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[lively instrumental music playing]
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[ocean waves crashing]
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[lively music turns ominous]
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[man1] It was a beautiful day.
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You could feel the heat from the volcano.
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You could feel that the ground was warm.
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[ominous music playing]
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[man2] You kind of get
these beautiful yellow colors.
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Dark, dark oranges as well.
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[man3] I mean, just colors everywhere.
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Steam popping up out of the ground…
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It was an absolutely breathtaking sight.
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[woman] It looked like Mars or something.
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[ominous music plays]
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There was a lot more steam
than I thought there would be.
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[man1] You knew there was something
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beautiful and terrible,
and you wanted to see it…
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but our tour guides just said,
"Do not go near the edge of the crater."
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[ominous music plays]
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[woman2] I was getting really anxious.
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And I talked to our tour guide,
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and I asked him,
"What do we do if there is an eruption,
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because I'm getting
a little nervous here?"
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[man2] I love my wife more than anything
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but being anxious is not
an unusual situation for her
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so I did just brush it off
for the most part.
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They even said the words,
"It's not going to erupt."
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-[wind howling]
-[ominous music crescendos]
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[ominous music softens]
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[waves crash on the shore]
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[soft tense music playing]
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[man1] As a young Kiwi,
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what better place to grow up?
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[gentle piano music playing]
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You got the hills,
and the hunting and the fishing.
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[seagulls squawking]
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And the ocean to swim in.
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You know, it… it… there's nothing better.
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[children chatter indistinctly]
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Whakatāne is a beautiful
community, full of adventure.
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[woman] Geographically, we are
on the east coast of the North Island.
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Auckland's here.
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And then down the coast is Whakatāne.
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People would pronounce it
"Wock-a-tain" or "Feck-a-tah-nee" or
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"Wock-a-tah-nee" or whatever.
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But it's a small community
that has a lot of love at the heart of it.
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[waves rippling]
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[man2] There's 38,000 people in Whakatāne.
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We have uh,
51 percent non-Māori, you know,
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and 48 percent Māori.
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[speaking Māori]
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[Pouroto] And our
communities support one another.
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[soft music playing]
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And together,
we have got a beautiful area,
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which includes
the living active, breathing volcano,
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Whakaari.
The English name, "White Island."
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[man] White Island is about 48
kilometers off the coast of Whakatāne.
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When you're driving down the coast,
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you look out across
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the horizon and you see the large
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plumes of white smoke
coming out of the crater.
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[waves splashing]
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Absolutely amazing. It's just
the raw beauty of nature.
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[Pouroto] In our folklore,
we come from the mountains.
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We actually are descendants of Whakaari.
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[soft music playing]
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And we are the protectors
of the Island itself.
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She is an awesome energy
and power unto her own right.
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But she's also very special
in terms of tourism.
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[light music plays]
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[Hazel] People love White Island.
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And so many people
are connected to White Island Tours here.
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Our restaurants,
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our motels,
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everything… our shops, our boutiques…
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[birds tweeting]
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All of those rely on people that
adventure tourism brought to our town.
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-[light music continues]
-[waves rippling]
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[woman] Our wedding was
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the most perfect magical day ever.
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I don't think I ever smiled
that much in my entire life.
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[applause]
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[nostalgic music playing]
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[Matt] I'm an adventure seeker.
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She is absolutely not an adventure seeker.
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-I'm more of a laying-out type of girl,
-[Matt chuckles]
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[Lauren] or um… just, relaxing
at a beach, or something like that.
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[Matt] So for our honeymoon,
we started looking at cruises.
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We found this one
for New Zealand and we looked at it.
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It was like, "Oh this is great!
New Zealand has all this amazing geography
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and attractions. This seems perfect."
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[boy] My sister and I,
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we really like anything
that's gonna give us a lot of adrenaline,
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and I suppose,
put us at some kind of enjoyable risk.
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[Jesse] Oh, fuck!
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Woo!
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So we jumped off the Auckland Tower.
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[Jesse whoops]
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We went black water rafting.
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My mom and dad
had previously been on a few cruises,
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and they really enjoyed them.
And they brought it to us,
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my sister and I, the idea
of going on a cruise to New Zealand.
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And on that cruise, we were given the
options of excursions onto the mainland.
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[Lauren] I would pick out
an excursion one day,
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and Matt would pick out
an excursion for a different day.
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So December 9th was actually
Matt's day to pick out an excursion.
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I'm into everything science.
And it sounded really interesting,
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like an actual volcano
that you can walk up to and look into.
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[Jesse] White Island
was something different
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that you wouldn't normally be able to do,
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being one of
the world's most active volcanoes.
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[Matt] I mean, from the
description, it was a nice easy hike.
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It's not like you need rock climbing gear
and everything else to get up there.
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It was, just walk up to the crater
and look in and see this amazing volcano.
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They made it sound exciting,
they didn't make it sound dangerous.
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And I was like,
"Okay, that… it looks good."
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You know, we looked at
the description, and I was like, "Okay."
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-[soft music playing]
-[seagulls squawking]
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[man] We live in Hamilton in New Zealand,
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and I'm a full-time pastor at a church.
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My daughter, she'd been studying through
school geology and volcanic activity,
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and I said to her, "We should go
while we have the opportunity to go."
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[soft music continues]
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And then for my 50th birthday,
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she'd surprised me with tickets
to go out to Whakaari.
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[Geoff] Monday morning, it's quiet.
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There's not a lot of traffic around.
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We arrived at
the tour office and we read through
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a couple of safety documents,
and then were asked to sign
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just our contact details
and next of kin details.
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[indistinct excited chatter]
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I know there's a risk
and I'm there with my daughter,
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I'm not going to put her in danger.
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But at no point did I ever fear
what we were actually doing.
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[wind howling]
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-[woman1] Morning!
-[woman2] Morning.
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[Geoff] That day, there were
a few boats that toured the Island,
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and we were in the Phoenix.
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-[adventurous music plays]
-[seagulls squawking]
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We left the wharf,
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00:10:04,061 --> 00:10:08,399
traveled out on
the river for five or ten minutes.
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00:10:08,482 --> 00:10:09,609
[ominous music continues]
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00:10:09,692 --> 00:10:13,738
You cross the river bar
heading out into the open ocean…
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00:10:13,821 --> 00:10:15,156
[waves lapping on boat]
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And then from there on to White Island.
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[adventurous music continues]
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[Jesse] We departed from
the main cruise ship around 9:00a.m.
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00:10:32,048 --> 00:10:35,926
We took an hour-long
bus ride to Whakatāne,
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00:10:36,010 --> 00:10:41,057
to the port where we were taking off from,
with 40 or so other tourists.
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00:10:42,308 --> 00:10:46,103
[Matt] We all got onto the Te Puia,
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00:10:46,187 --> 00:10:47,938
and the tour guide said
it was a brand new ship.
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I think they just gotten it that year.
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[waves lapping against boat]
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[Jesse] There were four guides
on the Te Puia.
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00:10:54,278 --> 00:10:56,530
They were locals to Whakatāne,
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and they were very excited to tell us
about the history of White Island.
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00:11:00,493 --> 00:11:02,578
-[tense music plays]
-[ocean rippling]
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[woman] The morning of December 9th,
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00:11:05,623 --> 00:11:10,878
it was Hayden, Tipene,
Jake, and myself as guides.
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We prepped the boat and then
we just left like every other day.
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Closer to shore, we'll take you on a fully
guided tour of the inner crater area.
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00:11:20,888 --> 00:11:24,183
And this will take approximately
an hour to an hour and a half.
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00:11:24,266 --> 00:11:26,435
[Mark] My younger brother,
Hayden, loved the outdoors
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00:11:27,019 --> 00:11:29,605
and he had a passion for summer.
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00:11:31,023 --> 00:11:35,528
And in 2009, he started
as a tour guide, guiding in Whakaari.
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00:11:36,362 --> 00:11:40,533
Hayden kept a detailed diary
of every trip that he went to the Island.
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00:11:40,616 --> 00:11:43,702
And he'd done 1,111 trips.
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[Jesse] That's amazing.
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[laughing] I did not know that was
Hayden's 1,111th trip to the Island. No.
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00:11:54,547 --> 00:11:57,675
[Kelsey] Hayden's probably
one of the longest standing guides.
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He helped train me
at work, and then, yeah,
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00:12:01,512 --> 00:12:04,807
after work we'd go
to the local fishing club,
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or we'd take trips
up to the Tarawera Falls.
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He was always up for an adventure.
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[Mark] He developed a huge passion
for the whole environment.
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Not just Whakaari,
and not just the volcano.
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00:12:23,325 --> 00:12:27,037
[waves rippling]
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00:12:27,121 --> 00:12:29,039
[lively guitar music playing]
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00:12:38,966 --> 00:12:42,428
[Jesse] The gusts were blowing,
the swell was quite large.
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00:12:42,511 --> 00:12:45,890
A lot of the poor passengers actually were
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00:12:45,973 --> 00:12:48,767
being moved to the back of Te Puia
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00:12:48,851 --> 00:12:50,436
cause they were feeling quite seasick.
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I was sitting
with my family, we were kind of…
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not making fun of them
but laughing a little bit,
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smirking to ourselves.
We quite enjoyed being on the water.
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00:13:00,029 --> 00:13:02,948
And we were enjoying the bumpy ride.
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00:13:03,032 --> 00:13:04,783
[waves rippling]
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00:13:04,867 --> 00:13:08,078
[Matt] We had no idea
how rough the seas were going to be.
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00:13:08,829 --> 00:13:11,832
We were on that boat
for probably 90 minutes.
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00:13:11,916 --> 00:13:15,461
And I would say, at least seven or eight
people were vomiting just 'cause
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00:13:16,045 --> 00:13:19,507
the entire ship would pitch up
and then it would pitch back down,
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00:13:19,590 --> 00:13:23,886
and you would see ocean then sky,
then ocean then sky, then ocean then sky.
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00:13:23,969 --> 00:13:24,929
[waves crashing]
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00:13:25,012 --> 00:13:26,805
[Lauren] I was so close to throwing up.
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00:13:26,889 --> 00:13:29,808
I mean, I was literally
like, holding my stomach like this.
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00:13:29,892 --> 00:13:33,646
-[boat engine churning water]
-[seagull squawks]
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00:13:33,729 --> 00:13:36,357
[Mark] It's an hour and a half
out there and an hour and a half back.
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00:13:37,316 --> 00:13:39,693
Some days, you can go
out there and it can be rough.
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00:13:39,777 --> 00:13:42,988
It can be horrible. And if you're
not used to being on a boat for an hour,
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00:13:43,656 --> 00:13:45,324
your sea legs go pretty quickly.
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00:13:46,700 --> 00:13:48,160
[lively music playing]
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00:13:48,244 --> 00:13:49,745
Hence, there was another option as well.
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00:13:49,828 --> 00:13:53,040
You could take a helicopter
and that was only a 20-minute flight.
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00:13:53,123 --> 00:13:53,999
[soft music plays]
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00:13:54,083 --> 00:13:55,417
[helicopter engine hums]
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00:13:55,501 --> 00:13:56,794
[man] Waking up that day
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00:13:56,877 --> 00:13:59,547
for me was a little bit of nerves,
a little bit of stress.
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00:14:00,673 --> 00:14:06,262
This is my first day where
I was allowed to fly passengers solo.
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00:14:06,345 --> 00:14:09,974
-[helicopter engine hums]
-[gentle music plays]
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00:14:10,057 --> 00:14:13,477
I went to to New Zealand
initially for my license.
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00:14:15,187 --> 00:14:17,439
Just looking for
a good place to learn to fly.
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00:14:17,523 --> 00:14:20,985
[gentle music continues]
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00:14:21,068 --> 00:14:22,027
On a clear day,
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00:14:22,111 --> 00:14:24,947
if you're taking off from the mainland,
you'd be able to see White Island.
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00:14:25,656 --> 00:14:27,116
You can fly in a straight line for it.
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00:14:27,700 --> 00:14:29,952
[soft music continues]
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00:14:30,035 --> 00:14:35,040
And the conditions that day, they were
just… they were perfect conditions.
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00:14:35,124 --> 00:14:41,422
-[tense music plays]
-[helicopter engine hums]
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00:14:41,505 --> 00:14:44,592
[waves rippling]
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00:14:44,675 --> 00:14:48,679
[Geoff] As the Phoenix got
real close to the Island,
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00:14:48,762 --> 00:14:52,600
the crew are starting
to prepare us for getting off.
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00:14:52,683 --> 00:14:53,809
-[waves rippling]
-[crane engine humming]
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00:14:53,893 --> 00:14:57,813
And my daughter said, "Let's go Dad.
I want to be first on the Island."
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00:14:57,897 --> 00:15:01,525
[waves splashing]
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00:15:01,609 --> 00:15:05,237
[indistinct chatter]
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00:15:05,321 --> 00:15:12,244
-[tense music plays]
-[waves crashing]
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00:15:14,622 --> 00:15:16,790
[Geoff] The tour started and uh…
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00:15:16,874 --> 00:15:18,834
we just slowly walked.
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00:15:20,544 --> 00:15:22,880
The two tour guides,
one of them would go first
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00:15:22,963 --> 00:15:27,092
and one of them would go last, and
as a group we would stay between them.
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00:15:27,176 --> 00:15:31,555
[tense music continues]
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00:15:31,639 --> 00:15:36,852
[tense music turns ominous]
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00:15:39,730 --> 00:15:42,107
[Brian] It's kind of like
a scene out of Jurassic Park
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00:15:42,191 --> 00:15:43,651
when you approach it.
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00:15:43,734 --> 00:15:47,196
[helicopter engine hums]
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00:15:49,114 --> 00:15:52,993
Landing on White Island, first time for me
was like landing on the moon kind of,
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00:15:53,077 --> 00:15:56,080
because it's such
a surreal kind of environment.
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00:15:56,163 --> 00:15:59,917
-[helicopter engine hums to a stop
-[helicopter blades whir]
239
00:16:04,171 --> 00:16:06,590
So after we landed,
I gave them the safety briefing.
240
00:16:07,800 --> 00:16:10,719
And I start walking towards the crater.
241
00:16:18,894 --> 00:16:21,438
[Kelsey] Most of
the volcano is underwater.
242
00:16:21,522 --> 00:16:23,691
So you're only seeing the top of it.
243
00:16:24,858 --> 00:16:27,569
White Island is a stratovolcano.
244
00:16:27,653 --> 00:16:32,032
When it erupts, it doesn't tend to have
lava flows like the Hawaiian volcanoes.
245
00:16:33,492 --> 00:16:36,078
It tends to put down layers of rocks
246
00:16:36,161 --> 00:16:39,373
and ash, and build itself up that way.
247
00:16:42,459 --> 00:16:48,882
[roaring sound]
248
00:16:53,178 --> 00:16:55,431
[Matt] When the Te Puia
arrived at the Island,
249
00:16:56,015 --> 00:16:57,891
we had to get in these small…
they call them "zodiac boats."
250
00:16:57,975 --> 00:17:00,561
They're just inflatable rubber boats.
251
00:17:00,644 --> 00:17:03,480
There's just a really
quick trip to the Island.
252
00:17:03,564 --> 00:17:05,315
Yeah, about a minute or two.
253
00:17:05,399 --> 00:17:06,942
[waves lapping]
254
00:17:07,026 --> 00:17:12,031
[Matt] Then they arrived
at this very rickety cement jetty
255
00:17:12,114 --> 00:17:15,200
with a rusted metal ladder on it.
256
00:17:17,077 --> 00:17:19,538
-[waves crashing on shore]
-[seagulls squawking]
257
00:17:19,621 --> 00:17:23,625
[Jesse] You had the sounds
of the waves crashing onto the beach,
258
00:17:23,709 --> 00:17:28,047
washing up onto the shore which gave
that sea breeze that smell of the salt.
259
00:17:29,465 --> 00:17:30,674
And then you also have
260
00:17:30,758 --> 00:17:35,220
this almost like a…
a strong malodorous smell of sulfur.
261
00:17:35,304 --> 00:17:36,430
[waves crashing]
262
00:17:36,513 --> 00:17:40,059
It looked quite barren. No signs of life.
263
00:17:42,102 --> 00:17:45,481
[Matt] When we walked off that
jetty and got our first real glimpse…
264
00:17:46,231 --> 00:17:49,026
I had a picture in my head
of what a volcano would look like and
265
00:17:49,109 --> 00:17:50,152
this was not it.
