Episode 1 Kate Humble: Into the Volcano

My God!

VOLCANO EXPLODES

This is Vanuatu,

an island chain that's home

to some of the most explosive volcanoes on the planet.

To discover if another devastating eruption might happen,

I'm joining a team who've spent years working on these islands.

Together, we'll venture deep into the heart

of two of Vanuatu's most active volcanoes.

KATE: I don't want to pull you over the edge, Tim.

-TIM, MUFFLED:

-You go back.

God, my heart is in my mouth.

-CHRIS:

-Shane, we can't see you any more.

On my journey through this land of liquid rock, dense jungle

and unique animals,

I'll also be meeting the people who call these islands home.

HE SPEAKS IN WHITESANDS LANGUAGE

Prince Philip is my heart.

I love him more than anyone else.

I want to find out what it's like

to live in the shadow of a violent volcano...

..and get right beneath the skin of Fire Mountain.

To understand how this volcano is behaving,

we need to get off the rim of this crater

and descend towards that fiery inferno.

I'm on the final leg of what has been an incredibly long journey

that's taken me 10,000 miles from the UK

and 2,000 miles off the East Coast of Australia.

I'm now flying above an island chain

called Vanuatu in the South Pacific.

I'll be spending the next six days on Tanna,

in the south of Vanuatu's 83 islands.

They sit on the edge of the Ring of Fire,

the world's most seismically active area

with over 2,000 earthquakes each year.

And Tanna is home to a volcano that explodes day and night.

I'm going to be meeting scientists who have spent a lot of time here,

geologists who know these volcanoes

probably better than anyone else in the world,

and anthropologists and linguists who can give me some sort of insight

into how people live in an area that, to us, seems impossibly dangerous.

PLANE ENGINES WHIRR

Nice job.

I've visited many of the world's volcanic hot spots,

but I've never been to one where people live alongside

such a consistently explosive volcano.

30,000 people live on Tanna.

They call their volcano Yasur, the Old Man,

and it's been erupting for centuries.

Wow! Look at the plume.

Its glow even attracted Captain Cook

when he first sailed to these islands in 1774.

Look at that. Intensely gassy.

'I'm on my way to join two volcanologists,

'who've been tracking its behaviour for over a decade.'

208 degrees, 212...

Professor Shane Cronin and geologist Chris Firth

are searching for any signs that, after centuries of stability,

Yasur could produce another huge eruption

capable of destroying the whole island.

We can hear its constant rumbling from our village base a mile away.

DISTANT RUMBLING AND EXPLOSIONS

Well, this is a spot for a geological observatory, isn't it?

It's pretty nice, isn't it?

-Nice to see you. How are you?

-Very good.

-How are you doing?

-Good, thank you.

We've got the greatest view, I think.

DISTANT RUMBLING

You can hear that popping away.

I'm sitting here pretending that this is all quite cool,

but, you know, that volcano is erupting as we speak.

Those booms, those noises are...

What's causing those?

Each one of those booms

represents the release of a big bubble or slug of gas

that's coming up through the magma and blasting its way to the surface.

Each time a bubble bursts out of that, it's creating that noise.

So it's a bit like a bubbling pan of custard with a thick skin on top -

you get those bursts out,

but it won't necessarily go right over the top.

Yeah. So, this volcano has been more or less

in this state of eruption

for 300 years.

Really?

Maybe longer, maybe even up to 800.

Most volcanoes have their own personality.

This one is very fiery and quite violent.

Hopefully, it behaves itself.

Yasur's power comes from an enormous cauldron of molten rock

that lies beneath the island.

At its most violent, the volcano hurls lava

right over the edge of its crater

and smothers Tanna in thick, black ash.

Let's roll on up.

I'm joining Shane and Chris

as they plan to do something they've never attempted before -

to collect a piece of fresh lava

straight from the heart of the volcano.

Tomorrow, the work begins in earnest.

Right now, with the light fading,

there's just enough time for my first close encounter with Yasur.

Straight up?

-Head for the light bit of cloud.

-OK.

VOLCANO GROWLS LOUDLY

That does sound very, very close!

Oh, my goodness! Am I really... Are you to be trusted?

Well, we'll get closer...

-"Trust me, I'm a geologist." Is that what they say?

-Yes.

-"Trust me, despite the fact I'm a geologist."

-Yeah.

Wow! The smell of sulphur is getting strong.

VOLCANO GROWLS Oh, my goodness.

Wow!

It's like a fantastic firework display!

