Our Company
The name of our company is taken from New Zealand's only live volcanic island. The Maori name for the island is 'Te Puia o Whakaari', meaning 'The Dramatic Volcano.'
The English explorer, Lieutenant James Cook, observed and named it White Island on 1st October 1769 because it always appeared to be in a cloud of white steam. Its official name is Whakaari/White Island although it is known by visitors as White Island.
The volcano sits 40-50 km off the coast of Whakatane and about 30km off the coast of Te Kaha where many of our hives are located. The island is about 2km in diameter and the land above the sea rises to above 300 metres. Thirteen hundred metres of the volcano lies under the ocean.
According to local tour operators, White Island Tours of Whakatane, "Walking on White Island is like walking on the moon. Virtually no vegetation survives the harsh acidic environment inside the crater walls. Instead, lush beds of yellow and white sulphur crystals grow amongst hissing, steaming, bubbling fumaroles".