266
00:17:50,235 --> 00:17:51,278
[steam whistling]
267
00:17:51,361 --> 00:17:54,406
No lava. Just lots and lots of steam.
268
00:17:54,490 --> 00:17:55,824
[tense music plays]
269
00:17:55,908 --> 00:17:57,868
[Lauren] It was very beautiful,
270
00:17:58,577 --> 00:18:03,290
but I felt like we were very much
in the middle of nowhere. [chuckles]
271
00:18:04,208 --> 00:18:10,589
[ominous music playing]
272
00:18:15,260 --> 00:18:18,138
[Jesse] From there,
we created separate groups.
273
00:18:18,222 --> 00:18:21,517
My guides on the Island
were Hayden and Tipene.
274
00:18:22,643 --> 00:18:27,022
Tipene was, I believed to be learning.
Hayden was showing him the ropes.
275
00:18:28,607 --> 00:18:30,692
Tipene was very inquisitive…
276
00:18:31,610 --> 00:18:33,612
always asking questions, you know.
277
00:18:35,572 --> 00:18:37,116
Proud to be a Māori.
278
00:18:39,701 --> 00:18:42,037
He was excited to have that job.
279
00:18:42,913 --> 00:18:47,251
He enjoyed it, going out
on the boat, mixing with people.
280
00:18:47,334 --> 00:18:49,378
He loved telling them
all sorts of stories,
281
00:18:50,129 --> 00:18:51,964
Māori myths and legends.
282
00:18:54,091 --> 00:18:56,593
He wasn't supposed to work that day.
283
00:18:57,636 --> 00:18:58,804
We were going to do some shopping.
284
00:19:00,472 --> 00:19:03,934
But he was called into work to fill in
for someone and then he went to work.
285
00:19:04,017 --> 00:19:07,771
[steam whistling]
286
00:19:07,855 --> 00:19:10,524
[Mark] These tour guides
and pilots and skippers,
287
00:19:10,607 --> 00:19:14,027
they know the Island so
well, down to every last rock.
288
00:19:15,445 --> 00:19:18,031
They know Whakaari more than anybody else.
289
00:19:18,115 --> 00:19:20,450
[Hayden] Alright, everyone! Uh,
welcome to White Island.
290
00:19:20,534 --> 00:19:23,662
I'll be your guide today
for our little tour around the Island.
291
00:19:23,745 --> 00:19:26,456
[Matt] They gave us a hard hat
that had a chin strap on it,
292
00:19:26,540 --> 00:19:29,251
and then they gave us a respirator.
293
00:19:29,334 --> 00:19:32,921
[Hayden] So what we're gonna do is
we're gonna head around the side here
294
00:19:33,005 --> 00:19:34,923
up to that main crater.
295
00:19:35,007 --> 00:19:36,884
Uh, stop at a few points
of interest on the way.
296
00:19:36,967 --> 00:19:39,094
I'll let you know
some information about the Island.
297
00:19:39,178 --> 00:19:41,972
Um, so yeah, but
as long as everyone's all good,
298
00:19:42,055 --> 00:19:43,807
we'll start our tour. We'll get going.
299
00:19:46,977 --> 00:19:47,978
[waves crashing on shore]
300
00:19:48,061 --> 00:19:50,189
[Jesse] The first group
left pretty promptly
301
00:19:50,272 --> 00:19:52,316
after having a short safety brief.
302
00:19:53,734 --> 00:19:56,820
We were still
collecting our group together.
303
00:19:58,238 --> 00:19:59,656
[Lauren] So what's this for?
304
00:19:59,740 --> 00:20:00,991
So you're going to suck on them
305
00:20:01,074 --> 00:20:02,534
and it's going to help produce saliva.
306
00:20:02,618 --> 00:20:07,414
So that any irritation
that you get from the steam itself,
307
00:20:07,497 --> 00:20:10,375
it's just going to help soothe it.
So you're not coughing so much.
308
00:20:10,459 --> 00:20:13,170
[gentle music playing]
309
00:20:15,672 --> 00:20:21,094
[Matt] The Island track is about a
singular loop that you start at the beach.
310
00:20:22,471 --> 00:20:23,764
Once you reach the Crater Lake,
311
00:20:23,847 --> 00:20:26,642
you turn around
and make your way around the Island.
312
00:20:27,935 --> 00:20:30,938
And then back
to the mouth at the entrance.
313
00:20:31,021 --> 00:20:32,689
[gentle music continues]
314
00:20:34,691 --> 00:20:37,444
[Brian] You got quite a bit of gas
on the Island that tries to escape.
315
00:20:37,527 --> 00:20:42,032
It's something that has
to work its way up through a more viscous
316
00:20:42,115 --> 00:20:43,325
muddy substance.
317
00:20:43,909 --> 00:20:46,995
So you kind of get that bloop-bloop,
those kind of noises going on.
318
00:20:47,079 --> 00:20:50,165
[bubbling sound]
319
00:20:50,999 --> 00:20:53,460
[Hayden] So what's happening is
the sulphur's coming up with the steam.
320
00:20:53,543 --> 00:20:56,463
It's crystallizing,
falling back down on top of itself,
321
00:20:56,546 --> 00:20:59,758
and then it forms a
chimney-like structure, like on a house.
322
00:20:59,841 --> 00:21:01,551
And so we call it
the sulphur chimney area.
323
00:21:01,635 --> 00:21:03,637
[steam whistling]
324
00:21:03,720 --> 00:21:08,892
[Geoff] The landscape…
it's rock and ash and mud.
325
00:21:10,560 --> 00:21:13,897
But then strewn amongst
326
00:21:13,981 --> 00:21:17,567
these grays are sulphur deposits
327
00:21:17,651 --> 00:21:20,237
that are the most beautiful bright yellow,
328
00:21:20,821 --> 00:21:25,200
and bright white crystals
that seem to sparkle in the sunlight.
329
00:21:25,284 --> 00:21:27,953
[lively music plays]
330
00:21:28,036 --> 00:21:31,915
And you actually get
the feeling of the vastness
331
00:21:31,999 --> 00:21:34,751
and the power
of what you're encroaching on.
332
00:21:41,383 --> 00:21:43,969
This glimmer of, you know, Mother Nature
333
00:21:44,052 --> 00:21:48,348
at her most beautiful,
but at her most deadly.
334
00:21:48,432 --> 00:21:55,272
[music crescendos majestically]
335
00:21:55,355 --> 00:22:01,653
Our guide said that the lake
is normally a beautiful bluey-green,
336
00:22:01,737 --> 00:22:05,699
and that day it was white
because perhaps overnight,
337
00:22:05,782 --> 00:22:09,036
there'd been some kind of activity
338
00:22:09,119 --> 00:22:12,539
that had caused ash
to fall back down on the lake.
339
00:22:12,622 --> 00:22:14,666
-[steam whistling]
-[waves crashing]
340
00:22:14,750 --> 00:22:16,585
I think it happens quite often.
341
00:22:16,668 --> 00:22:19,963
And for me the guides were good
with it, so I was good with it.
342
00:22:20,630 --> 00:22:24,134
[steam whistling]
343
00:22:24,217 --> 00:22:26,553
[Lauren] So we start walking up
towards the crater.
344
00:22:26,636 --> 00:22:31,850
We stopped to take
some photos every couple yards or so,
345
00:22:31,933 --> 00:22:35,187
and I talked to our tour guide
and I asked him,
346
00:22:35,270 --> 00:22:37,939
I said, "So when was the last eruption?"
347
00:22:38,023 --> 00:22:41,359
Because I'm get… my…
I'm getting a little nervous here.
348
00:22:41,443 --> 00:22:45,322
He said there was one
in 2013, one in 2016,
349
00:22:45,405 --> 00:22:50,118
and I'm like, "Well it's the end of 2019
now and I'm getting really nervous."
350
00:22:50,202 --> 00:22:53,413
Hayden mentioned
the Island was at a Level-Two risk.
351
00:22:53,497 --> 00:22:56,458
He didn't describe
what that means at the time.
352
00:22:56,541 --> 00:23:02,881
Um, but he did say it's at a higher risk
of activity, which to me was worrying.
353
00:23:02,964 --> 00:23:04,716
[steam whistling]
354
00:23:04,800 --> 00:23:07,177
[Mark] Level One, Level Two
didn't really mean a lot.
355
00:23:07,761 --> 00:23:12,432
Level One, you know, not much happening.
Level Two was heightened activity.
356
00:23:12,516 --> 00:23:14,935
And then Level Three
was an eruption so, you know that…
357
00:23:15,018 --> 00:23:15,852
[inhales]
358
00:23:16,895 --> 00:23:19,981
There was a massive amount of scope
between Level One and Level Three.
359
00:23:20,065 --> 00:23:23,735
[haunting music]
360
00:23:23,819 --> 00:23:27,197
[haunting music turns suspenseful]
361
00:23:27,280 --> 00:23:30,951
[Geoff] We made our way
back down to where we had left off.
362
00:23:31,993 --> 00:23:37,249
We got back onto the Phoenix
and were just getting ready to leave.
363
00:23:37,332 --> 00:23:40,001
-[boat engine roars]
-[indistinct chatter]
364
00:23:40,085 --> 00:23:43,130
We began to chat
with one of the tour guides
365
00:23:43,213 --> 00:23:44,464
about how
366
00:23:44,548 --> 00:23:48,468
all the volcanic activity at
White Island had been either overnight
367
00:23:48,552 --> 00:23:49,719
or when nobody had been there.
368
00:23:49,803 --> 00:23:53,306
[tense music continues]
369
00:23:53,390 --> 00:23:58,478
So, it was almost like
it was being kind to people to visit.
370
00:24:01,606 --> 00:24:04,901
It was like "I'll erupt
when you're not there" sort of thing.
371
00:24:04,985 --> 00:24:07,237
[boat engine hums]
372
00:24:07,320 --> 00:24:13,285
As we left the Island and headed back,
I then look back up towards the crater.
373
00:24:14,035 --> 00:24:17,038
I can see the tour from the other boat.
374
00:24:26,131 --> 00:24:28,216
[Kelsey] It was always pretty cool
to get up to the crater
375
00:24:28,300 --> 00:24:30,510
and just hear everyone gasp and say,
376
00:24:30,594 --> 00:24:33,221
"Wow," and "Oh my God, this is amazing,"
377
00:24:33,305 --> 00:24:35,098
and all start snapping photos.
378
00:24:35,182 --> 00:24:36,850
[steam whistling]
379
00:24:36,933 --> 00:24:42,647
We'd get geologists coming out to see it
and really kind of have a look at it.
380
00:24:44,566 --> 00:24:46,818
And then you get the other end
of the scale, which would be like,
381
00:24:46,902 --> 00:24:50,030
"I just want a photo of the crater.
I just want this for Instagram."
382
00:24:50,113 --> 00:24:52,324
[steam whistling]
383
00:24:52,407 --> 00:24:53,825
[Matt] We got to the top of the crater,
384
00:24:53,909 --> 00:24:56,703
I would say probably
around two o'clock in the afternoon.
385
00:24:58,246 --> 00:25:01,917
You're just looking down into this
gaping, never-ending pit of steam.
386
00:25:02,667 --> 00:25:04,586
It's an intimidating sight.
387
00:25:06,963 --> 00:25:08,548
They gave us another opportunity
388
00:25:08,632 --> 00:25:11,551
where we could take pictures
of us in front of the crater.
389
00:25:12,260 --> 00:25:16,473
I noticed another ship,
the Phoenix, had just departed the Island,
390
00:25:16,556 --> 00:25:18,850
and then we hung out
up there for a few minutes,
391
00:25:18,934 --> 00:25:20,685
and then started the journey back down.
392
00:25:21,686 --> 00:25:24,147
[Lauren] I'm thinking,
"Okay, we're on our way down.
393
00:25:24,856 --> 00:25:30,737
The tour is coming to an end."
So I'm feeling a little bit better.
394
00:25:30,820 --> 00:25:34,115
-[steam whistling]
-[ominous music plays]
395
00:25:34,199 --> 00:25:35,909
[Kelsey] Because they were
from a cruise ship,
396
00:25:35,992 --> 00:25:37,911
we were sort of on quite a
tight time schedule.
397
00:25:37,994 --> 00:25:42,958
So we were moving pretty quick.
We're on our way back to the jetty.
398
00:25:44,751 --> 00:25:48,755
[Lauren] The other tour
is probably 10 minutes behind us,
399
00:25:48,838 --> 00:25:53,927
and so we're leaving the crater, and
Hayden is coming up towards the crater.
400
00:25:54,010 --> 00:25:55,387
[tense music plays]
401
00:25:55,470 --> 00:25:57,472
From the crater you kind of loop back,
402
00:25:57,555 --> 00:26:00,183
then it's another 500 meters
or so to the beach.
403
00:26:01,226 --> 00:26:04,312
I had four passengers
that day, two couples.
404
00:26:04,396 --> 00:26:06,773
And at that stage, that's
where we passed them with the boat,
405
00:26:06,856 --> 00:26:09,567
the groups that were walking
towards the crater.
406
00:26:11,653 --> 00:26:14,531
I did recognize Hayden
and said hi to Hayden and…
407
00:26:14,614 --> 00:26:18,243
while he made his way up
towards the crater with his tour group.
408
00:26:18,326 --> 00:26:20,287
-[tense music plays]
-[steam whistles]
409
00:26:20,370 --> 00:26:22,539
[Jesse] We made our journey
up to the acid lake.
410
00:26:24,124 --> 00:26:27,377
We could see the bubbling in
between the clouds of steam
411
00:26:27,460 --> 00:26:29,921
that were wafting up into our faces.
412
00:26:31,256 --> 00:26:34,384
Hayden had told us that we could only
stay there for maybe two to three minutes,
413
00:26:35,010 --> 00:26:39,139
just enough time to
have a good look and take some photos
414
00:26:39,222 --> 00:26:43,310
because the chemicals
that were being released at the top
415
00:26:43,393 --> 00:26:46,688
there were a lot more harmful.
416
00:26:47,564 --> 00:26:50,900
Everyone was rushing
to get a photo opportunity.
417
00:26:52,027 --> 00:26:54,195
[waves crashing far below]
418
00:26:54,279 --> 00:26:58,199
It was time to move on, single file.
419
00:26:58,283 --> 00:27:00,577
My sister was
right up the front with Hayden.
420
00:27:01,578 --> 00:27:05,498
I was with my parents
towards the middle of the group.
421
00:27:05,582 --> 00:27:08,835
[waves crashing]
422
00:27:10,670 --> 00:27:14,466
[Jesse] About halfway down to the
jetty, there were these two water streams,
423
00:27:14,549 --> 00:27:17,886
and they came
from different parts of the Island.
424
00:27:17,969 --> 00:27:19,429
So the tour guides actually had us stop
425
00:27:19,512 --> 00:27:21,806
and stick our fingers
in the water and actually taste it.
426
00:27:22,307 --> 00:27:24,976
You could actually taste
the different mineral contents.
427
00:27:25,060 --> 00:27:26,061
[water gurgling]
428
00:27:26,144 --> 00:27:29,647
I had just tasted the water,
and I had my back to the crater,
429
00:27:30,231 --> 00:27:33,985
and I heard one of our
other tourists say "Hey, look at that!"
430
00:27:34,069 --> 00:27:38,323
And you turn around and see this little
black cloud coming out of the volcano.
431
00:27:38,406 --> 00:27:42,452
It didn't look intimidating.
I actually took a picture of it.
432
00:27:42,535 --> 00:27:43,995
[tense music plays]
433
00:27:44,079 --> 00:27:48,166
It was just like
a chimney smoke coming up. No sound.
434
00:27:49,042 --> 00:27:52,253
[Jesse] We all turn around to see
what almost looked like a black firework,
435
00:27:52,337 --> 00:27:55,256
or like a dementor
from Harry Potter with a black long tail.
436
00:27:55,340 --> 00:27:59,636
So we all whipped out
our phones, started taking photos.
437
00:28:00,261 --> 00:28:03,556
Shortly following,
there was another larger bang,
438
00:28:04,099 --> 00:28:09,813
followed by a massive, even larger
group of rocks, flying into the air,
439
00:28:09,896 --> 00:28:15,276
and then slowly that began
to increase in intensity and size.