-Wait for a big one.

-So, this whole...

VOLCANO BOOMS LOUDLY Oh, my goodness!

-KATE LAUGHS SHANE:

-That's a nice one.

Oh, that's so beautiful...

..and kind of terrifying at the same time.

VOLCANO RUMBLES

'We're standing just 200 metres away.

'The noise is deafening and, with every explosion,

'the ground feels like it's about to give way.'

It's just so elemental, isn't it?

Just being in the presence of this extraordinary energy.

And you feel it, don't you?

It's not just hearing it. You do actually feel it.

Yeah. The big ones are preceded by a shock wave,

which sometimes you can see and sometimes you can feel.

The really big explosions, they'll hit you in the chest

like a physical blow.

VOLCANO THUNDERS

Wow!

'Liquid rock is constantly fired out of the volcano,

'forming lava bombs travelling at over 300mph.'

I don't want to sound pathetic, but are we safe here?

Yeah. Well, everything you see around here

has been constructed by being thrown out of there.

Right. Yeah.

Any of these boulders along the ridge behind us

are all bombs that've been chucked out.

-So, these have all been thrown out of here?

-Yeah.

-Yeah.

But some of them are massive.

Some of these...

-The biggest things you can see coming out down there...

-Yeah.

..are probably...

maybe the size of a small car.

KATE LAUGHS

I was going to say, "Should we wear crash helmets or something?"

But a small car flying out of the sky,

-it's not really going to help, is it?

-Nah.

To understand what's happening at the very heart of Yasur right now,

Shane and Chris will have to analyse fresh lava.

DEEP THUDS

I love the sound when they hit the ground.

A sort of thud.

And the only way to get a fresh lava bomb

is to do something that seems like madness -

as soon as one is thrown out of the volcano,

we need to run in and grab it.

VOLCANO GROWLS

Shane and Chris can learn a lot about Yasur

by studying the chemistry of the lava.

To find out if the volcano is changing,

they want to compare fresh lava with older samples.

VOLCANO RUMBLES AND ROARS

Oh, my goodness!

It keeps getting better. Look how high they go.

-Look at that!

-Follow that one down.

So, its a bomb like THAT we need to get our hands on.

So if a bomb were to come out

and land conveniently at our feet without damaging anybody,

that would be your perfect sample?

I don't want one landing right at our feet -

that might be a bit scary - but if one lands...

If there's a really big blast and one comes relatively close

and we can easily run in and grab it, then that'd be fantastic.

-How hot...?

-But I wouldn't want to go all the way down there...

No. No, no, no.

VOLCANO ROARS

To have any chance of pulling this off,

we'll need to understand the rhythm of this volcano

and work out exactly how long we've got between eruptions.

-That one went up quite high. See that red one?

-Yep.

That was one of the rims we were considering to stand on.

-What, just down there?!

-Yeah, yeah.

You're on your own, mate!

VOLCANO ROARS

For the next few days, we'll be watching this volcano very closely.

Next morning,

we all wake to an enormous plume of gas spiralling out of the volcano.

COCKEREL CROWS

PIG GRUNTS

For the villagers, it's nothing out of the ordinary.

It looks great. Come on, Chris, get your gear together.

But, for Shane and Chris, it could offer a fantastic insight

into what's driving its eruptions.

I'm leaving them to investigate, and going to find out more

about what it's like to live in Yasur's shadow.

There are six languages spoken on the island,

so linguist Jeremy Hammond is coming with me as translator.

The volcano is such a dominating presence, that, right across Tanna,

complex spiritual belief systems have emerged around it.

And, in spite of Western influence,

many islanders choose to fiercely protect their traditional beliefs...

and ways of life.

RHYTHMIC CHANTING

In Yaohnanen, members of one spiritual movement

come together for regular meetings...

..exchanging food...

and sharing a meal.

SPEAKS IN WHITESANDS LANGUAGE

Chief Yappa has invited me to be part of today's ceremony.

Everyone wants to say hello.

It's partly because I'm British.

Like many of the spiritual movements on Tanna,

the belief system in this village is known as a "cargo cult".

It's based around a figurehead - a real or imaginary person

who, it's believed, will bring prosperity.

40 years ago, following the royal visit to Vanuatu

by the Queen and Prince Philip,

this village adopted a new figurehead -

the Duke of Edinburgh.

I'm going to sit with the chief.

'As an outsider, this seems very strange,

'so I'm hoping Chief Yappa and his deputy, JJ,

'can tell me why Prince Philip is so important to them.'

