Tavurvur erupting. View from across Simpson Harbour

Ghiocela, on June 9, 2008, said:

It was a surprise your comment .. but it was a pleasant surprise! That feeling and that are more powerful thought bearing in memory of dear mother and her smile will always be in my eyes to the future! Thank you for the lovely words that have meant so much to me! Here you have caught a beautiful image ...! Greets, Simona

© Gerry, on September 1, 2008, said:

Wow! A baby volcano!

©IR Stehbens, on September 4, 2008, said:

Hi Gerry,

Not at all like Ireland, though when the dust cloud ceases briefly, everywhere here is very very green. I have been watching this volcano since my first visit in 1973, when it was a small crater.

matt kawei, on October 21, 2008, said:

A pretty neat shot

©IR Stehbens, on October 28, 2008, said:

Thanks Matt. I appreciate your comment and visit. Like any active volcanic area this area has a dramatic history.

matt kawei, on October 28, 2008, said:

Yes Lincluden, I remember when I was at kid back in the 70's at home in Manus Province when we started to notice a bit of dust/ash in the air. Later we found out that it was a volcanic eruption at Rabaul.

The last time, I was was wroking at Porgera Mine in Engan Province and was able to heard that on the radio and clips shown on TV.

Such shots will always be remembered as what nature can do...

©IR Stehbens, on October 30, 2008, said:

No wonder you were exploring The Gazelle on Google Earth and came to this image, Matt. I understand now your very real interest in this volcano.

One night while staying at Malmaluan (in 1995) I was quietly writing in my diary when the guria bagan to shake the house. Outside we watched the subsequent fireworks as molten lava bombs were ejected and arced through the dark night. Then after a while the huge ash cloud that had spewed higher and higher was illuminated by the lightning flashes of the static discharges.

What a night!

matt kawei, on October 30, 2008, said:

Yes, it quite difficult seeing beautiful photos like the ones you have on GE from PNG. I miss home and seeing these wonderful photos and reading your comments puts a smile on my face.

For you just to describe to me how you saw natural "fireworks" is so kool. I have never experience such in my life and I don't think I will ever see one as I am stuck here working in Arctic Canada.

Did you get any shots of the fireworks or was quite contents in keeping the image locked somewhere in your memory?

Yes, I think during the eruptions, the guria was felt on various islands around the Admiralty group of islands, including Manus.

Okay, Wantok..mi wokim sampela wok nau. Harim long yu gen..:)

Jani Salvataggio, on December 12, 2008, said:

Great capture!!

Regards Jani from Hungary

©IR Stehbens, on December 16, 2008, said:

Thank you for your encouragement and visit, Jani.

Na Matt, Mi savi yu tru, Wantok, But I am not confident to write to you in Tok Pisin. Sori tumas. Nau as I am Principal of a college in Sydney where many Wantoks come for specialised training, I get to live with them for extended periods and each time they come I realise how Melanesian my heart is.

In regard to my memories of the eruptions, they are well etched, though I have some print images in an album but only day time images.

If you are in Arctic Canada you couldn't really be anywhere further from the Land of the Unexpected. PS: I spent last night with Wantoks, including a son of Dame Caroline Kidu.

박범호, on December 25, 2008, said:

The volcano is still active?

©IR Stehbens, on December 26, 2008, said:

Yes it is still active, 박범호. Daily it spews out ash, puffing away and dusting the area with its light coloured ash. It is accompanied by another major volcano, Vulcan, on the other (west) side of the harbour, and Viulcan is generally regarded as the more dangerous for it appears to lie dormant whilst Tavurvur puffs away, but during the major eruptive phases as in 1994, Vulcan produces even greater volumes of ash. Both can be clearly seen in the Google Earth image.

In fact, this one, Tavurvur, is only one of 8 active volcanoes around Simpson Harbour (Rabaul Caldera): Tavurvur, Vulcan, Tovanumbatir, Kabiu, Rabalanakaia, Turanguna, Sulphur Creek, and Vulcan Island.

The pictured eruption commenced in 1994 and has been ejecting ash almost continuously since. Every now and again it becomes more violent with accompanying gurias (earthquakes), explosive ejections of ash high into the atmosphere, shock waves in the air that shatter windows kilometres away, molten lava bombs, and even a small lava flow. Lava flowed to the sea in late 2006. I was there in 1995, and experienced a couple of strong gurias, followed by high ash ejections, lava bombs being ejected out of the crater onto the sides of the cone, and static discharges of lightning, and torrential rain derived from the electrial storm generated by the rapid uplift of hot air. Witnessed eruptions have occured 1994-to present, 1943, 1941-42, 1940, 1937, 1878, c1850 and by European navigators in 1791 and 1767.

In 1973, my wife and friends hiked into the crater while it was dormant and while I was at home suffering from malaria.

This particular photo was taken in 1998.

Greetings from Sydney to Korea.

anico61, on December 31, 2008, said:

Hi Very Good Picture!

Greetings from Hungary Anico

Happy New Year

My Contest Pictres-verseny 11 képeim

maciu vatu, on March 17, 2009, said:

...another great picture Lincluden. Bula vinaka, this really is a study in contrast. A towering hill with lush greenery as background to an active volcano spewing out all that stuff !! Perhaps its a warning as how unpredictable our planet can be.

©IR Stehbens, on March 18, 2009, said:

Greetings Anico and Maciu,

Sorry Anico, that I didn't see your comment until now. I hope you went well in the contest. And thanks for your visit to our gallery.

And ni sa bula vinaka, Maciu,

Yes though this is in Melanesia, PNG is a very different place from say Fiji...or England for that matter. I have made some comments about my experiences here, above. The lush green can turn to white when Tavurvur really belches, and under the weight of ash all the coconut trees are stripped of their foliage, and most other trees as well, and then the landscape looks ghastly.

But it is a wonderful place, the Gazelle Peninsula.

Moce muda

Amelia Royan, on July 21, said:

From chicken tickets, to fantasy staircases to erupting volcanoes - what an eclectic gallery! This is a magnificent photo of something that I will probably never see.

I love reading all these comments and explanations Ian and others, but I must say that I'd rather live in the UK or Norway. Having said that, in 1990 North Shropshire was hit by an earthquake, 5.1 on the Richter Scale. In Shrewsbury there was damage to masonry, with a number of chimney stacks being broken off from roofs and collapsing partially or completely into gardens and streets. Several of the worst affected buildings, including shops, were evacuated. Police cordons were put up around houses at risk of chimney-collapse until they had been made safe, with at least fifty properties in the town reported as requiring emergency attention within the twenty-four hours immediately following the event, while others requiring less urgent treatment were tended to on subsequent days. I was teaching in the town at the time - what a fright we got - soft lot aren't we? :)

Amelia

©IR Stehbens, on August 3, said:

Dear Amelia,

Welcome to the eclectic world that I live in.

This site was initially intended for my students and international delegates attending our programs to either see themselves or to see the things they saw when in Australia. And throw in some of their home places that I have worked in and you have and eclectic storehouse of images. IT was a way they could download images of their choosing and print them at home. And there are occasional photos contributed by one of them. So clearly it has a different set of themes and lots of portraits or people events.

But I like wandering through it too, from time to time.

Blessings,

Ian

www.photos-mb.com, on October 9, said:

WHAUUU Nice shoot.....

Greetings from France Le Croisic

©IR Stehbens, on October 13, said:

I am pleased to transport you here through this image. But did you feel the ground shake beneath you as a volcanic earthquake (they are called guria here) preceded this eruption?

Ian