440
00:28:15,360 --> 00:28:16,528
[thunder rumbling in distance]
441
00:28:16,611 --> 00:28:18,696
[Lauren] I knew… I knew instantly.
442
00:28:18,780 --> 00:28:22,784
This is, this is bad news.
This is bad news. We need to run.
443
00:28:24,077 --> 00:28:27,122
[Kelsey] I turned around
and saw the plume.
444
00:28:27,205 --> 00:28:29,624
It was already taller than White Island.
445
00:28:30,667 --> 00:28:33,253
I knew immediately what was going on.
446
00:28:34,003 --> 00:28:36,798
My brain had just… was in overdrive
447
00:28:36,881 --> 00:28:40,176
and just trying to go as fast as
it could to try and work out what to do.
448
00:28:40,760 --> 00:28:42,095
Now behind me,
449
00:28:42,178 --> 00:28:47,976
I hear Kelsey just yell
"Run!" and then it was on.
450
00:28:48,059 --> 00:28:48,935
[tense music crescendos]
451
00:28:50,270 --> 00:28:52,355
-[Lauren] Go, go, go!
-[Kelsey shouts] Go, go, go!
452
00:28:52,439 --> 00:28:54,190
-[man1] Annie!
-[man2] Annie!
453
00:28:54,858 --> 00:29:01,698
-[voices screaming, panicking]
-[woman screams] Anybody?!
454
00:29:01,781 --> 00:29:06,453
[Lauren] At that point, I'm frantic.
I'm living my worst nightmare.
455
00:29:06,536 --> 00:29:08,455
[dramatic music playing]
456
00:29:08,538 --> 00:29:12,208
[Jesse] We hear Hayden
up at the front yelling to run,
457
00:29:12,292 --> 00:29:14,502
at which point panic set in,
458
00:29:14,586 --> 00:29:17,297
and we all
just started running for our lives.
459
00:29:17,380 --> 00:29:18,214
[voices yelling]
460
00:29:18,298 --> 00:29:21,301
I had my parents right on my heels.
461
00:29:21,384 --> 00:29:26,014
You could feel the shadow
of the explosion rise up behind us.
462
00:29:26,097 --> 00:29:28,892
-[ominous music playing]
-[water splashing]
463
00:29:28,975 --> 00:29:31,352
[Matt] We managed to run
and take shelter behind
464
00:29:31,436 --> 00:29:37,650
a very large outcropping of rocks just
before the ash cloud overtook us.
465
00:29:37,734 --> 00:29:43,865
[rumbling sounds, debris falling]
466
00:29:45,825 --> 00:29:46,910
[voice whimpering]
467
00:29:46,993 --> 00:29:48,995
[Jesse] It was just a black void.
468
00:29:49,078 --> 00:29:54,501
All you could hear was just the sound
of rumbling and just the roaring.
469
00:29:54,584 --> 00:29:57,212
At that point, there was,
there was nothing I could do.
470
00:29:57,295 --> 00:30:00,381
[ominous music plays]
471
00:30:06,679 --> 00:30:12,519
[Geoff] We were going around to the
next bay which was just around the cliff,
472
00:30:13,019 --> 00:30:14,479
and that's when it erupted.
473
00:30:16,940 --> 00:30:21,528
-[woman] Oh my God!
-[Geoff slowly] Oh my God! Oh no.
474
00:30:23,363 --> 00:30:27,450
[Geoff] I'm watching it
go up and it's beautiful.
475
00:30:28,493 --> 00:30:31,371
The white is pure white,
the black is dark.
476
00:30:31,454 --> 00:30:34,457
It kind of is just… an awesome moment.
477
00:30:36,918 --> 00:30:42,465
Within seconds,
what was beautiful went eerily sinister.
478
00:30:43,007 --> 00:30:48,513
This ash cloud
started rolling down over the cliff.
479
00:30:49,681 --> 00:30:52,767
The crew are realizing what's happened.
480
00:30:52,851 --> 00:30:56,479
The boat has started
to speed up significantly.
481
00:30:57,522 --> 00:31:01,109
We're still outside. The crew are calling
everybody into the cabin.
482
00:31:01,192 --> 00:31:02,485
[panicked voices]
483
00:31:02,569 --> 00:31:03,987
[man on bullhorn]
Okay, everybody inside right now.
484
00:31:04,070 --> 00:31:04,988
[hurried footsteps]
485
00:31:05,071 --> 00:31:10,702
-[man1] Go inside, go inside!
-[man2] Go, go go!
486
00:31:10,785 --> 00:31:12,287
[man2] Jesus!
487
00:31:14,372 --> 00:31:15,665
[tense music playing]
488
00:31:15,748 --> 00:31:19,669
[Brian] We were walking towards the
coast, and one of my passengers asked me,
489
00:31:20,253 --> 00:31:23,715
"Should we run?"
And I looked over my shoulder and
490
00:31:23,798 --> 00:31:26,009
that's when I saw
this massive eruption going on.
491
00:31:26,593 --> 00:31:28,553
I remember looking up
over my left shoulder
492
00:31:28,636 --> 00:31:31,598
and seeing these projectiles
arching towards us as well.
493
00:31:32,891 --> 00:31:34,851
[Brian] To me, it looked
like it was going up thousands of feet
494
00:31:34,934 --> 00:31:36,436
and it just wasn't ending.
495
00:31:37,687 --> 00:31:39,314
I looked over at the helicopter,
496
00:31:39,397 --> 00:31:42,734
which would have been about
three to four hundred meters away from me.
497
00:31:42,817 --> 00:31:45,236
So I… that's not an option whatsoever.
498
00:31:46,070 --> 00:31:49,574
Option Two was go for some water.
499
00:31:49,657 --> 00:31:51,868
So I told them to run for the water.
500
00:31:51,951 --> 00:31:54,245
[ominous music playing]
501
00:31:54,329 --> 00:31:56,873
Once I got to the pier,
I just went and jumped in.
502
00:31:56,956 --> 00:32:00,168
[water gurgling]
503
00:32:00,251 --> 00:32:03,463
I remember hitting the water and
just holding my breath as long as I could.
504
00:32:03,963 --> 00:32:05,673
Everything just went black.
505
00:32:08,593 --> 00:32:10,595
-[water sloshing]
-[man moaning]
506
00:32:12,722 --> 00:32:18,853
[voices screaming, moaning]
507
00:32:18,937 --> 00:32:21,105
[woman whimpering]
508
00:32:21,189 --> 00:32:24,943
[Brian] I just remember
rocks hitting me and pelting my hardhat.
509
00:32:26,027 --> 00:32:29,948
It was the darkest thing
I've ever seen in my life,
510
00:32:30,657 --> 00:32:35,328
darker than any night I've ever
experienced, just pitch black.
511
00:32:35,411 --> 00:32:39,123
-[voice whimpering]
-[water sloshing]
512
00:32:39,207 --> 00:32:43,461
[Kelsey] If you read
any literature on pyroclastic flows,
513
00:32:43,544 --> 00:32:44,963
people don't walk out.
514
00:32:45,964 --> 00:32:49,509
I knew the odds of getting out
of the back of it, so yeah…
515
00:32:49,592 --> 00:32:52,887
we just had to take shelter
and cross our fingers, really.
516
00:32:52,971 --> 00:32:58,810
I held my sunglasses and my gas mask
to my face and just didn't let go.
517
00:32:58,893 --> 00:33:03,314
[terrifying rumbling sounds]
518
00:33:03,398 --> 00:33:06,109
-[Kelsey] I hear other people yelling.
-[voices shouting]
519
00:33:06,943 --> 00:33:08,528
[Kelsey] It's just horrific.
520
00:33:09,904 --> 00:33:14,701
[Matt] I vividly remember feeling
like my back was being burned off.
521
00:33:15,910 --> 00:33:20,415
My arms and legs were burned so badly,
so quickly, I never even felt them.
522
00:33:20,498 --> 00:33:21,916
[deep music plays]
523
00:33:22,000 --> 00:33:24,460
[Lauren] I heard Matt say,
"I'm sorry, Lauren."
524
00:33:24,544 --> 00:33:26,087
And that broke my heart.
525
00:33:26,170 --> 00:33:27,505
-[haunting music plays]
-[muffled voices yelling]
526
00:33:27,588 --> 00:33:33,219
I hold on to his hand
because I thought, "For sure,
527
00:33:33,302 --> 00:33:39,809
we're gonna die today and I just want
our bodies to be found together."
528
00:33:41,519 --> 00:33:43,688
[Jesse] The smell was overwhelming.
529
00:33:43,771 --> 00:33:47,734
The heat alone was just unbearable.
530
00:33:47,817 --> 00:33:51,696
The superheated steam
just um, burning me alive.
531
00:33:52,447 --> 00:33:55,158
I did my absolute best
not to breathe at all,
532
00:33:55,241 --> 00:33:58,369
to keep my mouth shut,
to keep my eyes closed.
533
00:33:58,453 --> 00:34:04,917
I tried moving into the fetal position,
just let my back take brunt of the force.
534
00:34:05,001 --> 00:34:11,257
[haunting music continues]
535
00:34:11,340 --> 00:34:12,759
[Brian] You know,
underwater there's no noise.
536
00:34:12,842 --> 00:34:16,429
And you're just waiting for
kinda, you know, some light to reappear.
537
00:34:17,180 --> 00:34:20,600
It feels like you just don't know
when it's going to end,
538
00:34:21,184 --> 00:34:23,561
because it's just no light, just nothing.
539
00:34:25,063 --> 00:34:27,815
At one point, there was a bit
of light. I remember looking at it.
540
00:34:27,899 --> 00:34:29,358
I thought, "Thank God for that."
541
00:34:29,442 --> 00:34:31,652
I started swimming towards it
but then it disappeared again.
542
00:34:31,736 --> 00:34:35,990
[waves rippling]
543
00:34:36,074 --> 00:34:41,037
[Lauren] I tell Matt I love him.
I yell it every two seconds.
544
00:34:41,120 --> 00:34:43,039
"I love you. I love you. I love you."
545
00:34:43,122 --> 00:34:48,002
And all I can hear
is him screaming in pain.
546
00:34:48,086 --> 00:34:49,212
[deep rumbling sounds]
547
00:34:49,295 --> 00:34:51,547
I've never heard him yell like that ever.
548
00:34:53,549 --> 00:34:59,305
The pain was just excruciating.
The burns went through all my clothes.
549
00:35:01,557 --> 00:35:03,726
[Matt] Two to three minutes
was the entire eruption event.
550
00:35:03,810 --> 00:35:08,606
It was the most terrifying
two minutes of my life by far.
551
00:35:09,398 --> 00:35:11,109
I thought "This is it.
552
00:35:11,609 --> 00:35:16,239
This is my last day on this planet.
We're going to die on our honeymoon."
553
00:35:17,240 --> 00:35:22,328
-[waves splashing]
-[boat engine roaring]
554
00:35:22,411 --> 00:35:25,623
[Geoff] I remember
looking out of that window,
555
00:35:25,706 --> 00:35:31,546
and I now can't see
the Island at all. It's gone.
556
00:35:31,629 --> 00:35:38,302
[water gurgling]
557
00:35:38,386 --> 00:35:41,389
[Brian] Time for me felt
like it was going slower.
558
00:35:41,472 --> 00:35:44,725
And I always said, "Look, if
anything ever would happen to me,
559
00:35:44,809 --> 00:35:48,938
I feel like I have lived, you know,
for my age, a very good full life,
560
00:35:49,021 --> 00:35:52,316
and I'm satisfied to where I got."
561
00:35:52,942 --> 00:35:58,030
But at that time I realized, "Nope,
I'm not ready to let this go just yet.
562
00:35:58,114 --> 00:36:01,325
I think I'm just gonna keep on eh…
563
00:36:01,409 --> 00:36:03,578
trying my best
to get out of this situation alive."
564
00:36:03,661 --> 00:36:05,496
[dramatic music plays]
565
00:36:05,580 --> 00:36:08,416
The ash started to
settle on the surface of the water,
566
00:36:08,499 --> 00:36:11,794
light started to reappear,
and that's when I came back up.
567
00:36:11,878 --> 00:36:14,005
-[tense music plays]
-[water sloshing]
568
00:36:18,509 --> 00:36:21,679
I looked behind me towards the Island.
569
00:36:21,762 --> 00:36:25,224
You could see that all the… it was still
a fine amount of ash still in the air
570
00:36:25,308 --> 00:36:27,560
kind of falling down onto the island.
571
00:36:27,643 --> 00:36:33,774
-[water sloshing]
-[tense music continues]
572
00:36:41,532 --> 00:36:44,243
[Matt] First thing I did was
yell out Lauren's name.
573
00:36:44,327 --> 00:36:46,495
[ash falling quietly]
574
00:36:49,207 --> 00:36:52,543
I was in such bad shape,
I was afraid she had died.
575
00:36:53,127 --> 00:36:58,633
[voice breaking] So I just
remember being so scared. [sobs]
576
00:36:59,592 --> 00:37:00,426
It's okay.
577
00:37:04,764 --> 00:37:06,766
[whispers] It's okay.
578
00:37:09,852 --> 00:37:10,895
[softly] It's okay.
579
00:37:10,978 --> 00:37:12,396
So eventually…
580
00:37:12,480 --> 00:37:14,649
[wind roaring]
581
00:37:14,732 --> 00:37:18,069
[Matt] when I saw her moving,
I think she said, "I'm here, I'm here."
582
00:37:18,152 --> 00:37:22,406
That was the biggest relief I've ever felt
in my life when she responded.
583
00:37:22,990 --> 00:37:25,868
That was my worst nightmare
would be if I survived and she didn't.
584
00:37:25,952 --> 00:37:29,038
That would be worse than anything else.
585
00:37:29,121 --> 00:37:30,957
I wouldn't have been able
to live with myself.
586
00:37:32,124 --> 00:37:33,793
[wind blowing]
587
00:37:33,876 --> 00:37:36,545
[Jesse] Once the eruption ceased,
588
00:37:36,629 --> 00:37:41,133
I suppose I was out of shock, I just
stood up and I walked a few meters over.
589
00:37:42,635 --> 00:37:46,055
We were a small distance
away from the acid lake.
590
00:37:47,306 --> 00:37:52,770
Uh, there was screaming
and shouting, um, crying.
591
00:37:53,271 --> 00:37:58,317
I could see some people rolling
around on the ground, um… struggling,
592
00:37:58,401 --> 00:38:02,238
in severe pain,
which was a horrible sight to see.
593
00:38:02,321 --> 00:38:04,490
[wind blowing]
594
00:38:04,573 --> 00:38:07,785
[Kelsey] Just gradually… it just got
less, and then it just stopped and
595
00:38:07,868 --> 00:38:10,288
it was still and it was quiet.
And so I thought,
596
00:38:10,371 --> 00:38:12,915
"Well it's now or never."
597
00:38:12,999 --> 00:38:16,168
So got up and started yelling
at everyone to follow me
598
00:38:16,252 --> 00:38:19,338
and get up and
then started heading back to the jetty.
599
00:38:20,256 --> 00:38:21,882
[dramatic music plays]
600
00:38:21,966 --> 00:38:24,969
[Brian] For me, personally,
physically, I was perfectly fine.
601
00:38:26,345 --> 00:38:30,558
But everybody who was on the Island during
the eruption, none of them were okay.
602
00:38:30,641 --> 00:38:32,601
Nobody managed to escape that steam.
603
00:38:32,685 --> 00:38:35,980
That steam, you're talking
about 200º Celsius.
604
00:38:36,063 --> 00:38:38,858
So that's… you come out looking
like a boiled chicken, pretty much,
605
00:38:38,941 --> 00:38:40,443
to put in a rough way.
606
00:38:41,027 --> 00:38:42,320
I just looked down at my arm and
607
00:38:42,403 --> 00:38:44,947
there's just like an entire layer of skin
just flopping off.
608
00:38:46,157 --> 00:38:49,660
I mean, I knew I was in bad shape
and I knew she was in bad shape.
609
00:38:49,744 --> 00:38:53,664
The only thing on my mind was,
"We are getting off this Island now."
610
00:38:54,332 --> 00:38:59,462
[woman yelling]
Please run. Run! Please run.
611
00:38:59,545 --> 00:39:01,380
[Lauren] I was really struggling to walk.
612
00:39:02,631 --> 00:39:04,216
I fell a couple of times.
