starts in Wellington, New Zealand and finishes in Auckland, New Zealand
(Numbers limited to 20)
Cost Land:AU $2030 per person share twin/double
Single Supplement: AU$460 Air: From AU $330 one way Brisbane to Wellington
Description Examine the Taupo Volcanic Zone (TVZ) of the central North Island. Visit White Island, New Zealand's most active volcano. Other highlights will be the Newmont Martha epithermal gold mine in Waihi, the Wairakei Geothermal Field near Taupo, Lake Taupo occupying the Taupo Caldera, New Zealand's 'super volcano'; geothermal hotsprings at Waimungu and Wai-O-Tapu near Rotorua; Ruapehu, Ngauruhoe and Tongariro volcanoes; tectonic deformation and basement geology and geological history of New Zealand.
Highlights Whakatane, White Island, Taupo, Wellington, Te Papa (National Museum), GNS Science
Leader Dr Hamish Campbell, Dr Tony Christie and Professor Alex Malahoff, Geological and Nuclear Sciences, NZ
Notes Delegates are required to book own air travel to arrive in Wellington on evening of 11 August. Trip finishes late afternoon on 16 August. Surcharge for optional White Island flight is approximately AUD 320. Optional helicopter surcharge AUD 530.
   
You can still book on this tour but you will be placed on a waiting list. If a position becomes vacant you may be selected for the tour. Please select an alternate tour when you book onto the waiting list.
Booking with Flight included Booking with no Flight

This field trip can be booked with a flight from Brisbane to the start point of the field trip inclusive.

If booked with the field trip then your flight will be confirmed as part of the IGC seats allocated on flights .

If you book without the flight it will be the responsibility of the delegate to book the flight to return to the start point of the field trip from Brisbane.

These seats cannot be booked as part of the IGC allocation and you will only have the publicly available seats on the flight.

(Additional cost see above)  

* Flight bookings DO NOT include
arrangements for you from your home
port to or from the field trips and congress.

These bookings can be done as
a separate arrangement

 

Itinerary
Day 1 Wellington Saturday 11th August
  Delegates fly to Wellington and make own way to centrally located hotel. Spend some time settling into your hotel before departing on a tour of GNS Science at Avalon, Lower Hutt, around 20 kilometres away. This evening enjoy a function and dinner hosted by GNS Science.
  Meals: D Overnight:Novotel Hotel, Wellington (or similar)
 
Day 2 Wellington to Waikakei Sunday 12th August
  After breakfast, drive from Wellington to Taupo via State Highway, around 4.5 hours. Along the way you will see basement greywacke rocks (Torlesse Terrane) of Gondwanaland origin near Wellington; tectonically tilted Pleistocene and Pliocene sediments up the Rangitikei River valley; enter the central North Island rift (Taupo Volcanic Zone) from the south; traverse the 'volcanic plateau', passing three of New Zealand's active volcanoes: Mount Ruapehu, Mount Ngauruhoe and Mt Tongariro; travel up the eastern side of Lake Taupo (the caldera of an active super-volcano); visit Taupo and visit the Huka Falls (Waikato River). Visit the GNS Science office at Wairakei a short distance north of Taupo. On arrival at hotel you will have some time to settle in before dinner.
  Meals: B/L /D Overnight:Waikakei Resort Hotel (or similar)
 
Day 3 Waikakei to Whakatane Monday 13th August
  Depart after breakfast for the three and a half hour drive from Wairakei to Whakatane.
See the Wairakei Geothermal Power Station; visit the geothermal hot-springs at Wai-o-tapu and Waimaungu; observe Mount Tarawera and Lake Rotomahana; traverse the central North Island rift (Taupo Volcanic Zone) from west to east; reconnect with basement greywacke rocks (Torlesse Terrane) at Whakatane. On arrival at your hotel there's free time to settle in before dinner.
  Meals: B /L/ D Overnight: White Island Rendezvous Complex, Whakatane (or similar)
 
Day 4 Whakatane Tuesday 14th August
  After breakfast enjoy a visit to White Island (50 kilometres offshore) either by commercial boat or helicopter, depending on sea and weather conditions. Please be aware that if we need to resort to helicopter transport, extra cost will be incurred. However, it is worth it! This will be a highlight of the excursion and will be an opportunity to visit New Zealand's most active subduction-related volcano. Anticipate being on the island for 1.5 to 2 hours.
  Meals: B /L/ D Overnight:Overnight: White Island Rendezvous Complex (or similar)
 
Day 5 Whakatane to Auckland Wednesday 15th August
  Following breakfast depart and drive from Whakatane to Auckland (around 4.5 hours). En route, we shall traverse the Bay of Plenty (central North Island rift; Taupo Volcanic Zone) from east to west; travel to the southern end of the Coromandel Peninsula and the Hauraki Goldfields; visit the Newmont Waihi Martha Mine at Waihi, Late Miocene epithermal gold mineralisation associated with subduction-related arc volcanism. Arrive in Auckland with time to settle into your hotel before your farewell dinner.
  Meals: B /L/ D Overnight: Ventura Inn, Auckland (or similar)
 
Day 6 Onward travel Thursday 16th August
  After breakfast check out of your hotel and make your own way to the airport for your onward travel.
  Meals: B  
 
Important Notes:
  1. This field trip is not suitable for children.
  2. Airfares are not included in the tour price.
Equipment Required:
  Participants should be prepared for cool weather and must be prepared for both wet and dry conditions. It will be winter in New Zealand but in the North Island temperatures are unlikely to be below zero. However, if the weather is cloud-free and still, we may experience frost. Sun hat, rain coat and strong walking shoes are essential, as is warm clothing (woolly hat, scarf, gloves). We will be visiting active geothermal areas and an active volcano; we will be subject to corrosive sulphurous fluids. The level of fitness required is minimal.
 
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