When did you first become aware of Prince Philip?

HE SPEAKS IN WHITESANDS LANGUAGE

Our elders, we've heard from them,

that Prince Philip is living in England,

but he's originally from Tanna.

Is there a place that

Prince Philip's ancestors originated from?

HE SPEAKS IN WHITESANDS LANGUAGE

Prince Philip's father...

..he lives in the mountain...

HE SPEAKS IN WHITESANDS LANGUAGE

..but all his wealth...

-..is in the volcano.

-Is in the volcano.

'According to their prophecy,

'Prince Philip emerged from the volcano,

'then travelled overseas,

'destined to marry a powerful woman.'

And why do you think the Queen

wanted to be married to Prince Philip?

THEY SPEAK IN WHITESANDS LANGUAGE

The Queen is the head in the West,

-but Prince Philip is the head here.

-Here, in Tanna.

I suppose the power that the Queen has as the head of the Commonwealth

that, because the Prince Philip...

spirit is also of a high ranking power, they're meant to be together.

So we've brought you...

This is the latest photograph.

HE SPEAKS IN WHITESANDS LANGUAGE

Prince Philip is my heart.

I love him more than anyone else.

If you met him...

..what would you say to him?

We've seen many pictures of him.

Why is he not coming in person?

He's an old man now.

HE SPEAKS IN WHITESANDS LANGUAGE

Prince Philip must come back to Tanna...

to fulfil all the prophecies of Tanna.

But not his sons, not his grandsons.

-It has to be him.

-It has to be him.

If he doesn't come...

..before he dies...

..what will that mean to this village?

HE SPEAKS IN WHITESANDS LANGUAGE

HE SPEAKS IN WHITESANDS LANGUAGE

-He will never die.

-He will never die.

We want to live for ever.

We don't want to die.

So that's what we are waiting for Prince Philip to do.

'Before I came here,

'I wasn't sure what I would make of the Prince Philip Movement.

'But, having met Chief Yappa,

'I can see that his belief, and that of his people,

'is deep rooted and that Prince Philip

'is as much a part of their lives as the volcano

'at the heart of this unlikely spiritual movement.'

HE SPEAKS IN WHITESANDS LANGUAGE

Something's just come to light here,

that my name, Kate,

in the language spoken in this village,

means gate

and, um...

because Prince William is also married

to somebody called Kate...

..the chief thinks that I might be, um...

a pathway, a connection,

between Tanna being here

and between Prince Philip and his family

through the other Kate or gate.

I think I might disappoint him.

I'm not that well connected.

Sorry.

CHATTERING

While I've been learning about an unusual volcano spirit,

Shane and Chris have been investigating the huge plume of gas

belching out from Yasur.

There's one ingredient they're particularly interested in.

The amount of sulphur can help them discover

if the eruptions might become more violent.

We use this sulphur to tell a little bit about

what's going on at the volcano and how much magma there is.

So, if there's a lot of gas,

that usually indicates there's a lot of new magma arriving

and we may be in for larger eruptions.

As we go along the road, we'll go under the plume.

Where we've got that little brownish tinge to the cloud there,

that's sulphur dioxide causing that.

There, it's just that blue edge now.

We're just starting to get it nicely.

And the ash!

I'm getting a lot of ash on my face,

so we must be coming under the plume.

Maybe we could just slow down a little bit?

Thank you.

1,300, 1,400...

-1,400. That's pretty good.

-That's very high.

That's quite a lot of gas.

It's plateauing at about 1,400.

Oh, no, it's gone over 1,500 now.

Rising gas levels are a sign that the volcano could be changing.

I think we'll be looking at...

..between 1,500 and 2,000 tonnes of sulphur per day.

It's much higher than it's been recorded in the past.

It's been around 700 tonnes per day.

It's pretty gassy up there.

Shane and Chris will keep monitoring the sulphur levels

until we leave the island.

Vanuatu's volcanic islands are so young,

the first people only arrived around 3,500 years ago.

PIG GRUNTS Hello, pig.

'Back in Yaohnanen, I've been meeting some of the animals

'that were brought here by those early settlers.

'All over Vanuatu, pigs are a sign of wealth and status.

'I've got a few pigs back home,

'but not the right kind to make me a wealthy woman here.

'Because there's one very special pig that commands ultimate respect.'

-This is the pig.

-Oh, wow!

-It's got no hair.

It looks like a hippopotamus.

My goodness!

IT GRUNTS

It sounds like a dog.