613
00:39:05,509 --> 00:39:08,637
Matt was burnt a lot worse than I was
614
00:39:08,721 --> 00:39:13,934
because he was wearing a lot less clothes
than I was, but he was helping me.
615
00:39:14,018 --> 00:39:16,645
[soft music playing]
616
00:39:16,729 --> 00:39:18,356
[Matt] I was running pure adrenaline.
617
00:39:19,315 --> 00:39:23,027
I knew roughly where the jetty was
and that was where I was going.
618
00:39:23,110 --> 00:39:29,742
-[waves crashing]
-[dramatic music plays]
619
00:39:29,825 --> 00:39:34,497
[Brian] At that point, I could see
one of the groups walking towards the pier
620
00:39:34,580 --> 00:39:37,083
and they all started
collecting at the pier.
621
00:39:37,166 --> 00:39:40,920
Twenty people or so waiting to be helped.
622
00:39:41,003 --> 00:39:47,927
-[waves crashing]
-[ominous music playing]
623
00:39:54,225 --> 00:39:56,018
I didn't know we were going to do this,
624
00:39:56,102 --> 00:39:58,813
but the skipper took the boat back
625
00:39:59,688 --> 00:40:01,857
to where we'd just come from.
626
00:40:04,235 --> 00:40:07,363
And as we headed back there,
627
00:40:08,489 --> 00:40:11,784
we went into the shadow
of the ash cloud so it went dark.
628
00:40:11,867 --> 00:40:17,123
-[woman] Oh Jesus Christ.
-[voices mutter indistinctly]
629
00:40:17,206 --> 00:40:19,750
[ominous music continues]
630
00:40:20,918 --> 00:40:23,546
[man on walkie-talkie] Hey Whakatāne
Coast Guard, Phoenix, do you copy?
631
00:40:25,005 --> 00:40:29,343
[man] I heard the call come through
the VHF, of the skipper that I knew,
632
00:40:29,427 --> 00:40:31,387
sounding very distressed,
633
00:40:32,471 --> 00:40:34,682
"There's people on the Island
and she's erupting."
634
00:40:34,765 --> 00:40:36,267
[tense music playing]
635
00:40:36,350 --> 00:40:39,937
And you could hear the distress
in his voice that this was serious.
636
00:40:40,020 --> 00:40:42,356
-[seagulls squawking]
-[telephones ringing]
637
00:40:42,440 --> 00:40:44,942
Instantly, my phones just started ringing.
638
00:40:46,861 --> 00:40:52,950
I then ran across the car park out to the
river where you could see White Island.
639
00:40:53,033 --> 00:40:54,535
[ominous music plays]
640
00:40:54,618 --> 00:40:57,955
Sure, enough.
It was a big cloud above the Island
641
00:40:58,038 --> 00:40:59,415
and it wasn't stopping.
642
00:40:59,498 --> 00:41:02,918
[ominous music crescendos]
643
00:41:03,002 --> 00:41:07,756
[indistinct chatter]
644
00:41:07,840 --> 00:41:11,135
[woman] Jesus.
645
00:41:11,218 --> 00:41:12,511
[Isaac] It was only
about five minutes later
646
00:41:12,595 --> 00:41:14,722
he's asking again where the help was,
647
00:41:15,222 --> 00:41:17,308
so that emphasized the distress
that they must have been under.
648
00:41:17,391 --> 00:41:18,809
They're calling for help
649
00:41:18,893 --> 00:41:20,936
and just a couple minutes later,
they're asking, "Where is that help?"
650
00:41:23,981 --> 00:41:26,317
[man] Someone came
into our office just after 2:00p.m.,
651
00:41:26,400 --> 00:41:28,903
and told us that Whakaari was erupting.
652
00:41:29,820 --> 00:41:35,075
We don't have a direct line of sight
to Whakaari, but over the hills,
653
00:41:35,159 --> 00:41:37,369
we could see a fairly impressive cloud.
654
00:41:38,704 --> 00:41:42,082
Another staff member said,
"Oh, well. There's the cameras.
655
00:41:42,166 --> 00:41:44,376
Let's go check the cameras."
656
00:41:44,460 --> 00:41:50,257
And we saw what, you know,
were basically small black dots,
657
00:41:51,091 --> 00:41:53,469
but we knew that those were people and
that's when
658
00:41:54,053 --> 00:41:56,889
for us then it registered that
there were people on there.
659
00:41:56,972 --> 00:41:59,183
[tense music playing]
660
00:41:59,266 --> 00:42:00,643
We were working.
661
00:42:00,726 --> 00:42:02,561
We had a deadline.
662
00:42:02,645 --> 00:42:06,357
We started hearing the sirens
and we're like, "What's going on?"
663
00:42:07,483 --> 00:42:09,735
[Hazel] I drove down
to the Mataatua reserve,
664
00:42:10,361 --> 00:42:14,532
pulled up, ran up,
ran across that big grassy patch.
665
00:42:15,699 --> 00:42:17,409
We knew something was wrong.
666
00:42:17,993 --> 00:42:20,496
The plume was bigger than usual.
667
00:42:20,579 --> 00:42:25,501
People were just staring
at Whakaari erupting, basically.
668
00:42:25,584 --> 00:42:27,836
[tense music continues]
669
00:42:27,920 --> 00:42:30,339
[Maangi] I was at home
and I saw the breaking news.
670
00:42:31,340 --> 00:42:34,093
People were starting to
arrive at my house and…
671
00:42:34,176 --> 00:42:35,010
[sighs]
672
00:42:35,094 --> 00:42:36,637
geez, I was still
673
00:42:36,720 --> 00:42:39,765
trying to think myself
and get it, you know?
674
00:42:41,934 --> 00:42:42,768
[inhales]
675
00:42:42,851 --> 00:42:44,186
Just wondering…
676
00:42:49,024 --> 00:42:50,526
[sighs]
677
00:42:50,609 --> 00:42:52,778
-[soft music playing]
-[seagulls squawking]
678
00:42:52,861 --> 00:42:55,739
[Pouroto] I was actually
at a Māori funeral,
679
00:42:57,324 --> 00:42:59,952
and I could feel through the energy
680
00:43:00,035 --> 00:43:03,080
of my speaking there
that something wasn't right.
681
00:43:05,040 --> 00:43:09,295
[Pouroto] When I went to look,
I could see the smoke coming up,
682
00:43:09,378 --> 00:43:14,174
and it wasn't
a normal volcanic cloud above Whakaari,
683
00:43:14,258 --> 00:43:16,051
it was very dark and dense.
684
00:43:17,553 --> 00:43:22,391
When I realized it was real,
I actually just broke down and cried.
685
00:43:23,475 --> 00:43:26,186
[ominous music plays]
686
00:43:28,105 --> 00:43:32,192
[Andy] There was a bit of confusion
initially in terms of who the tourists
687
00:43:32,276 --> 00:43:33,652
were that went on the Island,
688
00:43:33,736 --> 00:43:36,488
and actually who had taken them there.
689
00:43:38,032 --> 00:43:40,284
But we were certain
690
00:43:40,367 --> 00:43:44,622
that there were people left on the Island
at the time of the eruption.
691
00:43:46,248 --> 00:43:48,751
[Isaac] We put the call out for help
to the Whakatāne Coast Guard,
692
00:43:49,376 --> 00:43:51,837
and they steamed out towards White Island.
693
00:43:52,838 --> 00:43:55,507
But that's an hour and a half trip by sea.
694
00:43:56,091 --> 00:43:58,761
It was frustrating because we had to, um,
695
00:43:58,844 --> 00:44:01,055
you know, our boats to get that far,
696
00:44:01,138 --> 00:44:03,849
it's always going to be
a little bit of wait.
697
00:44:03,932 --> 00:44:05,476
[waves lapping]
698
00:44:06,226 --> 00:44:10,856
And then from Auckland, rescue helicopters
also headed out to White Island.
699
00:44:10,939 --> 00:44:13,233
[tense music playing]
700
00:44:13,317 --> 00:44:14,902
[helicopter rotors whipping]
701
00:44:14,985 --> 00:44:17,154
[Andy] There were air ambulance
helicopters,
702
00:44:17,237 --> 00:44:19,156
Westpac Rescue helicopters.
703
00:44:19,782 --> 00:44:22,034
They're search-and-rescue experts
704
00:44:22,117 --> 00:44:25,079
with all the equipment
and resources necessary,
705
00:44:25,162 --> 00:44:29,583
but they were also
probably an hour out from the Island.
706
00:44:29,667 --> 00:44:32,252
[helicopter rotors whirring]
707
00:44:32,336 --> 00:44:35,381
[woman speaks indistinctly]
708
00:44:35,464 --> 00:44:37,257
-[woman] Oh my God there are people there.
-[man] Look at the boat.
709
00:44:37,341 --> 00:44:40,135
[woman speaks indistinctly]
710
00:44:40,219 --> 00:44:42,721
[Geoff] When we first got back to the Bay,
711
00:44:42,805 --> 00:44:46,141
we can see everything
is just covered in this gray ash.
712
00:44:46,225 --> 00:44:47,059
[rapid footsteps]
713
00:44:47,142 --> 00:44:51,063
Your brain just can't process
what you're seeing.
714
00:44:52,272 --> 00:44:57,027
One thing that caught
my attention was this helicopter.
715
00:44:57,820 --> 00:45:01,281
[woman] Oh shit. Look
at that helicopter. Look.
716
00:45:01,365 --> 00:45:03,784
-[man] Totally spazzed out.
-[woman] Yeah.
717
00:45:03,867 --> 00:45:09,790
[Geoff] And I can very clearly see
that it is now been pushed backwards.
718
00:45:09,873 --> 00:45:13,544
It's now half off the deck
and the rotors are bent.
719
00:45:13,627 --> 00:45:16,004
[tense music plays]
720
00:45:16,088 --> 00:45:20,926
That was the first time that I, uh,
really started to think about
721
00:45:21,009 --> 00:45:25,514
the forces of what had
actually happened during that eruption.
722
00:45:25,597 --> 00:45:28,809
[indistinct chatter]
723
00:45:29,393 --> 00:45:32,229
[Geoff] I remembered that I
took three or four photographs
724
00:45:32,312 --> 00:45:35,732
a few minutes after we'd left the jetty.
725
00:45:37,025 --> 00:45:39,027
If you look real closely,
726
00:45:40,195 --> 00:45:45,576
you can see just these little dots
of people right up on the crater.
727
00:45:48,328 --> 00:45:51,373
[Jesse] My group was still
near to the crater.
728
00:45:51,457 --> 00:45:54,877
We were all
approximately 100 to 150 meters
729
00:45:54,960 --> 00:45:58,005
away from the point of the eruption.
730
00:46:00,883 --> 00:46:03,177
To my left, I could see my parents.
731
00:46:03,260 --> 00:46:04,511
Uh…
732
00:46:05,721 --> 00:46:07,973
[tuts]
733
00:46:08,056 --> 00:46:13,645
um, my father was sitting up,
struggling with his gas mask.
734
00:46:17,065 --> 00:46:18,984
I couldn't see my sister at the time.
735
00:46:20,819 --> 00:46:22,654
I could see my mother
736
00:46:22,738 --> 00:46:25,574
um… [tuts]
737
00:46:26,241 --> 00:46:30,120
just lying there. Not really, not
really moving.
738
00:46:31,205 --> 00:46:33,457
Or communicating, in any way.
739
00:46:34,625 --> 00:46:36,627
[steam whistling]
740
00:46:36,710 --> 00:46:38,795
[indistinct chatter]
741
00:46:38,879 --> 00:46:42,216
[woman tearfully]
There were so many people…
742
00:46:42,299 --> 00:46:46,929
[Geoff] The Island is continuing to
blow out steam from the Crater Lake.
743
00:46:48,347 --> 00:46:51,934
And we can see people at the jetty.
744
00:46:52,643 --> 00:46:54,520
[man] I see at least 16.
745
00:46:54,603 --> 00:46:57,189
[woman] Oh God,
they're just covered in ash.
746
00:46:57,272 --> 00:46:59,441
[woman tearfully] Oh my God. Oh dear babe.
747
00:46:59,525 --> 00:47:03,362
[Geoff] As soon as we'd seen
how bad the eruption was,
748
00:47:04,238 --> 00:47:07,074
it kind of changed our purpose.
749
00:47:07,157 --> 00:47:11,036
This is now about needing to help people.
750
00:47:11,537 --> 00:47:13,789
[tense music plays]
751
00:47:14,540 --> 00:47:17,042
[Brian] At that point,
I had to make a decision,
752
00:47:17,668 --> 00:47:21,922
"Do I swim for the boat
and make sure I'm safe,
753
00:47:22,005 --> 00:47:24,591
or do I go back and try and help?
754
00:47:24,675 --> 00:47:27,803
[water lapping]
755
00:47:27,886 --> 00:47:32,641
This is a time where you're tested
and do the best you can.
756
00:47:35,227 --> 00:47:39,982
I swam back over to the pier and started
helping people into rubber boats.
757
00:47:40,065 --> 00:47:42,192
[woman yelling]
758
00:47:42,276 --> 00:47:45,862
[Matt] Everybody is in a frantic
race to get onto that Zodiac boat.
759
00:47:46,488 --> 00:47:50,534
We didn't know if that was
a pre-eruption before the main event.
760
00:47:51,118 --> 00:47:56,415
So it was just pandemonium on that jetty.
We needed to get off this Island.
761
00:47:56,498 --> 00:47:57,666
[emotional woman] I might jump.
762
00:47:57,749 --> 00:47:58,750
-[man] Just wait!
-[woman2] Wait! Wait!
763
00:47:58,834 --> 00:48:01,253
[voices] Wait!
764
00:48:01,336 --> 00:48:02,921
[Matt] We tried to get onto the first boat
765
00:48:03,005 --> 00:48:06,425
which actually stopped at the
jetty, but people pushed ahead of us,
766
00:48:06,508 --> 00:48:12,222
we couldn't get on it. So then, on the
next one, I grabbed the ladder, get on,
767
00:48:12,306 --> 00:48:14,766
then I kind of just flopped into the boat.
768
00:48:15,350 --> 00:48:16,935
[indistinct chatter]
769
00:48:17,019 --> 00:48:17,853
[Lauren] Okay.
770
00:48:17,936 --> 00:48:22,065
[woman grunting, moaning]
771
00:48:22,149 --> 00:48:23,692
-[woman2] Don't touch me, oh.
-[woman1 whimpering]
772
00:48:23,775 --> 00:48:26,194
-[woman] Don't touch me.
-[voices crying] Oh God.
773
00:48:28,238 --> 00:48:29,948
[Brian] At that stage
it was quite a bit of chaos,
774
00:48:30,032 --> 00:48:31,783
you know, so people are trying to jump in,
775
00:48:31,867 --> 00:48:34,703
and you kind of had to hold them back.
Pushed them back a bit.
776
00:48:34,786 --> 00:48:37,831
I remember grabbing their hands,
helping them into the boat,
777
00:48:37,914 --> 00:48:40,709
and their skin would
just come off in your hands, you know.
778
00:48:40,792 --> 00:48:45,589
So this is really like uh… a kind
of war movie situation, you know?
779
00:48:45,672 --> 00:48:46,673
[waves lapping on boat]
780
00:48:46,757 --> 00:48:48,008
[woman1 moan]
781
00:48:48,091 --> 00:48:49,259
[woman2] Oh my God.
782
00:48:49,343 --> 00:48:53,722
[woman gasping] Come and…
783
00:48:53,805 --> 00:48:56,433
-[man shouts] Help!
-[woman shouts] Help!
784
00:48:56,516 --> 00:49:02,689
[steam whistling]
785
00:49:02,773 --> 00:49:05,734
[Geoff] The inflatable
came back to the Phoenix,
786
00:49:07,736 --> 00:49:11,990
and one of the guides got out
three or four first aid kits,
787
00:49:12,074 --> 00:49:15,827
and I can see that she's distressed
788
00:49:15,911 --> 00:49:19,498
and I was quite close
to her and I said to her,
789
00:49:20,082 --> 00:49:23,168
"Both my daughter
and I were first-aid trained.
790
00:49:23,251 --> 00:49:29,341
Can we help?" Her response was,
"We need all the help we can get."
791
00:49:30,676 --> 00:49:32,928
So I picked up that first aid kit,
792
00:49:33,011 --> 00:49:34,596
-walked to the back of the boat.
