Rangitoto - Bloody Sky!

9/22/16

Today was our grand adventure on Rangitoto Island! We got a relatively early start to the day in order to make the 9:15am ferry and decided to skip the formal sit down restaurant for breakfast. Instead we decided to check out the small pastry shop built into the hotel, which turned out to be a much better proposition. They had a great breakfast sandwich that we enjoyed the following day too!

The walk down to the ferry was just shy of a mile and all downhill, so it was not a big deal. We made it with plenty of time to get a ticket and enjoy the cool, fresh sea air for a bit. Riding over on the ferry really was a wonderful site with the breeze blowing past us; a great way to start the morning!

Good morning Rangitoto! We'll be seeing you soon!

Rangitoto Island is the most recent addition to the Auckland area viewshed and its most predominant feature too. It formed when the volcano erupted roughly 600 years ago and sprang up from the water just west of Motutapu Island. Human and dog prints preserved in the ash from the Rangitoto eruption found on Motutapu indicate that the Maori were living on the island at the time of the eruption – What an intense experience that must have been to witness! One day nothing but sea between them and mainland New Zealand and the next day a big island pops out of the sea right in front of you! Crazy.

Once we landed, we decided to take a side trail into a Kowhai grove to let everyone else get ahead of us and avoid seeing too many people. It was a much smaller trail and before long it felt like we were the only ones on the island. Kowhai is a tree native to the island that blooms with a pretty yellow flower in the spring and summer. Our trip is at the end of winter/beginning of spring here so there were not very many flowers in bloom. But there were a few, so I felt lucky to see at least a couple. I imagine it will be quite a site in another two or three weeks.

The Kowhai Flower.

The little side trail spit us out just a little bit past the start of the main trail to the summit and we began our ascent to the top of the volcano! It was not too difficult of a hike but we took our time during the first part – although I imagine that Tyler may not have been taking his time as much as I was. I recently finished reading A Walk in the Woods by Bill Bryson, who had often described walking on the Appalachian Trail for hours until he found a nice spot to sit and wait for his friend to catch up and enjoy the view. Those parts in the book became a little more real to me on this hike. I didn’t mind at all though, it gave me an excuse to stop and take in the views that I rarely take advantage of on my own. And the company is always nice too.

But I also wanted to take a side trip to Boulder Bay, where New Zealand took a lot of their old ships to die, and that was not going to happen if I continued at that pace. So when we got to the turn to check out the lava tubes, I parted ways with Tyler and we agreed to meet back at the wharf just before the last ferry left the island at 3:30pm.

I made my way ahead to check out the lava tubes; a fun little side trip, but there were only really 4 of them and none went any serious distance. Plus, I had other places to go and not a lot of time to do it, so after a good 20 minutes exploring a couple of them, I was off to Shipwreck Bay . . . I mean Boulder Bay.

Still, the Lava Tubes were worth the side trip.

If the suggested times were accurate, it was going to be tight and there would be a small chance that I wouldn’t get there before I had to turn around to make the last ferry. But when I put my mind to it, I can make my way through trails pretty fast and I had a feeling that I might be able to make it happen. When I made it through the first part in 10 minutes when the map said 35 minutes, I felt a lot better about being able to make the trip in time before I had to leave.

Sure enough, I made it to the bay with plenty of time to briefly look around and take it all in. The waves from the ocean are incredibly loud and you would expect to hear them a lot sooner than you do, so when I first heard the faint sound of the beach I figured I still had another 5 or 10 minutes to go. But it grew louder a lot quicker than I expected and by the time I turned around the bend in the trail I could see the water. It is kind of crazy the dampening effect the trees have on the sound that goes through them. That was one thing I noticed on the island – just how quiet and still everything seemed to be. It was very peaceful.

Boulder Bay - Where ships go to die!

Boulder Bay was another great view, but not much of the ships could still be seen – at least where I was. Apparently the most intact ones were a short hike further north, but I didn’t have time to make that trek if I wanted to make it to the top of the volcano too. So I just looked around a bit, enjoyed the sea breeze and then made my way back toward the top

A lone piece of metal lets me know that I am in the right place.

By then I was starting to feel the aching from the hike. I have not been able to do much hiking (work or fun) for a while now so I was not in great shape. I was definitely going to feel this in the morning, but the views were worth every step. The top of the volcano did not disappoint! I stayed up there long enough to eat a snack and enjoy the view, as well as help a couple people with their photos. Then I was on my way back down to catch the ferry.

The photo does not do the view from the top any justice.

Tyler ended up checking out the lava tubes and making it to the top too, so he was feeling the effects of the hike as well. We had also planned on checking out a WWI and WWII defense over in Devonport on the way back. I was certainly feeling the Rangitoto hike by now and would have been completely alright if we had not gone to Devonport too, but I didn’t want to make that suggestion. So I left it up to Tyler, thinking that he would have had his fill of adventure for the day. Imagine my shock when he said, ‘What the heck, we are only here once!’

Way to go Tyler!

And with that, we were off to Devonport. I certainly am glad that Tyler made the decision to check it out, because they were really impressive. I guess the local newpaper decided it would be funny to report a spoof article about a Russian ship attacking Auckland in the late 19^th century that got a lot of people up in arms about New Zealand’s lack of defense. Despite the fact that the article was a farce (apparently, the name of the Russian ship in the article was Kaskowiski – Cask-of-Whisky), there was legitimate concern with current Russian expansion in the area, so they started a project to build up their defenses on North Head that expanded during WWI and again during WWII.

Battery Observation Post built in 1889 - one of the oldest structures still remaining.

After the wars, it was used for training by the New Zealand Navy for several years before it was turned into a park open to the public – that is pretty cool! Anyone with the gumption to get outside can go soak in the history and beauty of the area at no charge. Great job New Zealand!

Well, by then our feet were certainly not happy with us with the full day of walking so we limped back into town to find a restaurant to get some dinner and have a couple of pints with the hopes of dulling the aches a bit. A quick ferry ride back to Auckland and we were ready to walk the mile back to the hotel uphill . . . yeah right! We totally took a cab.