IT GRUNTS That's extraordinary.

Hello, pig. IT GRUNTS

See, I've heard about these pigs.

They're completely hairless,

and I think... Are they unique to Tanna?

-Nowhere else in the world?

-Nowhere else.

Kapia pigs have a very interesting history.

Legend has it they're the Creator's first attempt at making humans.

Now they're so rare and valuable,

they are only traded or eaten by the highest-ranking chiefs.

It's more like a human in its smooth skin,

so, like a human, it has rights...

Oh, OK.

..and belongs to a much higher rank.

It doesn't live with the other pigs.

On special occasions,

these pigs are treated very much as if they were people.

So what's the significance of the painting?

The painting is something that's usually restricted to people,

so during custom ceremonies, dances, singing,

people will paint their faces using different colours.

And because this pig is hairless and is anthropomorphised,

-it, too, can have face paint. Whereas regular pigs can't.

-Right.

While the men prepare the Kapia pig,

the women are also getting ready -

using paints mixed with plant dyes

and powdered rock from the volcano.

They're preparing for a ceremonial dance,

which connects Tanna to England,

so they want ME to be part of it.

The women of the village...

have told John here that I don't look right...

..and so there's all sorts of plans and giggling afoot,

going on in this building here.

And I suspect...

that I might emerge dressed somewhat differently.

What's going to happen to me? What are you going to do?

SHE LAUGHS

Oh, my goodness.

Suzanne's volunteered to get me ready

in a house that's reserved for women.

SHE SPEAKS IN WHITESANDS LANGUAGE

It seems women and men exist quite separately in the village.

In our custom in Tanna, men do the talking while women sit and listen,

but it doesn't mean that they are not important.

But when it comes to ceremonies,

that's when you can see the power of our ladies.

That's when they are dressed up.

So we treat women as they are the queens.

Now they are painting your face...

-Like the pig?

-Like the pig, yeah.

Sorry.

Do you think I'm behaving better than the pig?

HE SPEAKS IN WHITESANDS LANGUAGE

THEY ALL LAUGH

-We'll dress you up in the grass skirt.

-OK.

That's beautiful.

Is it OK? What do you think? Yeah?

And now you will wear the top.

Grass top.

I feel I'm cheating with a T-shirt on.

That's all right.

Is that OK?

It's probably better all round, I suspect.

RHYTHMIC CHANTING

Look at us!

SHE LAUGHS

Come on, then!

'In 2006, Vanuatu was named the happiest nation on Earth.

'A slightly arbitrary concept,

'but it is indisputable

'that everyone here has a strong sense of identity

'and a real pride in preserving their custom and culture.'

MEN SING

Am I doing it OK?

WOMEN SING

The sound, the dust, the energy of the dance

are completely hypnotic.

And what's so special

is the feeling of pure, unadulterated joy.

MEN SING

WOMEN SING

This feels so authentic...

..and I'm probably going to look at myself

and realise I look completely ridiculous,

but, at this point, I actually don't care.

I feel so welcome here...

..and this is just...

It's just so wonderful...

..to see a culture that's so intact.

And the fact that Prince Philip is so central to their beliefs...

..seems, at first...

..utterly bonkers...

..but that belief is unshakeable...

..so you have to respect it.

Hee-hee!

VOLCANO RUMBLES

Spending time in Yaohnanen

has made me appreciate why so many people here

want to keep their ancient beliefs alive.

But the rising sulphur levels Shane and Chris have found

are a worrying sign that Yasur's mood might be changing.

So, this afternoon, we're heading back up the volcano

to try and gather more clues.

All around us, there are huge lava bombs,

but we're after a fresh one.

God, it looks so different in the daytime.

Today, Shane's brought a bit of kit

he hopes will let us see right into the heart of Yasur.

How high do you want it?

That out full...

VOLCANO GROWLS

-That's a goodie.

-Oh, my goodness.

This looks a little bit like it's come from a Buck Rogers movie.

It does.

It looks very simplistic, but I suspect it's not.

It's not a camera, like taking photograph camera,

it's capturing radiant heat.

The good thing about it is

even though you've got all this gas over the front,

this will look straight through it.

-And, actually, you see incredible definition, don't you?

-Yep.

VOLCANO RUMBLES

Every single volcano on the planet behaves differently.

VOLCANO EXPLODES

Every volcano has a particular chemistry.

The chemistry of the lava that comes out

is influenced by a variety of processes

that occur under the ground. We can't go in and see it,

so it's kind of like a forensic person going into a crime scene

and then trying to reconstruct what's been happening.