-[chilling music plays]
793
00:49:35,597 --> 00:49:37,641
-Those first survivors…
-[indistinct background chatter]
794
00:49:37,724 --> 00:49:39,351
…were coming onto the boat.
795
00:49:39,434 --> 00:49:41,895
[distressed voices yelling]
796
00:49:41,978 --> 00:49:44,398
And we set up a a triage,
797
00:49:45,107 --> 00:49:49,444
uh, we're sitting them down.
We're just trying to alleviate
798
00:49:49,528 --> 00:49:52,197
the pain of a burn with cool water.
799
00:49:52,280 --> 00:49:53,573
[water trickling]
800
00:49:53,657 --> 00:49:57,494
They were just screaming, "Get me
out of here. Get me away from here."
801
00:49:58,203 --> 00:50:00,997
[Geoff yelling] The boats are here,
the boats are here now!
802
00:50:01,081 --> 00:50:03,792
-[woman] Oh my God.
-[Geoff yelling] The motor's going.
803
00:50:04,668 --> 00:50:10,215
[Brian] They were burned from 45%
to 80% or even like full, fully burnt.
804
00:50:11,049 --> 00:50:15,345
So survival rates after 45%,
they go down significantly as well.
805
00:50:15,429 --> 00:50:17,931
So you know
you're dealing with people who…
806
00:50:19,558 --> 00:50:24,312
who are going to die within the next hour
or so making their way back to shore.
807
00:50:24,396 --> 00:50:28,066
[indistinct chatter]
808
00:50:28,150 --> 00:50:30,527
It was a, quite a dire situation.
809
00:50:32,195 --> 00:50:35,240
And at that stage,
the boat was at full capacity.
810
00:50:36,158 --> 00:50:40,287
You know, so we had
to get back to shore as fast as we could.
811
00:50:40,370 --> 00:50:41,580
[tense music playing]
812
00:50:53,425 --> 00:50:54,801
[boat motor humming]
813
00:51:00,766 --> 00:51:03,643
[waves splashing]
814
00:51:06,730 --> 00:51:08,440
[Mark] I got a call from my wife,
815
00:51:09,024 --> 00:51:11,818
and she said, "There's a massive amount
of smoke coming off Whakaari.
816
00:51:12,569 --> 00:51:13,445
Is your brother all right?"
817
00:51:14,029 --> 00:51:17,240
And I said, "Well, I think so."
I said, "I haven't heard anything.
818
00:51:17,324 --> 00:51:18,992
But I believe, hey,
819
00:51:19,075 --> 00:51:20,118
Hayden would let us know."
820
00:51:21,703 --> 00:51:23,955
And I looked through
the gap out to the ocean there.
821
00:51:24,039 --> 00:51:27,834
And man, she was… there was…
a big plume of smoke had come up.
822
00:51:31,546 --> 00:51:33,131
[tense music continues]
823
00:51:33,799 --> 00:51:36,676
[Mark Law] I was driving along the coast,
824
00:51:36,760 --> 00:51:40,555
and that's when I noticed
a really, really big plume,
825
00:51:40,639 --> 00:51:42,933
bigger than normal
and definitely darker than normal.
826
00:51:43,016 --> 00:51:46,853
[car engine accelerating]
827
00:51:46,937 --> 00:51:51,858
I was looking at it, looking at going,
"That's… something happening."
828
00:51:55,779 --> 00:51:59,157
[man] Volcanic Air had a message
that there'd been an eruption.
829
00:51:59,741 --> 00:52:04,246
I had actually been able
to view on one of the volcano cameras,
830
00:52:04,329 --> 00:52:06,790
located at the coast at Whakatāne.
831
00:52:09,668 --> 00:52:11,670
I think it became pretty apparent that,
832
00:52:11,753 --> 00:52:15,048
you know, sitting back
and doing nothing wasn't an option.
833
00:52:15,632 --> 00:52:17,259
We knew that
there were people on the Island.
834
00:52:17,342 --> 00:52:21,179
We had the means
and the ability to try and help
835
00:52:21,263 --> 00:52:24,432
and it's just the right thing
to do, and that's what we did.
836
00:52:24,516 --> 00:52:25,642
[traffic whizzing]
837
00:52:25,725 --> 00:52:27,227
[Mark Law] Like all things, you know,
838
00:52:27,310 --> 00:52:30,814
when it comes down
to making decisions and things happening,
839
00:52:31,314 --> 00:52:34,568
you either do or you don't. So I do.
840
00:52:34,651 --> 00:52:36,778
[helicopter engine whining]
841
00:52:36,862 --> 00:52:39,614
I called Tim and I said, "I'm going."
842
00:52:39,698 --> 00:52:42,033
And he said,
"Yeah, I'll see you up there."
843
00:52:43,618 --> 00:52:46,413
I called two really experienced
people that worked for me.
844
00:52:46,496 --> 00:52:49,624
I said "Go and get
a machine out ready to go, fuel it up.
845
00:52:49,708 --> 00:52:53,753
Grab some gear that
you think we might need,
846
00:52:53,837 --> 00:52:56,214
grab some extra masks and some water."
847
00:52:56,298 --> 00:52:57,924
[rotors humming]
848
00:52:58,008 --> 00:53:03,221
And then they took off.
A few moments later, I lifted.
849
00:53:03,305 --> 00:53:06,349
[rotor blades buzzing, engine humming]
850
00:53:12,105 --> 00:53:14,441
[Mark Law] You could hear all the
chit-chat going on on the radio
851
00:53:15,400 --> 00:53:17,944
and that's when
I heard John Funnell's voice.
852
00:53:19,446 --> 00:53:23,199
[soft music playing]
853
00:53:23,283 --> 00:53:25,201
[man] I was actually
854
00:53:25,785 --> 00:53:29,039
doing some flying
at Whakatāne in my airplane,
855
00:53:29,122 --> 00:53:31,041
just testing out some new equipment.
856
00:53:31,124 --> 00:53:32,334
[plane engine buzzing]
857
00:53:32,417 --> 00:53:38,131
That's when I heard Mark Law
on the radio, calling for a fixed-wing.
858
00:53:38,214 --> 00:53:40,592
[plane engine whining]
859
00:53:40,675 --> 00:53:44,638
[Mark Law] We needed someone circling
overhead who was like a relay station
860
00:53:44,721 --> 00:53:48,016
or a means of passing communication,
861
00:53:48,099 --> 00:53:52,646
because there is very limited cell phone
coverage on White Island.
862
00:53:52,729 --> 00:53:54,272
[rotors buzzing]
863
00:53:54,356 --> 00:53:59,527
There's no fixed radio
or any radio system there.
864
00:54:02,739 --> 00:54:04,908
[John] I volunteered my help.
865
00:54:07,869 --> 00:54:11,247
I had plenty of fuel,
I had the ability to get out there.
866
00:54:12,040 --> 00:54:15,919
And uh, never gave it
a thought about not going.
867
00:54:16,002 --> 00:54:21,716
-[tense music playing]
-[plane buzzing]
868
00:54:32,268 --> 00:54:37,732
[dramatic music crescendos]
869
00:54:40,193 --> 00:54:44,364
[waves splashing]
870
00:54:44,447 --> 00:54:46,908
[Brian] All the victims were
kind of laid around the boat,
871
00:54:46,992 --> 00:54:48,660
uh, at the front, at the back.
872
00:54:48,743 --> 00:54:51,413
We all kind of fell
into our own roles, assisting people.
873
00:54:51,496 --> 00:54:54,124
I think every one of us
on that boat did help quite a bit.
874
00:54:54,207 --> 00:54:55,709
-[wind whistling]
-[indistinct chatter]
875
00:54:57,127 --> 00:55:00,046
[Geoff] So we're dealing
with exposed hands,
876
00:55:00,130 --> 00:55:05,427
legs, faces,
but the burns were far worse than that.
877
00:55:05,510 --> 00:55:07,595
[waves crashing]
878
00:55:07,679 --> 00:55:10,765
I remember that being
a key moment where I thought
879
00:55:10,849 --> 00:55:15,061
"What would burn you through an
item of clothing,
880
00:55:15,145 --> 00:55:17,272
but didn't burn the clothing?"
881
00:55:19,065 --> 00:55:25,697
I realized actually that the steam caused
injuries far worse, that we couldn't see.
882
00:55:25,780 --> 00:55:27,907
[tense music playing]
883
00:55:27,991 --> 00:55:29,492
[Matt] There wasn't room
for us in the cabin.
884
00:55:29,576 --> 00:55:32,871
We actually ended up riding
on the bow of the ship,
885
00:55:32,954 --> 00:55:36,583
getting splashed by salt water
in the cold air and the sun.
886
00:55:36,666 --> 00:55:39,377
It was a horrific ride back.
887
00:55:39,461 --> 00:55:41,838
[water sloshing]
888
00:55:41,921 --> 00:55:44,924
[indistinct chatter]
889
00:55:48,178 --> 00:55:50,722
[Kelsey] I just keep looking up
at the horizon thinking,
890
00:55:51,306 --> 00:55:54,434
"How are we not there
yet? Surely it's been hours." [chuckles]
891
00:55:54,517 --> 00:55:59,439
But yeah, I mean you could hear
the boat at just total capacity,
892
00:55:59,522 --> 00:56:04,360
and so yeah it was like,
"Keep going boat. Keep going Phoenix."
893
00:56:04,444 --> 00:56:09,657
[waves splashing]
894
00:56:12,160 --> 00:56:14,829
[Isaac] The Phoenix had about 26 injured
895
00:56:14,913 --> 00:56:17,332
or critically injured people on board.
896
00:56:20,376 --> 00:56:22,420
That's when I thought,
897
00:56:22,504 --> 00:56:27,884
"Shit, there's a whole boatload of people
that are still to be accounted for."
898
00:56:39,854 --> 00:56:42,190
[Jesse] I've neared the acid lake.
899
00:56:42,273 --> 00:56:47,320
I was just sitting
there rocking… rocking in pain.
900
00:56:49,322 --> 00:56:53,952
Everything, my whole body was
just tingling. I had, I could see my arms,
901
00:56:54,536 --> 00:56:56,204
uh, covered in gray ash.
902
00:57:00,583 --> 00:57:04,045
And I was thinking, "I'm gonna die here.
I'm gonna die. That's going to be it."
903
00:57:06,047 --> 00:57:10,677
I was sat in the middle
of about half a dozen or more people.
904
00:57:11,177 --> 00:57:12,637
People who were dead or dying.
905
00:57:14,556 --> 00:57:18,601
In that time, you could hear
the voices slowly start to dissipate.
906
00:57:19,477 --> 00:57:21,896
The screaming becoming less frequent.
907
00:57:22,647 --> 00:57:27,986
The crying becoming more quiet.
908
00:57:29,362 --> 00:57:33,116
I knew you've got
your highest likelihood of surviving
909
00:57:33,199 --> 00:57:37,036
any kind of trauma if you've received
medical assistance within the first hour.
910
00:57:39,873 --> 00:57:42,000
After sitting there for half an hour,
911
00:57:42,083 --> 00:57:44,419
I came to the realization
that no one was coming.
912
00:57:47,088 --> 00:57:49,174
And then something just clicked.
913
00:57:51,217 --> 00:57:55,096
Just get up and go and go find some help.
914
00:57:55,180 --> 00:57:58,892
[steam whistling]
915
00:57:58,975 --> 00:58:01,769
Standing up and walking
away from my parents,
916
00:58:01,853 --> 00:58:06,149
that was… I would say,
the toughest thing I've ever had to do.
917
00:58:06,232 --> 00:58:11,321
[steam whistling]
918
00:58:11,404 --> 00:58:16,284
But once I did find that
strength, it was less so a walk,
919
00:58:16,367 --> 00:58:22,457
but more of a stumble. A forceful
pushing myself just to keep on walking.
920
00:58:22,540 --> 00:58:28,171
[dramatic music playing]
921
00:58:28,254 --> 00:58:32,258
[boat motor humming]
922
00:58:32,342 --> 00:58:34,844
[Brian] Fifteen to twenty minutes
into the trip back,
923
00:58:35,553 --> 00:58:38,014
that's where people started
kind of screaming out,
924
00:58:38,097 --> 00:58:40,391
just saying "I need water! I need water!"
925
00:58:40,475 --> 00:58:43,228
[waves splashing]
926
00:58:43,311 --> 00:58:46,981
[Geoff] We just did what we could
with Matt and Lauren.
927
00:58:47,065 --> 00:58:48,399
And these guys at the front.
928
00:58:50,735 --> 00:58:52,320
What was in my first aid kit
929
00:58:52,904 --> 00:58:56,407
was of far less value than the container.
930
00:58:58,660 --> 00:59:04,791
I tipped everything out of my first aid
kit and started to fill it with water.
931
00:59:07,544 --> 00:59:11,965
We just start to pour cold water
just over their hands,
932
00:59:12,549 --> 00:59:14,968
over what we can see that is exposed.
933
00:59:18,346 --> 00:59:21,599
[Brian] Everybody was screaming
for relief in a certain way.
934
00:59:21,683 --> 00:59:23,977
I think we were all just doing
what we could at that time.
935
00:59:25,478 --> 00:59:27,397
I was told a few times,
936
00:59:27,480 --> 00:59:28,606
you know, "You need to sit down.
937
00:59:28,690 --> 00:59:31,359
You probably inhaled
a lot of ash and stuff."
938
00:59:31,943 --> 00:59:37,448
But um… it's very hard
to sit down in a situation like that,
939
00:59:37,532 --> 00:59:39,284
you know. So you just keep going.
940
00:59:39,367 --> 00:59:41,369
-[haunting music plays]
-[waves splashing]
941
00:59:42,829 --> 00:59:47,083
[Lauren] They wrapped me in
a blanket to keep me warm,
942
00:59:47,166 --> 00:59:53,089
and then Geoff Hopkins even, you know,
kept his body to keep me warm.
943
00:59:53,172 --> 00:59:55,758
[waves crashing]
944
00:59:55,842 --> 00:59:58,553
[Geoff] She tells me,
"I'm… I'm not going to make it.
945
00:59:58,636 --> 01:00:00,305
I'm not going to make it."
946
01:00:00,388 --> 01:00:04,309
[water splashing]
947
01:00:04,392 --> 01:00:10,773
"Yes, you are. This isn't
the end of your life.
948
01:00:13,526 --> 01:00:15,820
You have got many years ahead of you."
949
01:00:19,407 --> 01:00:23,286
She asked if I would just hold her hand,
950
01:00:23,369 --> 01:00:28,082
and I couldn't, hold it, because
it was just so badly burnt.
951
01:00:30,376 --> 01:00:34,297
[Lauren] I'm not normally a religious
person, but I remember praying to God,
952
01:00:34,380 --> 01:00:37,467
that He would just end my life,
953
01:00:38,217 --> 01:00:45,058
just so I wasn't in pain anymore.
And that's where I lost consciousness.
954
01:00:45,141 --> 01:00:50,480
[tense music plays]
955
01:00:53,483 --> 01:00:55,401
[Jesse] It was very difficult
for me to breathe.
956
01:00:56,611 --> 01:00:59,697
My legs felt heavy.
957
01:01:01,949 --> 01:01:06,245
There was a lot of effort every
single step uh, to keep going forward.
958
01:01:10,166 --> 01:01:14,837
I recall Hayden previously
telling us in the safety brief to try
959
01:01:14,921 --> 01:01:17,423
to follow the stream back to the beach.
960
01:01:19,092 --> 01:01:22,929
I rounded a bend where
I had to cross the stream.
961
01:01:24,472 --> 01:01:30,228
It was very hot, it was burning,
and I had to jump across it.
962
01:01:32,605 --> 01:01:36,693
And all I wanted to do
was just to sit down again.
963
01:01:37,944 --> 01:01:43,991
But I knew if I take a break and sit down,
I'm not going to get back up again.
964
01:01:44,075 --> 01:01:48,162
-[steam whistling]
-[tense music plays]
965
01:01:48,246 --> 01:01:50,540
[Mark Law] As I got
to the Island, you could see
966
01:01:50,623 --> 01:01:53,793
it was still ashing quite significantly.
967
01:01:54,669 --> 01:01:57,714
Quite a column of ash and steam.
968
01:01:59,382 --> 01:02:02,301
So I thought, "Well okay.
I'll have a look around."
969
01:02:02,385 --> 01:02:04,095
[helicopter engine whirring]
970
01:02:04,178 --> 01:02:06,514
So I flew into the crater.
