Rangitoto Island

For those of you who wondered when we would stop eating and actually do something today was one of those days.

The area around Auckland is home to something like fifty volcano cones and the most recent one is Rangitoto island. It dominates Auckland’s harbour and, as islands go, is very young. Six hundred years ago there was nothing but a big patch of water where the island is today. The Maori living in the vicinity would have had a front row seat as the sea exploded and the classic volcanic cone rose above the water. Eventually it would level off at its current level of 250 metres.

Lots of people come over to do the most popular walk which is a beeline for the summit. I found the footing to be tiring as the lava path is graced with thousands of little knobs and cracks but we did pass people doing it in flip-flops. We had on runners and wished that we had taken our hiking boots.

The path on either side is filled with a jungle like tangle with all sorts of plants competing with each other for a toehold in an extremely harsh environment. According to the signs the oldest trees were only 250 years old and many species grew side by side here but no where else.

The walk to the top took about an hour and a light drizzle kept us cool. It also kept us from the fabulous views of the harbour that were promised but the crater at the top was neat. We took the long way down from the summit and onto a coastal track. By the time we got there the weather had cleared and the sun joined us big time.

Lana didn’t seem to mind but I am sure I left a trail of, huh, moisture along that road. It took us another two hours of walking to make the ferry dock where I spent the next hour dehydrating on the dock. All in all, I think that I need more acclimation to this climate.

That night Lana, with me assisting, made fajitas for our friends since it was our turn to cook. I spent the rest of the night re-hydrating with a number of very good Kiwi beers.