The best clue we can get about what's happening now

and how this volcano might behave in the future

is going to come from one of THESE fresh pieces of lava.

You can see that the back one's chucking out...

Yeah, it's quite big. You can see the lava bombs really clearly on here.

You can barely see them from here.

Now, we have to figure out how to collect a lava bomb

without putting ourselves in danger.

To give us our best chance,

we're going to record the volcano,

looking for a pattern in its eruptions.

Come on, baby.

In terms of waiting to try and collect a sample,

it's really important to understand what the volcano's doing

and exactly how it's behaving.

The timing between different blasts are very important

for building up the courage to run down there.

-It gives you a bit more...

-KATE LAUGHS

..of a sense of safety.

Come on.

VOLCANO EXPLODES Whoa! There you go!

Hee-hee-hee-hee.

-Did you get it?

-Yep, yep.

The camera also helps us pinpoint

where the lava bombs are landing.

It does still seem madness to run down to the edge there

and collect a piece of molten rock.

If this thing fires up a bit more

and throws something out onto that terrace there,

we can get in and out quite quickly.

That nearly landed on the ledge.

Despite watching for hours,

not a single bomb has fallen on the ledge beneath us -

close enough to reach.

Unless things change, all our efforts will come to nothing.

Not quite.

-One almost made it.

-Ah, almost made it.

We're hoping our results will provide a warning

for islanders living close to the volcano,

if it looks like bigger eruptions are on their way.

When that happened a year ago,

their villages were showered in ash for weeks on end.

Their crops were ruined,

and livestock died.

This is a beautiful garden, Numaline.

But when the ashes come, doesn't it just destroy your whole garden?

Yes, sometimes when it comes where the plants are beginning to grow

and they are not strong yet,

then the volcano ashes just wipe the whole thing out.

Some of the crops local horticulturalist Numaline grows

cope better with the ash -

like taro, a starchy root vegetable

that's a staple here.

With this taro here,

when the ashes fall into the leaf,

it just slides away and leaves the leaf.

So this is a really good crop to grow

-if you know you're going to be affected by the ash a lot.

-Yep.

This year, it has been very kind to us.

We are in a hurry to plant everything,

because we know that it will come back,

but we don't know when.

Ironically, the ash brings benefits, too -

a soil full of minerals.

You can see the soil is so rich and dark, isn't it?

'Numaline is part of an expanding movement on the island,

'led by women, to preserve the traditional way of growing crops.'

This is how we plant this taro.

Is this one that you've eaten?

Yeah, we've cut off the top.

This is for planting. We eat the bottom part.

So, if you plant this, the root will come again?

-Yes, it will grow like this.

-That's amazing!

This is how you plant it.

-So very deep.

-A bit.

I'm very jealous of your soil.

Just press it...

Around it.

Numaline's garden provides her family with almost all the food they need.

This is Lap Lap,

a sort of steamed pudding of vegetables

that have been wrapped in leaves and baked underground between hot stones.

Take your share.

Thank you very much.

Smells delicious.

-Can I take a bit of this?

-Yes.

-Do I just take with my fingers?

-Yep.

Carrot...

-Chicken?

-Just a small piece, yeah.

Thank you.

That's lovely. Thank you, Numaline.

Proper island feast.

-Does it taste nice?

-Very, very nice.

So with the banana...

Mmm, that taro's good.

Oh. Is it you or is it the volcanic soil, or is it both?

-Both.

-KATE LAUGHS

Touching it with respect,

it gives you nice flavour.

It's Numaline's understanding of the volcano,

its behaviour and how to farm alongside it

that allows her to live in such harmony with it.

But for us to try and understand what Yasur might do next,

we need to know more about its volatile past.

Something that happened at the foot of this volcano

has given Chris and Shane a chance to see back in time.

This whole area was once covered by a vast lake.

But, in April 2000, a massive cyclone struck

and Lake Siwi broke its banks.

Picture us underwater, three or four metres above us.

We're walking on what was once the floor of the lake,

following the route that the water took as it gushed out to sea.

In just a couple of hours,

a lake two miles wide had vanished.

-This is a good spot to start off with.

-OK.

So the best thing to do is take a spade

and actually dig away a little bit at the cliff face.

The drained lake reveals layers and layers of perfectly preserved ash -

a unique record of Yasur's history.

Oh, wow!

-It's like the most perfect layer cake, isn't it?

-Exactly.