971
01:02:08,182 --> 01:02:11,561
I remember looking down and
going, "Gosh, that looks like a person.
972
01:02:11,644 --> 01:02:12,854
That looks like more.
973
01:02:14,105 --> 01:02:15,898
No, it looks like a guy sitting."
974
01:02:17,191 --> 01:02:20,111
And then I thought,
"Hang on, there's a lot more."
975
01:02:20,194 --> 01:02:23,156
[engine buzzing]
976
01:02:23,239 --> 01:02:26,367
[John] I was trying to fly
with both radios and the cell phone.
977
01:02:27,618 --> 01:02:31,831
I was keeping upwind
of the ash cloud, and to one side,
978
01:02:31,914 --> 01:02:33,750
just going backwards and forwards.
979
01:02:36,169 --> 01:02:40,506
I knew that we had
to get information out to the authorities
980
01:02:41,090 --> 01:02:44,010
as to how bad the situation was
so they could plan
981
01:02:44,093 --> 01:02:46,345
and put more resources in if needed.
982
01:02:47,305 --> 01:02:50,183
[John] I said to Mark,
"We need to know the number of dead
983
01:02:50,266 --> 01:02:51,684
and the number of injured."
984
01:02:55,313 --> 01:02:58,274
[Mark Law] I tried to land
in a couple places too dusty,
985
01:02:58,357 --> 01:03:03,070
and so I found one of my wood helipads,
986
01:03:03,154 --> 01:03:04,071
and zeroed in onto that,
987
01:03:04,155 --> 01:03:07,158
and just flew straight into it,
into sort of like a brown-out.
988
01:03:07,241 --> 01:03:09,577
[blades buzzing]
989
01:03:09,660 --> 01:03:15,708
[Mark Law] I left the aircraft running.
Grabbed my mask and jumped out.
990
01:03:18,961 --> 01:03:21,339
I then picked up some
footprints down the creek.
991
01:03:22,840 --> 01:03:26,677
-[engine whining]
-[dramatic music playing]
992
01:03:26,761 --> 01:03:29,680
[Tim] And I was focused on planning
my approach into the Island,
993
01:03:30,431 --> 01:03:32,558
you know, it was really dusty.
994
01:03:33,142 --> 01:03:36,312
So, we had to be
pretty committed to our landing.
995
01:03:36,395 --> 01:03:38,773
[engine whirring]
996
01:03:38,856 --> 01:03:44,487
I initially forgot my mask and
I didn't get very far from the helicopter
997
01:03:44,570 --> 01:03:47,657
before I realized
it was hard breathing out there.
998
01:03:47,740 --> 01:03:49,826
It was really hard.
You had to have a mask on.
999
01:03:49,909 --> 01:03:55,790
[dramatic music playing]
1000
01:03:55,873 --> 01:03:58,167
[Tim] Saw one person, then I saw another.
1001
01:03:59,126 --> 01:04:01,212
Saw a bunch just sort of further up.
1002
01:04:02,129 --> 01:04:04,841
Conscious, just, but barely conscious.
1003
01:04:05,633 --> 01:04:09,428
Some people crying out louder than others.
1004
01:04:14,267 --> 01:04:17,603
[John] I could form a picture
of what was happening down there.
1005
01:04:17,687 --> 01:04:19,397
[engine buzzing]
1006
01:04:19,480 --> 01:04:22,900
We just kept finding more and more
people all the time that needed help,
1007
01:04:22,984 --> 01:04:27,154
and it was just… it became
very obvious very quickly to me,
1008
01:04:27,238 --> 01:04:30,074
it was a major calamity
we had on our hands.
1009
01:04:32,076 --> 01:04:34,704
[tense music playing]
1010
01:04:34,787 --> 01:04:36,414
[Mark Law] I called the guys in.
1011
01:04:36,497 --> 01:04:39,375
I gave them a brief. I said,
"Look, there's a lot of people here.
1012
01:04:40,293 --> 01:04:41,460
Quite a few of them are dead.
1013
01:04:41,544 --> 01:04:45,131
There's a lot alive and
we're going to go to all of them."
1014
01:04:45,214 --> 01:04:48,467
[tense music playing]
1015
01:04:48,551 --> 01:04:52,179
[John] We were passing the
information to air traffic control.
1016
01:04:52,263 --> 01:04:53,431
[engine buzzing]
1017
01:04:53,514 --> 01:04:58,686
So that they would direct the two Westpac
Rescue helicopters into White Island.
1018
01:04:59,270 --> 01:05:01,063
[tense music plays]
1019
01:05:02,189 --> 01:05:06,193
I said, "We've got people
in extreme pain here
1020
01:05:06,277 --> 01:05:09,280
and we've got no medical equipment.
1021
01:05:09,363 --> 01:05:11,908
We've got no helicopters with stretchers.
1022
01:05:11,991 --> 01:05:15,453
We need you guys here on the Island."
1023
01:05:15,536 --> 01:05:18,915
[plane engine buzzing]
1024
01:05:18,998 --> 01:05:20,291
They responded straight away.
1025
01:05:20,374 --> 01:05:21,918
"We'll come direct."
1026
01:05:22,710 --> 01:05:25,338
So I called Mark up
and said "Help's on its way.
1027
01:05:25,421 --> 01:05:28,257
It… it will get better soon."
1028
01:05:29,884 --> 01:05:32,637
[Mark Law] So at that time,
we just started working through
1029
01:05:32,720 --> 01:05:34,513
all the folks on the ground,
1030
01:05:34,597 --> 01:05:36,599
really just clearing their airways,
1031
01:05:36,682 --> 01:05:40,394
clearing their noses,
putting some people in recovery positions,
1032
01:05:40,478 --> 01:05:42,897
putting gas masks back on people,
1033
01:05:42,980 --> 01:05:45,775
and dabbing water where we could.
1034
01:05:46,651 --> 01:05:49,362
And just continuing
until we got further assistance.
1035
01:05:50,404 --> 01:05:52,073
The ash was still falling on us.
1036
01:05:52,156 --> 01:05:53,991
And then every now and again we'd hear
1037
01:05:54,075 --> 01:05:57,244
big, you know, booms
as stuff was going on in the plume.
1038
01:05:59,872 --> 01:06:01,749
Anyway, cracked on.
1039
01:06:01,832 --> 01:06:04,502
[tense music plays]
1040
01:06:04,585 --> 01:06:09,382
[water sloshing, boat engine whining]
1041
01:06:10,883 --> 01:06:14,136
[Isaac] The Whakatāne Coast Guard
boat met the Phoenix just about halfway
1042
01:06:14,220 --> 01:06:16,764
back to Whakatāne, pulled up alongside.
1043
01:06:17,264 --> 01:06:20,935
The skipper advised that they
had multiple critical people on board.
1044
01:06:21,018 --> 01:06:23,270
So it was elected
to put the ambulance crew
1045
01:06:23,354 --> 01:06:27,400
on board the Phoenix to assist
with their care for their return trip.
1046
01:06:27,483 --> 01:06:30,361
Paramedics jump on and
then suddenly we were away again.
1047
01:06:30,444 --> 01:06:33,656
[boat engine accelerates, water sloshing]
1048
01:06:33,739 --> 01:06:38,327
My expectation was,
"Ah, the paramedics will take over."
1049
01:06:38,911 --> 01:06:44,125
But the reality was
even though they had a big kit,
1050
01:06:44,208 --> 01:06:47,044
there wasn't anything
in that kit that was going to help.
1051
01:06:48,212 --> 01:06:51,215
And really the paramedic just said,
"Just keep doing what you're doing.
1052
01:06:51,298 --> 01:06:53,801
Just keep reassuring.
There's nothing else we can do."
1053
01:06:53,884 --> 01:06:57,096
[engine buzzing]
1054
01:07:00,391 --> 01:07:03,936
[sirens blaring]
1055
01:07:04,020 --> 01:07:07,106
[Hazel] People had started gathering
down on the waterfront there,
1056
01:07:07,189 --> 01:07:08,566
along the river mouth.
1057
01:07:08,649 --> 01:07:12,111
I could see lots of ambulances, police.
1058
01:07:12,194 --> 01:07:16,490
Um… it felt like every person
1059
01:07:16,574 --> 01:07:20,327
who was a frontline
emergency staff member was there.
1060
01:07:20,411 --> 01:07:22,830
[indistinct chatter]
1061
01:07:22,913 --> 01:07:25,374
[Isaac] Once we knew
boats were on the way back,
1062
01:07:25,458 --> 01:07:28,461
that's when I'd go
and clear the wharf for them
1063
01:07:28,544 --> 01:07:31,672
because I knew they'd be heading
through the first wharf and unloading.
1064
01:07:31,756 --> 01:07:35,843
[indistinct chatter]
1065
01:07:35,926 --> 01:07:38,054
[man] We were just
around trying to establish
1066
01:07:38,137 --> 01:07:41,599
where we would set up the triaging
for the people coming off the boats.
1067
01:07:46,395 --> 01:07:49,690
[Mark] I had a little bit of denial,
a little bit of disbelief.
1068
01:07:51,108 --> 01:07:54,403
I thought, "You know what, I probably
should just give Hayden a quick call."
1069
01:07:54,487 --> 01:07:57,531
And I tried ringing him
and I got no reply.
1070
01:07:58,741 --> 01:08:01,118
I guess being a small community,
1071
01:08:01,202 --> 01:08:04,205
your network of connections
spreads a little bit wider.
1072
01:08:04,288 --> 01:08:06,999
And so my wife rang our family friend.
1073
01:08:08,209 --> 01:08:10,377
And asked if everything was all right,
1074
01:08:10,461 --> 01:08:12,546
and she said, "It's not good."
1075
01:08:12,630 --> 01:08:16,300
[car engine roaring]
1076
01:08:17,426 --> 01:08:19,720
I picked the kids up and raced into town.
1077
01:08:23,099 --> 01:08:25,309
[Maangi] We drove down to Whakatāne,
1078
01:08:25,392 --> 01:08:27,645
straight to White Island Tours.
1079
01:08:27,728 --> 01:08:28,729
[indistinct chatter]
1080
01:08:28,813 --> 01:08:33,275
We just saw the ambulances
and um… police everywhere.
1081
01:08:33,359 --> 01:08:39,406
They had the whole family around, um… we
were all, you know, just waiting for news.
1082
01:08:39,490 --> 01:08:42,743
[waves rippling]
1083
01:08:43,828 --> 01:08:48,290
[ominous music plays]
1084
01:08:50,376 --> 01:08:53,170
[Jesse] I made it to a rocky outcrop,
1085
01:08:53,921 --> 01:08:57,007
and you could see the view
of the water, and I was like,
1086
01:08:57,591 --> 01:09:00,136
"I made it," and then
directly in front of me
1087
01:09:00,219 --> 01:09:03,222
was one of the crew
members from the Phoenix.
1088
01:09:04,348 --> 01:09:06,851
-He had the radio to his mouth…
-[indistinct radio chatter]
1089
01:09:06,934 --> 01:09:10,980
…saying something like "That's
it, it's… might be time to wrap up."
1090
01:09:11,063 --> 01:09:12,690
[indistinct radio chatter]
1091
01:09:12,773 --> 01:09:16,610
As soon as I heard that I just yelled
with whatever energy that I had left.
1092
01:09:17,444 --> 01:09:18,821
It was more like a scream.
1093
01:09:20,531 --> 01:09:24,577
And then he turned around
with a wide-eyed expression,
1094
01:09:25,369 --> 01:09:29,123
like the shock on his face
saying like, "Holy, holy crap."
1095
01:09:30,291 --> 01:09:32,877
And he straight away just said,
"I have a survivor.
1096
01:09:32,960 --> 01:09:35,838
Um… let's go."
1097
01:09:36,547 --> 01:09:39,717
And then when I flung
my arms around his shoulders,
1098
01:09:39,800 --> 01:09:42,636
I just remember saying "Uh, my family."
1099
01:09:42,720 --> 01:09:48,851
All I wanted to do the whole time was
just get him to allow me to take him back
1100
01:09:48,934 --> 01:09:50,102
to where everyone else was.
1101
01:09:50,186 --> 01:09:51,937
[waves crashing]
1102
01:09:52,021 --> 01:09:56,442
He was like, "It'll be okay. We're going
to get you back to the ship now."
1103
01:09:58,527 --> 01:10:02,406
So we boarded the Te Puia
and then departed.
1104
01:10:02,489 --> 01:10:04,533
[boat engine buzzing, water sloshing]
1105
01:10:10,206 --> 01:10:14,001
-[tense music plays]
-[plane engine buzzing]]
1106
01:10:14,084 --> 01:10:18,714
[John] I'd lost track of all time
because I was just so busy
1107
01:10:19,298 --> 01:10:22,509
trying to communicate
with air traffic control.
1108
01:10:23,219 --> 01:10:27,389
"We urgently need help out here.
We just keep finding more survivors
1109
01:10:27,473 --> 01:10:28,599
and needing more help."
1110
01:10:28,682 --> 01:10:32,394
[engine whining]
1111
01:10:32,478 --> 01:10:34,939
They called back, probably
five minutes later,
1112
01:10:35,022 --> 01:10:38,901
and said "We've been directed by the
Communication Center
1113
01:10:38,984 --> 01:10:40,903
that we're not to go to the Island."
1114
01:10:40,986 --> 01:10:45,699
[plane engine buzzing]
1115
01:10:45,783 --> 01:10:48,911
[Andy] The decision
was made at a higher level,
1116
01:10:48,994 --> 01:10:52,581
that there'd been
a no-fly zone put in place.
1117
01:10:53,207 --> 01:10:58,587
And this was due to the dangerous
environment there around the Island.
1118
01:10:59,171 --> 01:11:04,718
Quite toxic, quite acidic, and
quite dangerous for any rescuers.
1119
01:11:05,386 --> 01:11:08,973
And there was
a high risk of another explosion.
1120
01:11:09,974 --> 01:11:12,351
[tense music notes play]
1121
01:11:12,434 --> 01:11:14,186
[man] At this stage, it is too dangerous
1122
01:11:14,270 --> 01:11:16,480
for police and rescue services
to go to the Island.
1123
01:11:17,356 --> 01:11:21,193
The Island is currently covered
in ash and volcanic material.
1124
01:11:21,277 --> 01:11:25,322
We are taking expert advice with
regards to safety of any rescue attempt.
1125
01:11:25,406 --> 01:11:29,159
-[plane engine buzzing]
-[tense music plays]
1126
01:11:33,956 --> 01:11:37,710
[John] I called Mark's team
back on the ground again, and said,
1127
01:11:37,793 --> 01:11:40,921
"You just have to do
what you can with what you've got.
1128
01:11:42,840 --> 01:11:44,258
You're on your own."
1129
01:11:44,341 --> 01:11:48,846
[tense music plays]
1130
01:11:48,929 --> 01:11:50,306
[Mark Law] He goes,
"No, they're not coming."
1131
01:11:52,141 --> 01:11:55,644
So I said, "Oh yeah? Uh, okay."
1132
01:11:55,728 --> 01:11:59,815
Then we essentially
just moved into Plan B,
1133
01:11:59,898 --> 01:12:02,860
and that was,
"We're going to do it ourselves."
1134
01:12:07,906 --> 01:12:12,411
[John] Mark and his team were
facing a horrendous situation
1135
01:12:12,494 --> 01:12:16,665
with multiple patients
with severe scalding burns.
1136
01:12:17,166 --> 01:12:19,668
[ominous music plays]
1137
01:12:19,752 --> 01:12:22,087
This is the stuff
that nightmares are made out of.
1138
01:12:22,171 --> 01:12:26,717
[ominous music continues]
1139
01:12:26,800 --> 01:12:29,219
[Mark Law] At that stage,
we got everyone together
1140
01:12:29,303 --> 01:12:34,683
and it became a combined
effort to identify the survivors,
1141
01:12:34,767 --> 01:12:36,977
and start to get them
onboard the aircraft.
1142
01:12:37,978 --> 01:12:40,856
It was just, "Let's get everyone
who's still living off this island."
1143
01:12:41,482 --> 01:12:45,235
Once we started to move people,
we realized how severe the injuries were.
1144
01:12:48,447 --> 01:12:51,950
Whole legs were just, you know, just
blistered and trying to pick people up,
1145
01:12:52,034 --> 01:12:53,744
and skin was coming off in our hands,
1146
01:12:53,827 --> 01:12:55,496
and all over
our clothing and things like that.
