When we were younger, the adventures of renowned explorers were taught to us in order to explain the development of the new world. Some aspired to be just like them – to take on new land with nothing but a compass in hand – but were quickly discouraged when they realised that the only way to really be an explorer nowadays is to be jet-fuelled into space. Not amped.

But hey, now there’s some new land to explore right here on Earth which can give you budding explorers a little hope for the future. In fact, it’s a brand new island created by the Hunga Tonga volcano which started erupting in December. All you need to do to see it is to travel about 45km northwest of Tonga’s capital, Nuku’alofa. Easy.

A mere 0.5km long, the island has around 10 caves, but the bad news is that it won’t last more than several months due to continuous volcanic activity in the area.

If your schedule is a bit tied up for the next few months and you’re unable to visit, then here are some pretty pictures taken by the few who have ventured onto the small, limited land mass. Click through to see the rest.

[source: mashable]