So each of these little layers

represents a variation in the size

of the material that's coming out of the volcano

and that represents a variation

in the magnitude or the violence of the eruption.

So this can give you a real record of how this volcano's been behaving

-over decades, if not centuries.

-Yeah.

So probably 300 to 400 years, at least.

Chris and Shane will analyse ash samples.

The size of the grains can tell them

how violently the volcano has erupted in the past.

So the cliffs get much bigger up here,

because we're moving into older material.

So the stuff you've sieved out here, Chris...

..this is what you would get in what sort of style of eruption

or what sort of conditions?

This is fairly fine,

so these would have come from the more violent style of eruption.

It's producing very fine-grained material.

So, when we've been up at the top and we've seen the big...

..particularly noisy eruption with lots and lots of ash coming up,

-that would be one of those ones.

-Yep.

And, clearly, that looks pretty uniform.

Is there any indication this is actually a volcano

that may be in a constant state of eruption, but it's pretty stable?

It's always the same style of eruption,

but it cycles in intensity

between more and less violent eruptions.

The layers of ash show that the volcano has been

in a gentle cycle of eruption for over 700 years.

And everyone's hoping it's going to stay that way.

We're travelling the full length of the canyon

carved out by the water as Lake Siwi drained into the ocean.

In Sulphur Bay, people make the most of living alongside the volcano,

bathing in warm pools heated by the magma

churning away deep beneath the ground.

Here, Shane has discovered a clue to something even further back

in Yasur's past.

It reveals a terrifying secret.

There's evidence of an ancient eruption

so ferocious it made a massive caldera,

a crater five miles in diameter,

and created this 50-metre-high cliff.

So this big red cliff is kind of like the surprise of the story.

That is the start of the modern caldera

and the deposits of that eruption go from that white/orange layer,

where Chris is standing now, up to as far as you can see.

-All the way up there?

-Yeah.

It was probably emplaced in a matter of a day or two.

This is a truly cataclysmic eruption.

Well and truly bigger than a Mount St Helens-style eruption.

It's kind of the most violent volcanic process

that you'd ever find on Earth.

Once you've had an eruption like this,

could it happen again in the future?

Well, we've got evidence of two of these

caldera-forming eruptions here,

so there's every chance that something like this

could happen again at this caldera.

So, if an eruption of this size occurred today,

no-one would survive on this island.

The rocks Chris is collecting were thrown out of the volcano

during these two cataclysmic eruptions around 40,000 years ago.

He's measuring how much of the element zirconium there is

to discover more about the chemistry of this ancient lava.

MACHINE BEEPS

Chris needs to compare these ancient samples to fresh lava.

If the amount of zirconium is similar, it could be a sign

that Yasur is preparing for another huge eruption.

It's our last night on Tanna,

our final chance to collect a lava bomb.

But, before we can do that, Jeremy's taking me inland

to the village of Lamakara.

I want to know how scientific research on the volcano

sits with the islanders' own beliefs.

So we're going to meet someone

who has a very special relationship with Yasur.

BIRDSONG

As soon as we arrive, we're led away to a small house

on the edge of the village.

Inside is Kaolaka,

an ietem asim or "sacred man".

He's considered to be the guardian of the volcano's powers.

The connection you now have with the volcano,

is that something that was passed from your grandfather

to your father to you?

THEY SPEAK IN WHITESANDS LANGUAGE

So...

HE SPEAKS IN WHITESANDS LANGUAGE

So the spirit gave it to his grandfather,

and then afterwards the spirit gave it to his father.

HE SPEAKS IN WHITESANDS LANGUAGE

And now the spirit has given it to him.

HE SPEAKS IN WHITESANDS LANGUAGE

And he was sleeping and it came to him as a vision.

HE SPEAKS IN WHITESANDS LANGUAGE

So the volcano teaches him everything.

People are gathering to hear what Kaolaka has to say.

He's their link to the spirit of Fire Mountain.

When there's a threat from the volcano,

is there any way you can communicate with it to stop an eruption?

HE SPEAKS IN WHITESANDS LANGUAGE

So, when the volcano is violently active,

then the nakamals around the region will come to him,

and then go speak to the volcano to help it die down.

HE SPEAKS IN WHITESANDS LANGUAGE

So, at these times, it was erupting quite a lot,

so he went and talked to it and it calmed down.

I'm here with two scientists, geologists.

How do you feel about people who take rocks

to try and understand the behaviour of the volcano?

