I visited Whakaari/White Island in the Bay of Plenty, prior to attending Photobook/NZ in Wellington in 2018.
Suzanne and I were on a weeks holiday in the North Island, which included exploring the GeoThermal Highway. White Island was where we started the exploration. After the holiday Suzanne then went on to walk the Grand Traverse in the South Island, whilst I stayed in an Air BnB in the Te Aro Valley in Wellington. I spend the week walking and photographing around the city for the Reconnections project.
I was on the first boat for a couple of weeks. I was lucky with my booking. The island is a live volcano and the tour operators were very strict about where you could walk whilst on the island. Wandering off the pathway to take photos of what caught my eye was not allowed for safety reasons. It was too dangerous.