The famous Yasur Volcano, one of the only active volcanoes you can actually walk up to the edge of and be showered on by lava! Not the most calming of trips for someone like myself who hates heights and didn't want to die just yet.
David stayed back at camp and a special thanks to Chris and Richard for looking after him.
It took two and a half hours to drive to the volcano, thankfully we had a nice truck and four of us were in the cabin on comfy seats. Only Darryl, Gavin and Andrew had to ride in the back and use their legs as suspension. They refrained from telling me about the "sheer precipice" on the side of the road until well after the trip, for which I am very grateful.
There was a full moon when we arrived and we followed our guides firstly to the left of the volcano, only to be told to turn around and head right as the wind was blowing lava and poisonous gas our way, jolly good folks! So the walk to the right was a lot easier and Margaret found a good spot where I could sit back from the ledge but still enjoy the smaller explosions and brace myself when the big ones happened.
I found two lava rocks that I was happy with, so we gave one to the Fazakerley's and kept one. Amazingly it got through customs and now graces our piano. The custom's officer was quite amused that we had picked it off the top of a volcano.
There's even a post office at the volcano!