HE SPEAKS IN WHITESANDS LANGUAGE

It's not a problem to come and take photos of the volcano,

to take the actual stones...

HE SPEAKS IN WHITESANDS LANGUAGE

..because they don't get their power from the volcano

the same way that he does.

So, with Kaolaka's blessing,

the only thing that can stop us collecting a lava bomb now

is the volcano itself.

If we can get one, a lava bomb will be the vital clue we need

to tell us whether the volcano is still stable

or if it's becoming more active.

Shane and Chris have spent every hour they can monitoring Yasur...

..working out how long they've got between eruptions

to run in, grab a bomb, and get out.

Hey!

-How are you doing?

-Well, we've had a pretty good day.

From what you've been watching,

do you think it's even feasible

to get a bomb today?

It's looking promising.

We've had about five explosions that have brought bombs on to this.

-VOLCANO ROARS AND GRUMBLES

-Just look up.

-Keep watching the highest...

-Yep, yep.

-That's going vertically, as well.

-Yeah.

-Look at that one.

-Whoa!

That's the sort of thing that happens when you get way more gas.

Quite nice big bombs in there.

-Yeah, there are some going really high.

-Watch this one.

-It won't go wide enough, though.

-That was three different plumes.

So what we're waiting for is one, probably out of this crater here,

to throw the bombs a little bit more widely onto this lower ridge here.

-Down here?

-Yep.

So, Chris, what's going to be our strategy here,

because, obviously, we're not all going down

and collect this bomb.

Yeah, it's stupid to send any more people down there than need to go.

So Shane's volunteered to run down.

He's fitter than the rest of us, maybe.

Or stupider.

So he's going to run down, we're going to stay up here

on the thermal camera. So I'll be able to pick up Shane on the camera

and pick up where the bomb is.

Is this ridiculously dangerous to be doing?

I wouldn't be running down there

if I wasn't sure that I could do it with the right timing.

I'm not particularly looking forward

-to actually going over that rim, though.

-No.

We've calculated that Shane will only have around two minutes

to run in and out between explosions.

VOLCANO EXPLODES VIOLENTLY

Oh, wow!

Houston, we have a bomb.

To have a chance of doing this safely,

we need Yasur to throw a bomb to exactly the right spot

on the shelf 30 metres below us.

-Oh, there's one!

-Yeah, there's one!

Let me zoom in on it. There we go. Look at that!

619, 630 degrees.

Wow!

Do you think that's six... Yeah, 602, 594...

What do you think, Shane? It's quite close to the edge.

Yeah. It is quite close to the edge.

We'll just pan around and see if there's any others.

There are bombs landing everywhere, except where we need one.

-There's another one over there.

-That's too far though, surely?

-There's another one down there, too.

-But those are all too far.

-Yeah.

VOLCANO EXPLODES Oh, look, look, look! There's loads.

Do you think that one is get-at-able?

It's kind of looking like it's sticking out of the...

Yes, sticking up almost like a shark's fin.

Yes, just on the realm of possibility.

The bomb shaped like a shark's fin

is just too close to the edge.

There's nothing we can do but wait for one to land in the right place.

Oh, there's another goodie.

Hang on, let's watch that.

LAVA BOMBS THUD

I think the thing that makes this even more terrifying

is anyone who's watched any war movies.

That "Thwap, thwap, thwap" of the bombs landing

-sounds exactly like a battlefield.

-Mm.

VOLCANO EXPLODES

-My God, that's huge!

-Just keep your eyes on it.

Keeping an eye on it.

We've been watching for a pattern in the eruptions for days,

but, tonight, Yasur seems incredibly unpredictable.

-I've obviously made it angry.

-Yeah.

Now, there are bombs flying everywhere.

We didn't think we were going to be able to get any lava bombs yesterday,

because they never seemed to be falling on this shelf.

Now every single eruption that's happened since we've been here,

they are all falling on this shelf.

We're losing the sun.

If we don't find a bomb soon,

it's going to be too dark for Shane to see where he's running.

There is one lava bomb -

I'm just monitoring it here.

It's fallen just in front,

it looks like where Shane is planning to run in.

It looks like it's in the right place.

It looks perfect, actually. That's the one.

It's the ideal size for Shane to be able to run in and grab.

When I get close, you'll just have to...

left, right, too fast, too slow, backwards, forwards.

I'm not very good at left and right - I get them mixed up.

That's why Kate's on the radio.

THEY ALL LAUGH

Thanks(!)

The moment has arrived.

Check radio, check radio. RADIO BLEEPS

-Hello, hello.