1147
01:12:57,456 --> 01:13:00,000
But you can't, you can't sit there
and dwell about it.
1148
01:13:02,419 --> 01:13:05,089
You eventually
just got to get on and talk to people,
1149
01:13:05,839 --> 01:13:06,924
tell them what you're going to do.
1150
01:13:08,008 --> 01:13:10,219
"Okay, right,
you're going in the helicopter.
1151
01:13:11,011 --> 01:13:12,888
We're gonna lift you up here.
1152
01:13:13,931 --> 01:13:16,266
You'll be 20 minutes away to a hospital."
1153
01:13:17,768 --> 01:13:21,688
You know, when people
are down and out and nearly gone,
1154
01:13:22,272 --> 01:13:24,441
words are tremendously powerful.
1155
01:13:25,526 --> 01:13:26,819
[rotor blades whirring]
1156
01:13:26,902 --> 01:13:29,029
And we didn't have time
to pull up our seats.
1157
01:13:29,613 --> 01:13:32,116
We had to, you know,
lift people up right up high.
1158
01:13:32,199 --> 01:13:33,033
[helicopter rotor buzzing]
1159
01:13:33,117 --> 01:13:37,162
We used some seat belts, just to hold
people up more than hold them in.
1160
01:13:38,747 --> 01:13:45,045
We finally got five people into the
first helicopter, and then he left.
1161
01:13:49,049 --> 01:13:53,011
So, we loaded my one up
and then I lifted off.
1162
01:13:57,141 --> 01:13:58,767
[Tim] I had one on board the aircraft,
1163
01:13:58,851 --> 01:14:00,769
and then we got one more on board.
1164
01:14:02,146 --> 01:14:05,274
We couldn't get any more
in the back of my aircraft.
1165
01:14:05,899 --> 01:14:08,569
So then I got airborne with those two.
1166
01:14:13,574 --> 01:14:17,327
I just remember thinking that I
wish this helicopter would fly faster,
1167
01:14:17,411 --> 01:14:21,248
and really my only thoughts
flying back were
1168
01:14:21,331 --> 01:14:23,417
with the people
in the back of my aircraft.
1169
01:14:25,085 --> 01:14:29,631
You know, we gave them water
to try and uh, assist.
1170
01:14:30,549 --> 01:14:34,261
And to, you know… but yeah.
1171
01:14:34,344 --> 01:14:38,182
[tense music playing]
1172
01:14:38,265 --> 01:14:42,436
[rotor blades whirring]
1173
01:14:44,396 --> 01:14:48,567
[John] That was a horrendous,
huge effort on their part.
1174
01:14:49,776 --> 01:14:52,905
There was little more
they could have done.
1175
01:14:54,114 --> 01:14:56,283
There were no more survivors left.
1176
01:14:57,034 --> 01:15:00,162
The only people left on the
island were the deceased.
1177
01:15:13,258 --> 01:15:20,015
-[rotor blades whirring]
-[dramatic music playing]
1178
01:15:25,395 --> 01:15:29,525
[Geoff] As we approach land,
Mike the skipper said,
1179
01:15:30,192 --> 01:15:33,612
"Hold on because we're just
going to go through this at full speed."
1180
01:15:33,695 --> 01:15:37,157
[soft music playing]
1181
01:15:37,241 --> 01:15:39,660
[Jason] That boat did not stop
when it went over that bar.
1182
01:15:39,743 --> 01:15:42,371
It just carried
at that speed up the river,
1183
01:15:43,080 --> 01:15:44,831
which we had never seen before.
1184
01:15:46,208 --> 01:15:50,170
I remember thinking that, "You know, this
boat is coming at speed for a reason."
1185
01:15:50,254 --> 01:15:54,841
[waves crashing]
1186
01:15:54,925 --> 01:15:57,970
[Geoff] There was a line
of paramedics, a line of police,
1187
01:15:58,053 --> 01:16:00,055
a line of fire fighters,
1188
01:16:00,138 --> 01:16:04,643
and they were just looking wide-eyed
1189
01:16:04,726 --> 01:16:07,437
trying to take in what they could see.
1190
01:16:10,274 --> 01:16:11,733
I guess almost with shock.
1191
01:16:11,817 --> 01:16:15,904
[police sirens blaring]
1192
01:16:15,988 --> 01:16:19,825
[Jason] That's when we got
our first visual on the casualties.
1193
01:16:20,784 --> 01:16:25,497
I mean, I'd never seen… a human body
1194
01:16:25,581 --> 01:16:30,168
um, in an eruption,
so I wasn't, you know, exactly sure…
1195
01:16:32,838 --> 01:16:33,672
what it would look like.
1196
01:16:33,755 --> 01:16:38,010
[sirens blaring]
1197
01:16:38,093 --> 01:16:39,678
[Jesse] I remember [sighs]
1198
01:16:39,761 --> 01:16:43,223
a police officer I'd seen coming in,
with his hands full of Glad Wrap.
1199
01:16:45,267 --> 01:16:47,436
They're trying to get
all the stuff that they could
1200
01:16:47,519 --> 01:16:49,813
from the local stores
to cover the burn wounds.
1201
01:16:51,523 --> 01:16:54,234
[Matt] I heard Geoff yell
to the paramedics,
1202
01:16:54,318 --> 01:16:57,279
"Get her off first.
She's in critical condition."
1203
01:16:58,572 --> 01:17:03,744
[Geoff] Matt walked off the boat
which just amazed me.
1204
01:17:04,620 --> 01:17:07,331
I was very clear that
I did not want to be separated from her,
1205
01:17:07,914 --> 01:17:11,460
so they actually let me ride in the
ambulance with her to the hospital.
1206
01:17:13,837 --> 01:17:16,673
[Jason] Where I was,
the three people I had, um…
1207
01:17:16,757 --> 01:17:18,675
[eerie music plays]
1208
01:17:18,759 --> 01:17:22,888
There was this moment
when, um, one of them, um, just slumped,
1209
01:17:22,971 --> 01:17:23,972
slumped on me.
1210
01:17:24,806 --> 01:17:25,891
And um…
1211
01:17:27,017 --> 01:17:29,102
and I just think at that point in time,
1212
01:17:29,895 --> 01:17:31,980
I just had my own little moment.
1213
01:17:32,064 --> 01:17:33,565
-[seagulls squawk]
-[eerie music continues]
1214
01:17:34,149 --> 01:17:37,402
Um, I remember standing up,
taking a breath,
1215
01:17:38,362 --> 01:17:40,447
turning around, and facing
the other side of the river,
1216
01:17:41,073 --> 01:17:42,199
and then turning back
1217
01:17:42,783 --> 01:17:46,411
and just having total clarity
of what we needed to do.
1218
01:17:49,665 --> 01:17:52,084
[Kelsey] There was fire
and ambulance, and police.
1219
01:17:52,167 --> 01:17:55,128
And somehow in that whole crowd,
1220
01:17:55,212 --> 01:17:57,506
I managed to spot my mom and sister,
1221
01:17:57,589 --> 01:18:00,676
and I remember thinking,
"They can't see me like this."
1222
01:18:00,759 --> 01:18:02,928
[wistful music playing]
1223
01:18:03,011 --> 01:18:06,640
So I got up and I couldn't
actually straighten out my limbs.
1224
01:18:07,224 --> 01:18:11,561
And so I kind of had to walk
a bit odd to the side of the boat…
1225
01:18:11,645 --> 01:18:13,105
-[engine humming]
-[seagulls squawking]
1226
01:18:13,188 --> 01:18:15,399
Beelined it straight for the ambulance,
1227
01:18:15,482 --> 01:18:18,485
'cause I didn't want them
to see me in that much pain.
1228
01:18:21,071 --> 01:18:23,407
[news reporter] The first casualties
from a volcanic eruption
1229
01:18:23,490 --> 01:18:27,160
being stretchered from
White Island clearly suffering burns.
1230
01:18:27,244 --> 01:18:29,579
Of course, there's still
a number unaccounted for.
1231
01:18:29,663 --> 01:18:32,791
Twenty of them
we believe are seriously injured.
1232
01:18:32,874 --> 01:18:36,169
[wistful music continues]
1233
01:18:39,256 --> 01:18:41,758
[Mark] I race into town.
1234
01:18:43,385 --> 01:18:44,845
Um…
1235
01:18:46,722 --> 01:18:48,390
My mom and dad were there.
1236
01:18:53,729 --> 01:18:56,565
One of the skippers said,
[in choked voice] "Hayden didn't come off.
1237
01:18:56,648 --> 01:18:58,650
He isn't… hasn't come off."
1238
01:18:59,234 --> 01:19:01,737
But he wasn't 100 percent
sure where he was.
1239
01:19:01,820 --> 01:19:05,782
And we said… [stuttering]
"But no, it's… it can't be. How?"
1240
01:19:05,866 --> 01:19:06,700
[sobs]
1241
01:19:06,783 --> 01:19:11,163
He said he didn't know whether he's
on a helicopter or not. He wasn't sure.
1242
01:19:13,415 --> 01:19:16,334
[Mark Law] We had it tapped out, you know,
it was going as fast as we could,
1243
01:19:17,502 --> 01:19:19,212
probably 120 knots.
1244
01:19:20,505 --> 01:19:23,884
There were some instructions
coming from the Rescue Services,
1245
01:19:23,967 --> 01:19:26,219
that we were to fly to the airport
with all the patients,
1246
01:19:27,220 --> 01:19:29,181
but I said "No, we're not doing that.
1247
01:19:29,264 --> 01:19:30,307
We're going to go to hospital."
1248
01:19:32,267 --> 01:19:35,896
It's just straight out of time,
wasted time.
1249
01:19:36,646 --> 01:19:41,109
I felt that Rescue Services,
you know, they'd already let us down.
1250
01:19:41,193 --> 01:19:44,488
So you know, the hospital wasn't going
to let us down because we'd just arrive.
1251
01:19:44,571 --> 01:19:45,697
[ambulance sirens blaring]
1252
01:19:45,781 --> 01:19:47,199
They were going to go into that hospital
1253
01:19:47,282 --> 01:19:49,743
and you had lots of people
that could take care of them quickly.
1254
01:19:51,578 --> 01:19:54,790
[sirens continue blaring]
1255
01:19:55,999 --> 01:19:59,127
[Matt] I had the thought,
"My mom's going to wonder what happened
1256
01:19:59,211 --> 01:20:03,089
to us when we just
stop communicating with her at all."
1257
01:20:03,715 --> 01:20:07,511
And I still had my cell phone with me.
So, I asked one of the people nearby
1258
01:20:07,594 --> 01:20:10,180
to call my mom. I couldn't work it
because it was a fingerprint unlock
1259
01:20:10,263 --> 01:20:11,681
and I didn't have any fingerprints left.
1260
01:20:11,765 --> 01:20:15,060
[wistful music playing]
1261
01:20:15,143 --> 01:20:17,312
[Matt] Hi Mom, it's me.
I just wanted to let you know,
1262
01:20:17,395 --> 01:20:18,438
and this isn't a joke,
1263
01:20:18,522 --> 01:20:22,192
the volcano actually erupted
while we were on the Island,
1264
01:20:22,275 --> 01:20:25,237
so we're at a hospital in New Zealand.
1265
01:20:25,320 --> 01:20:26,947
I don't know how long I'll be here,
1266
01:20:27,030 --> 01:20:29,574
but I'll try and
keep you updated as best I can.
1267
01:20:32,828 --> 01:20:35,497
[Matt] At that point, we got separated.
1268
01:20:35,580 --> 01:20:38,708
I didn't really understand
how bad of shape I was in.
1269
01:20:38,792 --> 01:20:41,545
I certainly didn't expect
I was going to be in a coma in…
1270
01:20:41,628 --> 01:20:44,631
in New Zealand for over a month or more.
1271
01:20:44,714 --> 01:20:50,011
They cut off my wedding ring
and I remember begging them
1272
01:20:50,095 --> 01:20:52,973
not to do that
because I had just gotten married.
1273
01:20:54,474 --> 01:20:58,728
I was just heartbroken and…
and I wouldn't look when they cut it off.
1274
01:20:58,812 --> 01:21:03,692
[raindrops pattering]
1275
01:21:03,775 --> 01:21:06,319
[Geoff] You go from a situation where
1276
01:21:06,403 --> 01:21:10,949
there's urgency to suddenly
when the urgency stops.
1277
01:21:11,658 --> 01:21:14,661
And it's not until that moment then,
1278
01:21:14,744 --> 01:21:17,873
when suddenly what we were
doing now had been passed
1279
01:21:17,956 --> 01:21:18,915
to a professional,
1280
01:21:18,999 --> 01:21:23,461
did we start to process
what had just happened.
1281
01:21:25,422 --> 01:21:27,007
I called my wife.
1282
01:21:27,799 --> 01:21:30,886
As soon as she answered, I couldn't talk.
1283
01:21:32,304 --> 01:21:35,807
You know the tears just started
[stuttering] to come out of nowhere.
1284
01:21:38,476 --> 01:21:39,477
[Brian] Everybody was very,
1285
01:21:39,561 --> 01:21:42,105
you know, emotionally
and physically wrecked at that stage.
1286
01:21:43,481 --> 01:21:47,277
Jolene, my girlfriend, came over
to pick me up, and I was able to,
1287
01:21:47,360 --> 01:21:48,945
you know, hug her and…
1288
01:21:50,238 --> 01:21:53,533
that's, I think, when emotionally
everything hit me for the first time.
1289
01:21:56,620 --> 01:22:01,625
[Maangi] We heard from the police
there were eight still on the Island
1290
01:22:01,708 --> 01:22:04,586
on Whakaari, passed away.
1291
01:22:05,670 --> 01:22:07,297
Tipene was one of them.
1292
01:22:08,131 --> 01:22:09,549
I dropped on the floor.
1293
01:22:11,676 --> 01:22:14,679
I couldn't believe, I couldn't believe
that I was hearing, you know…
1294
01:22:15,972 --> 01:22:16,806
[sighs]
1295
01:22:16,890 --> 01:22:19,225
Parekura we call it. Tragedy.
1296
01:22:19,309 --> 01:22:21,269
[sobs]
1297
01:22:21,978 --> 01:22:26,232
[melancholic music playing]
1298
01:22:26,316 --> 01:22:30,153
[Mark] Once we got the word
that the last helicopter landed,
1299
01:22:30,654 --> 01:22:34,324
you know, I actually rang Mark Law
for an update of what was happening.
1300
01:22:39,204 --> 01:22:42,624
[Mark Law stuttering] I just… I just,
you know, I felt as friends,
1301
01:22:42,707 --> 01:22:46,378
you know, like uh… we
just have to let them know,
1302
01:22:46,461 --> 01:22:47,921
you know, as soon as possible.
1303
01:22:51,257 --> 01:22:55,762
You know, "I was there with Hayden
and he definitely passed away."
1304
01:23:01,309 --> 01:23:04,813
He had seen Hayden, and um…
1305
01:23:04,896 --> 01:23:10,568
[exhales, sniffs]
1306
01:23:10,652 --> 01:23:13,446
He'd seen him on the Island,
and said that he hadn't made it.
1307
01:23:13,530 --> 01:23:17,075
[wind blowing softly]
1308
01:23:17,158 --> 01:23:21,705
[Mark] Mark talked
about seeing footsteps in the ash.
1309
01:23:25,208 --> 01:23:28,503
And they believe that it was Hayden
and Tipene that had moved about
1310
01:23:28,586 --> 01:23:31,965
and helped the final few, I guess,
1311
01:23:32,757 --> 01:23:35,343
be comfortable in their last moments.
1312
01:23:38,972 --> 01:23:43,476
I know both Tipene and Hayden
put everybody first, before themselves.
1313
01:23:46,771 --> 01:23:49,149
But he wasn't coming home.
1314
01:23:51,943 --> 01:23:57,407
[melancholic music continues]
1315
01:23:58,742 --> 01:24:01,286
[woman] It is now clear that there
were two groups on the Island,
1316
01:24:01,369 --> 01:24:04,622
those who were able to be evacuated
1317
01:24:04,706 --> 01:24:06,875
and those who were close to the eruption.
1318
01:24:07,459 --> 01:24:11,713
To those who have lost
or are missing family and friends,
1319
01:24:11,796 --> 01:24:17,886
we share in your unfathomable grief
at this moment in time and in your sorrow.
