Tonga volcano continues to disrupt flights
MICHAEL FIELD, JAMES IRELAND AND NIGEL MOFFIET
The latest view of the ash cloud causing travel chaos in Tonga.
Thousands of passengers are stranded in Tonga after flights are forced to turn back because of continuing volcanic activity.
Hunga Ha'apai volcano, around 70 kilometres northwest of Nuku'alofa, began erupting last month and in the last week has sent ash nearly 10 kilometres into the atmosphere.
Airlines have been grounded for three days, affecting over a 1000 passengers, among them 600 Air New Zealand customers.
Yesterday activity appeared to taper off and early this morning Air New Zealand sent an Airbus A320 to Tonga. Just over three hours into the flight it turned back and landed back in Auckland.
Air New Zealand's agent in Nuku'alofa said it was expecting another flight which it hoped to land at Fua'amotu International Airport at around 7:10pm today.
Virgin Australia is expecting a flight from Sydney to arrive in Tonga at 1:40pm, while Fiji Airways has no scheduled flights today.
Domestic carrier Real Tonga cancelled all local flights today.
TRAVEL CHAOS: Sharri Robertson and her daughter Talulah wait to get information on when the flight from Tonga is landing.
TRAVELLERS STRANDED
Friends and family of passengers were waiting this morning at Auckland airport.
Sharri Robertson dropped her friend's 12-year-old son off at Auckland airport this morning, only to have to turn around and pick him up again.
She said getting information on when the flight was scheduled to land had been difficult, having to go from one information desk to another.
"We were told the flight was landing at 11.15. It's 11.45 now and I'm not sure if I've missed him."
STRANDED: Louena Tuiafitu and her son Joseph have been trying to get home to Tonga since Monday.
Louena Tuiafitu says she has been trying to get back home to Tonga since Monday
"Today we were halfway there when the pilot told us we had to turn around. I'm exhausted and tired. My husband's in Tonga waiting for me."
"Air New Zealand has been telling us to come back every morning."
Her 14-year-old son Joseph says he just wants to get home.
"I just want to see my Dad. We're staying with family pretty close to the airport, but we have to keep coming back every morning to see if it's safe to fly."
'VOLCANO PUFFING AWAY'
Blue Banana Resort owner Shane Egan says they have a perfect weather day, but with the wind coming from the volcano, just 56 kilometres away, the plume was extending toward them.
"It is still puffing away but the cloud and ash is coming toward us," he said.
There was no ash fall on Tongatapu, but Egan says it is raining into the sea north of them.
"I guess it would be a problem for the planes."
New Zealander Simon Johnston is also stuck in Tonga, at the north western end of Tongatapu.
"A few pretty impressive eruptions this morning so far, not just white ash but black ash as well," he said.
TONGA'S SEAS TURN RED
Due 2 continuing volcanic eruptions Hunga, Haapai, flights canceled n beaches weren't so sandy anymore #NoFun #Tonga pic.twitter.com/VkkeWwFsuV
— Verna Tukuafu (@TukuafuVerna) January 9, 2015In a bizarre twist, unrelated to the Hunga Ha'apai volcano, Tonga's seas have turned red with a large algal bloom killing marine life.
One Tongan news website reports people have gone to the shore to see the ocean turn red near the capital Nuku'alofa
"Many could be heard saying that it was a sign that the end was near," it reported.
As the bloom has been seen in Vava'u, in the north, before the eruption, there is dispute over whether it is linked to Hunga Ha'apai.
But Egan is in no doubt.
"It wasn't there before the volcano, and now it is everywhere around us."
Johnston says it appears to be red algae washing up onto the shores, in increasing volumes.
READ MORE: Tongan volcano ash risk for South Pacific flights
Tonga's navy has captured dramatic images of a submarine volcano erupting near the country's capital Nuku'alofa.
It shows eruptions of tephra and ash and a wide area of ash on the water.
Hunga Ha'apai erupted out of the Pacific Ocean in 2009, creating an island.
The latest eruption was first reported by a fisherman who came back from the area on December 19.
The volcano sits on the edge of the Tonga-Kermadec Trench that runs from Samoa through Tonga and down New Zealand's east coast.
The naturally occurring algal bloom first hit the whale watching Vava'u Islands in the north of Tonga with locals reporting dead fish and a strong smell.
Yesterday a similar looking bloom was seen around Nuku'alofa, drawing onlookers to the port area.
The Ministry of Fisheries is monitoring the incident.
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