-RADIO BLEEPS

Torches on.

OK, are you ready?

All right, good luck.

Yasur has gone eerily quiet.

Take care.

Shane needs to wait for the next big eruption,

then it'll be time to go.

VOLCANO EXPLODES AND GROWLS

Just watch the sky.

That one's going really high.

HEAVY THUDS Whoa! My goodness.

OK, Shane, what do you think?

I'm about ready to go in.

OK, we'll pick you up on the camera as soon as you come off the ridge.

Righto.

After that big blast, the clock is ticking.

It could be just two minutes before the next explosion.

Got him? Oh, yeah. OK, got him.

OK, Shane, keep heading on that trajectory.

Turn right now, Shane. Right now.

Head straight towards the edge of the rim.

KATE ON RADIO: Head straight there.

You're about on it, you're about on it.

Can't see it, can't see it.

Shane can't spot our fresh bomb

amongst the older ones.

And then it gets worse...

Shane, we can't pick you up on the thermal camera.

We can't see you any more.

I'm just going up to that shark one.

Shane's now completely on his own and heading for the shark fin bomb.

Have you got it, Shane?

Got it.

Be quick, Shane.

'It's already been over two minutes.

'The next explosion could be any second.

'And the bomb is far too big to carry.'

My heart is in my mouth.

'Shane's managed to break a piece off, but he's still got to get out.'

OK, Shane, are you coming out?

-HE WHISPERS:

-Ouch!

KATE ON RADIO: Come on, Shane.

You feel so exposed...

..almost like you're buried inside the thing.

VOLCANO EXPLODES

Oh, there's another one.

Oh, my goodness! Two of them.

I'm glad you weren't down there when that was happening.

-Let's have a look.

-I feel like I've had about ten cups of coffee!

You can hear the adrenaline in your voice.

Wow! Look at that.

Is it still...?

Still a little bit of warmth in it.

In the middle, especially.

Here, look at the middle - it's just amazing.

Oh, my goodness, look at that!

Oh, that's incredible!

It was much, much bigger than I thought when I got down there.

It looked like you had to hack at it for a while.

Well done. That is amazing.

And it is so beautiful.

There is just something magical

about the fact that we saw that

as a molten piece of rock

being ejected from that crater,

landing with that wonderful "thwap", and here it is.

-Geology's quite cool sometimes.

-Yeah, it's quite fun sometimes.

THEY LAUGH

'We've done it.'

EXPLOSION

'Just in time.'

VOLCANO ROARS Whoa, my goodness!

Quite glad you weren't down there when that was happening.

VOLCANO EXPLODES AND RUMBLES

Since I've been on the island,

I've seen how the past and future of the people

are intertwined with that of the volcano.

And we've done everything we can to understand

Yasur's extraordinary power.

1,300, 1,400...

We've seen the amount of gas double -

a warning to the islanders of bigger explosions in the coming months.

And while these won't be as devastating

as the mega eruptions 40,000 years ago,

another could happen someday.

The system is very much alive

and the potential for these cataclysmic eruptions

is also quite high, I would say.

But can science reveal how high?

To find that out, Chris needs to compare the readings he took

from the ancient cataclysmic eruptions

to our fresh lava bomb.

-Have you got the reading?

-It's all finished now.

Can I move round and have a look?

You can see the zirconium reading is 114 parts per million.

It's certainly not nearly as high as the lava sample

that we analysed down at Sulphur Bay the other day,

so I don't think there's any cause for alarm.

It's not suggesting that there's been any vast changes to the system.

Shane and Chris will keep monitoring Yasur.

But, for the time being at least, the people of Tanna can rest assured

that it looks set to continue its constant but stable cycle.

Just as it has done for centuries.

Captain Cook was never allowed to climb this volcano.

It's astonishing to think that the behaviour

that I'm witnessing 250 years later

is not much changed from what he would have seen from his ship.

But, as Shane and Chris are discovering,

there are many changes that are happening on this island

and the forces that created this volcano, created the island itself,

are still very much at work.

And as for the people who live in its shadow...

Well, it will always play a pivotal role,

sometimes benevolent, sometimes destructive,

but always intrinsic to their lives and their custom.

'Next time...'

Oh, my God!

'..we'll be exploring a very different volcano...

'..descending deep into the crater

'of one of only five lava lakes in the world...'

My heart's racing.

'..and revealing how this bubbling cauldron of molten rock

'affects the people who live in a place

'shrouded in mystery and magic.'