1320
01:24:17,969 --> 01:24:19,721
Your loved one stood alongside Kiwis
1321
01:24:19,804 --> 01:24:23,308
who were hosting you here and we grieve
with you and we grieve with them.
1322
01:24:26,352 --> 01:24:29,314
[reporter1] The official death toll
from that volcanic eruption
1323
01:24:29,397 --> 01:24:31,399
in New Zealand now stands at eight.
1324
01:24:31,483 --> 01:24:33,818
[reporter2] Nine of them
have now been confirmed dead…
1325
01:24:33,902 --> 01:24:36,613
-the latest, teenage brothers…
-[reporter3 speaks in Mandarin]
1326
01:24:36,696 --> 01:24:40,408
[reporter4] Death toll from Monday's
disaster has now risen to at least 15.
1327
01:24:40,492 --> 01:24:44,120
-[reporter5 French] Sixteen people died…
-[reporter6 speaks in Māori]
1328
01:24:44,204 --> 01:24:46,664
[reporter7] He was
a dedicated public servant…
1329
01:24:46,748 --> 01:24:48,291
[reporter8 speaks in Samoan]
1330
01:24:48,374 --> 01:24:51,252
[reporter9] Among the 21 victims
were her husband, Gavin,
1331
01:24:51,336 --> 01:24:53,713
and 15-year old daughter, Zoe.
1332
01:25:01,304 --> 01:25:04,808
[Kelsey] I didn't really know
what had happened for three weeks.
1333
01:25:04,891 --> 01:25:06,476
No one had told me still,
1334
01:25:07,185 --> 01:25:10,814
but a friend of mine came to
visit me on the Burns Unit,
1335
01:25:11,439 --> 01:25:14,984
and I'm like "Oh, how's Hayden?
Like I'm surprised I haven't seen Hayden."
1336
01:25:15,068 --> 01:25:20,073
And she just like looked at my family and
yeah, they all burst into tears.
1337
01:25:20,156 --> 01:25:22,951
[melancholic music plays]
1338
01:25:23,034 --> 01:25:26,955
[sobs, sighs]
1339
01:25:27,038 --> 01:25:28,832
And yeah, that's how I found out.
1340
01:25:32,544 --> 01:25:38,424
[melancholic music plays]
1341
01:25:38,508 --> 01:25:42,387
[Jesse] I woke up on the 17th of December.
1342
01:25:43,680 --> 01:25:44,973
[melancholic music continues]
1343
01:25:45,056 --> 01:25:49,185
My grandfather was the one
that… broke the terrible news to me.
1344
01:25:52,939 --> 01:25:56,734
My father was rushed by Mark Law
straight to the hospital,
1345
01:25:56,818 --> 01:26:01,197
where unfortunately he,
uh, succumbed to his injuries.
1346
01:26:02,282 --> 01:26:06,452
Uh, my mother did pass away on the Island,
1347
01:26:06,536 --> 01:26:09,581
and she was uh…
1348
01:26:09,664 --> 01:26:14,836
recovered by the
New Zealand Army a few days later.
1349
01:26:18,756 --> 01:26:24,596
And they're not sure where my sister was
or what had happened to her body.
1350
01:26:32,061 --> 01:26:36,065
[Pouroto] When the ancestor,
Tītahi, did die,
1351
01:26:36,149 --> 01:26:39,152
it is said in our folklore,
that his spirit,
1352
01:26:39,736 --> 01:26:43,281
it had transformed as one
of the guardians of the ocean today.
1353
01:26:45,074 --> 01:26:50,788
The dead themselves, they too have
become similar to the ancestor Tītahi.
1354
01:26:52,248 --> 01:26:57,712
Whakaari has given
her sanction, her consent,
1355
01:26:58,671 --> 01:27:02,800
to have them there as guardians,
kaitiaki, forevermore.
1356
01:27:03,885 --> 01:27:09,974
They take their place in time
where they will never be forgotten.
1357
01:27:10,058 --> 01:27:14,771
[melancholic music continues]
1358
01:27:17,649 --> 01:27:22,320
[melancholic music fades away]
1359
01:27:27,659 --> 01:27:32,747
[rain splattering]
1360
01:27:32,830 --> 01:27:37,710
[eerie music plays]
1361
01:27:37,794 --> 01:27:39,796
[Lauren] Some days are good,
some days aren't,
1362
01:27:39,879 --> 01:27:42,590
if you want me to be 100% honest with you.
1363
01:27:44,425 --> 01:27:47,679
I know people are looking at me;
I know people are looking at my hands.
1364
01:27:47,762 --> 01:27:50,682
Um… I don't like it.
1365
01:27:50,765 --> 01:27:53,935
I always feel like
I have to explain ahead of time
1366
01:27:54,560 --> 01:27:56,437
what these are from. [laughs drily]
1367
01:27:58,231 --> 01:28:01,025
I have days where it's easier than others.
1368
01:28:02,527 --> 01:28:05,363
[Matt] All right.
So brussels sprouts on one side,
1369
01:28:05,446 --> 01:28:07,573
apples and sweet potatoes on the other.
1370
01:28:09,242 --> 01:28:13,663
[Lauren] My husband and I are training
to run in a half marathon,
1371
01:28:13,746 --> 01:28:17,208
so some days
when I'm focused on things like running,
1372
01:28:17,292 --> 01:28:20,795
it's good, and yes, I can see my future.
1373
01:28:20,878 --> 01:28:25,091
I can see happy days,
and I can look past the volcano.
1374
01:28:26,551 --> 01:28:32,557
But, um… [sighs]
Yeah, some days are really hard.
1375
01:28:32,640 --> 01:28:33,725
Yeah.
1376
01:28:38,479 --> 01:28:41,065
[metallic scraping sound]
1377
01:28:41,149 --> 01:28:44,360
[Matt] My ring finger
doesn't really work all that well,
1378
01:28:44,444 --> 01:28:48,031
and that really messes
with me on my dominant hand.
1379
01:28:50,616 --> 01:28:53,828
At this point, we're still getting
a surgery a month.
1380
01:28:56,039 --> 01:29:01,461
The timeline with this recovery
is just so, so, so long.
1381
01:29:04,005 --> 01:29:09,344
The eruptions was two minutes,
but the consequences are multiple years.
1382
01:29:11,888 --> 01:29:14,766
I understand nobody controls nature,
1383
01:29:14,849 --> 01:29:19,145
but you have to at least give me
a chance to make an informed decision.
1384
01:29:19,729 --> 01:29:22,357
Had I known what I know now,
1385
01:29:23,149 --> 01:29:27,195
there's zero percent chance we would have
ever set foot on the island. Zero.
1386
01:29:32,116 --> 01:29:34,994
[Kelsey] Yes, so I was burnt
from my boot line
1387
01:29:35,078 --> 01:29:39,165
to my shorts line and the back of my legs,
1388
01:29:39,248 --> 01:29:43,252
back to my knees was actually spared
because being crouched down,
1389
01:29:43,336 --> 01:29:46,714
it actually protected the backs of
my knees which was good.
1390
01:29:49,050 --> 01:29:51,094
I knew what could happen out there.
1391
01:29:52,512 --> 01:29:54,847
But you don't believe
it will happen to you.
1392
01:29:56,307 --> 01:30:01,312
This hasn't changed my opinion
on how I will interact with nature.
1393
01:30:01,395 --> 01:30:04,524
I mean, I won't live in a padded room
1394
01:30:04,607 --> 01:30:06,859
because what kind of life is that?
1395
01:30:10,238 --> 01:30:12,365
I guess I know that
I can get through anything now,
1396
01:30:12,448 --> 01:30:14,992
so I mean that's worth something.
1397
01:30:16,244 --> 01:30:19,372
Maybe not to anyone else but to me,
it's worth something. [laughs]
1398
01:30:23,793 --> 01:30:26,129
[Jesse] Throughout my
whole stay in hospital,
1399
01:30:26,212 --> 01:30:30,883
I made it a really strict point
to take progress photos every other day,
1400
01:30:31,717 --> 01:30:36,264
so I can look back at them
and see how far I've come.
1401
01:30:38,057 --> 01:30:40,935
I've had 17 surgeries.
1402
01:30:42,270 --> 01:30:45,064
I was told that
I would be spending a year in hospital.
1403
01:30:46,816 --> 01:30:49,652
But I'm pretty proud to say
that my total stay was
1404
01:30:49,735 --> 01:30:51,487
just under two months.
1405
01:30:52,864 --> 01:30:54,407
I'm a stubborn bastard.
1406
01:30:54,991 --> 01:30:57,702
I refuse to give up.
I'll just keep on trying and trying.
1407
01:30:57,785 --> 01:31:02,540
Uh, and I refuse to quit,
no matter how hard it gets.
1408
01:31:02,623 --> 01:31:05,042
[soft music playing]
1409
01:31:05,126 --> 01:31:06,502
I still love a risk.
1410
01:31:07,461 --> 01:31:12,466
But calculated risk I think
is the word that needs to be said.
1411
01:31:12,550 --> 01:31:16,846
[wistful music playing]
1412
01:31:16,929 --> 01:31:18,347
They shouldn't have been there.
1413
01:31:18,973 --> 01:31:20,349
Should never go there.
1414
01:31:23,144 --> 01:31:25,271
I can see Whakaari from my home.
1415
01:31:25,813 --> 01:31:28,441
I see it from every room in my home. Yeah.
1416
01:31:30,651 --> 01:31:33,738
The less I see of it the better,
to tell you the truth.
1417
01:31:37,783 --> 01:31:41,579
So you just shut the curtain, let it be.
1418
01:31:42,872 --> 01:31:44,373
Say a little prayer.
1419
01:31:44,957 --> 01:31:48,169
Then you do the same thing the next day.
And the next day and…
1420
01:31:48,920 --> 01:31:49,754
yeah.
1421
01:31:53,716 --> 01:31:55,843
[Mark] I think, you know, in some ways
1422
01:31:55,927 --> 01:31:57,762
we understood the Island,
1423
01:31:58,638 --> 01:32:00,014
that it's an unknown outcome.
1424
01:32:03,434 --> 01:32:05,686
Mother Nature does what she wants to do.
1425
01:32:07,355 --> 01:32:09,482
But there's also human nature.
1426
01:32:09,565 --> 01:32:11,609
And in the face of adversity,
1427
01:32:12,360 --> 01:32:13,611
it's human nature to go and help.
1428
01:32:15,238 --> 01:32:19,659
Ordinary people willing
to give their own lives to help others.
1429
01:32:21,494 --> 01:32:25,539
That's what makes people…
the good people in the world who they are.
1430
01:32:25,623 --> 01:32:30,002
[wistful music continues]
1431
01:32:30,086 --> 01:32:36,384
[Kelsey] A lot of positive has come
from such a horrific event.
1432
01:32:37,426 --> 01:32:41,681
The Community Support
has been quite overwhelming.
1433
01:32:42,723 --> 01:32:45,768
I have friendships
that I wouldn't trade for the world.
1434
01:32:47,228 --> 01:32:48,437
You have to take something positive
1435
01:32:48,521 --> 01:32:52,149
because otherwise
that cloud will just follow you forever.
1436
01:32:52,233 --> 01:32:55,361
[repeated thuds of blows]
1437
01:32:55,444 --> 01:32:58,447
[Jesse] My gym, and my work colleagues,
1438
01:32:58,531 --> 01:33:00,616
my friends, my family,
1439
01:33:01,242 --> 01:33:04,829
are who all push me to keep on going.
1440
01:33:06,163 --> 01:33:09,000
They've given me the drive
to keep working hard.
1441
01:33:11,002 --> 01:33:14,964
Especially my grandfather, my rock.
1442
01:33:16,924 --> 01:33:19,051
He's been with me from the very beginning.
1443
01:33:20,886 --> 01:33:27,727
And I would never have been able to make
it this far without his love and support.
1444
01:33:29,312 --> 01:33:32,315
[wistful music continues]
1445
01:33:32,398 --> 01:33:35,401
[Matt I have a perfect
unburnt spot on my wrist.
1446
01:33:35,484 --> 01:33:37,570
That is the exact outline
of where her hand was.
1447
01:33:37,653 --> 01:33:39,322
[Lauren] It was like this.
1448
01:33:40,323 --> 01:33:44,368
Yep, that's why this hand is much better
than this hand.
1449
01:33:44,452 --> 01:33:46,954
Like I can't even make
a fist in this hand, and this hand,
1450
01:33:47,038 --> 01:33:49,290
I can make a fist fully.
1451
01:33:49,373 --> 01:33:52,001
I will always be by his side. Always.
1452
01:33:52,084 --> 01:33:56,756
I just love him so much and
this has made us even closer, I feel like.
1453
01:33:56,839 --> 01:34:00,009
[wistful music continues]
1454
01:34:00,092 --> 01:34:03,721
[waves rippling gently]
1455
01:34:03,804 --> 01:34:07,641
[Mark] I try to get out there every
couple of months and go and say, "Hi."
1456
01:34:07,725 --> 01:34:09,602
And Hayden's favorite drink
was a Steinlager beer,
1457
01:34:09,685 --> 01:34:11,896
you know, a good Kiwi beer.
1458
01:34:11,979 --> 01:34:16,317
And we take a dozen out with us and
we sit out there and whoever's with us,
1459
01:34:16,400 --> 01:34:19,820
we have a couple of drinks and we
always pour one in the ocean, you know?
1460
01:34:19,904 --> 01:34:22,448
As much as I hate wasting one,
[chuckling] we always pour one in
1461
01:34:22,531 --> 01:34:23,407
and give him a drink. [chuckles]
1462
01:34:26,744 --> 01:34:29,663
So you do, you look for little moments
and you look for signs,
1463
01:34:29,747 --> 01:34:32,666
I guess to find
your ways of moving forward.
1464
01:34:38,422 --> 01:34:42,343
In the face of Mother Nature,
and all that she can throw at us,
1465
01:34:43,636 --> 01:34:49,558
we've still got to remember that
as humans, we'll always have each other.
1466
01:34:49,642 --> 01:34:56,399
[wistful music fades]
1467
01:35:25,845 --> 01:35:29,807
["Whakaaria Mai (How Great Thou Art)" hymn
sung in Māori by TEEKS & Hollie Smith]
1468
01:35:30,349 --> 01:35:37,148
♪ The works Thy Hand hath made ♪
1469
01:35:38,441 --> 01:35:39,442
♪ I see the stars ♪
1470
01:35:44,572 --> 01:35:49,243
♪ I hear the mighty ♪
1471
01:35:49,326 --> 01:35:52,163
♪ Thunder ♪
1472
01:35:53,622 --> 01:35:58,169
♪ Thy power throughout ♪
1473
01:35:58,252 --> 01:36:04,842
♪ The universe displayed ♪
1474
01:36:06,010 --> 01:36:10,639
♪ Then sings my soul ♪
1475
01:36:10,723 --> 01:36:16,937
♪ My Savior God, to Thee ♪
1476
01:36:18,230 --> 01:36:22,776
♪ How great Thou art! ♪
1477
01:36:22,860 --> 01:36:27,615
♪ How great Thou art! ♪
1478
01:36:30,576 --> 01:36:34,997
♪ Then sings my soul ♪
1479
01:36:35,080 --> 01:36:41,212
♪ My Savior God, to Thee ♪
1480
01:36:42,671 --> 01:36:47,259
♪ How great Thou art! ♪
1481
01:36:47,343 --> 01:36:53,182
♪ How great Thou art! ♪
1482
01:36:53,265 --> 01:36:59,605
[man and woman singing in harmony]
1483
01:37:07,279 --> 01:37:12,743
[chorus in English]
♪ How great Thou art! ♪
1484
01:37:12,826 --> 01:37:16,455
[man in Māori] ♪ Then sings my soul
My Savior God, to Thee ♪
1485
01:37:17,706 --> 01:37:22,753
[chorus in English] ♪ How great! ♪
1486
01:37:25,047 --> 01:37:29,385
-[woman in English] ♪ How great! ♪
-[man in English] ♪ How great! ♪
1487
01:37:30,094 --> 01:37:34,848
-[woman in English] ♪ How great Thou ♪
-[chorus in harmony] ♪ Art! ♪
1488
01:37:56,245 --> 01:37:59,665
Subtitle translation by: Ayolope Koiki