ERUPTION IN New Zealand

I watched the news as most probably did and saw a real piece of news (as opposed to manufactured/fake/slanted/celeb/political) about the eruption of the volcano on White Island, a 'private' island off New Zealand.  It is dreadful and my heart goes out to those who have lost their loved ones, and those who are in hospital.

As it is a 'private' island my first question is, do the owners of the island get paid?  Who owns or wants to own an island with a live volcano on it?  Sounds a bit James Bond.  Were the tourists asked to sign away their lives before going on the trip, and who did the research into potential eruptions?  I remember walking around a live volcano in Ecuador as part of a tour with Explore.  There was a group of teenagers and their parents, in search of something that would make fourteen year olds go 'wow' and for an hour or so move away from the black mirror of their iPhones.  It worked.
So I understand the fascination of looking into the abyss of a live volcano.   The one I walked up and around didn't look harmless. It looked verdant with life and the birdlife are some of the most colourful and exotic in the world.  I remember at school learning about volcanoes in humanities, and getting top marks for learning by rote the different aspects of volcanoes, why they exist, and their history and our connection to them.  I was fascinated by the prehistoric nature of them, imagining dinosaurs emerging from their depths. When I went with my teenage son I realise as he looked, he was imagining the same.
I visited Naples a couple of years ago and am always amazed despite knowing Vesuvius is very much still bubbling under, why the Italians continue to build in the same stream of lava which destroyed in a blink, Pompeii.  Tourists are still able to walk amongst the streets, and see how the devastation was so quick, it left the shadows.  And yet the tourists still walk there in their droves each year, even in the searing heat of the midday sun in the summer.   We are an odd species, self sabotaging at every opportunity.  
Some of my yogi colleagues tell me the eruption is the earth telling us once more we need to treat our planet with more passion and compassion.  And that it is merely a reflection of how we are treating each other (which at the moment, is not very well).  Perception is all we have, and so many now project onto others perception which isn't accurate.  Proof is considered 'truth', but proof is merely frozen perception. Even scientific evidence, which is claimed as the ultimate frozen perception, is fragile - it is broken when the next scientific evidence comes along to disprove it. Replacing it with yet another frozen perception.

Sometimes it needs seismic activity to realise what is important.  And actually, what is important isn't very much. It is our health and those we love unconditionally. That's it.  If we have our health we are able to use our senses, and if we love unconditionally we are able to appreciate and be grateful for those senses.