Welcome to Auckland, New Zealand! Here is the rather remarkable sight that awaited us when we checked into our hotel Monday evening.
While Lee spent Tuesday doing actual work things, I got to continue my vacation on my own. Our hotel was very conveniently located for the ferry terminal, so I decided to book a ticket and hop on the morning ferry to Rangitoto.
This volcanic island emerged from the waters of the Hauraki Gulf about 700 years ago. Though there aren't any oral or written record of the eruption, there were people living on nearby islands at the time, so I'm sure they watched that volcano and island get bigger and bigger over generations.
The boat ride from Auckland is quick, only 25 minutes, but it felt very isolated and rugged. There are toilets, but no potable water on the island. Anything I planned to eat or drink for the next 5 hours, I needed to bring with me from the mainland.
This is the youngest volcano in the Auckland area and, though this one is probably dormant, the same can't be said for the rest of them. There is a possibility of a big eruption in New Zealand's largest city, but the infrequency of the eruptions in the area makes it a frightening hypothetical rather than an inevitability.
I opted to head for the summit hike, same as most of the other visitors. Unlike most of them, however, I took a detour to some lava tubes on the way.
The trail was mostly shady, though it was such a cloudy day, that barely mattered. The map I got on the ferry measured the trails in time rather than distance. This was mostly to help people make sure they don't miss the ferry going back, but as a result I'm not 100% sure how much walking I did that day. But it was a lot.
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The main lava tube--the one that you could stand in and had a separate exit--was rather fantastic. Not too big, but had a lovely, mysterious atmosphere to it. I'm only a little surprised that I didn't have to pass off some trolls riddle to enter, or fight myself in a Darth Vader suit.
The other lava tubes were smaller, requiring more crouching and crawling, and I didn't see any other way in or out, so I didn't spend much time in those. Just long enough to get an absolutely massive bruise on my shin.
From the lava tubes, it's another 30 minutes to reach the peak. I opted to take even longer because I first stopped at the viewing area that looks down into the caldera and then walked the rim trail all the way around the caldera before climbing to the summit.
I don't know what this is or why it is on the rim trail, but it is certainly reminiscent of Jurassic Park:
The city views from Rangitoto are a big part of the draw for visitors, and you really can see all of Auckland from the peak!
I wanted to take a different route down than I took up, but my options were limited if I wanted to catch the ferry. I had about two hours, so I decided to take a path that would wrap around the back side of the island before leading back to the wharf.
If I thought it was quiet before, at least there were other hikers. I saw no one else on this path at all. It was just me and the birds! Literally. I spotted this Tui bird hopping around:
The times on the map were a little more accurate for up hill than down hill. I had no trouble getting down to the wharf in plenty of time.
There are a few little beach rental houses for people who want to stay over night on the island, which I think would probably be great fun in the summertime. I didn't hike over to the beach with the lighthouse, but I hear it's very popular when it isn't a cool, late autumn day.
This Kakariki (New Zealand Parakeet) was flitting around near the beach.
There were a few old stone structures built with prison labor in the late 1800's. Though they don't serve an functional purpose now, they add a certain gloomy quality to an already lava black, moody beach.
I was tired, my feet were very tired, and I had just finished off my water and snacks. But I walked a little way along the coast to explore for the last few minutes before the ferry arrived.
Lee got finished working and returned to our hotel around the same time I got back. The down side was that my feet seriously hurt and I needed a break, while he had been cooped up all day and was ready to go do something interesting. So the walking continued. I planned for us to take advantage of the Tuesday evening opening at the Auckland War Memorial Museum, so I found an interesting looking restaurant near the museum for dinner.
A cute Fijian fusion restaurant, that served up very tasty seafood and a palusami spring roll. Did we have to walk nearly 2 km to get there? Yes. Could we have probably found a bus or train that would have gotten us there with less walking? Also yes. But we didn't. we just walked.
From there, the War Memorial Museum is really just up the hill. It's a nice, foresty park kind of hill, but it is more walking.
This dramatic hilltop edifice is the Auckland War Memorial Museum. There is a large war memorial in front of the museum, the 3rd floor is dedicated to war remembering, but the rest of the museum has nothing to do with the subject.
The museum is probably most well known for it's excellent collection of Māori cultural and historical artifacts. I didn't take photos of more than a 10th of the collection. It was a lot. The war canoe was too big to even fit in a photo properly.
They also had a smaller collection of items from other Polynesian islands. They had a Samoan head hunting sword that was nearly identical to the one my dad has at home.
There were some of the largest tapa cloths I've ever seen hanging on the wall. And the one I got a photo of isn't even the biggest one there.
On the second floor are the pre-historic and natural history exhibits. Including this, my new favorite bird, the Moa. This 3 meter (9 foot) king of the birds was native to New Zealand but was hunted to extinction within 100 years of the arrival of humans.
As a result of the Moa's extinction, Haast's Eagle--the largest eagle of them all--also went extinct around the same time. They were big enough eagles to hunt the Moa, and depended on them as a food source. Can you imagine an eagle big enough to eat that? It's probably true that Haast's Eagle preyed on humans once they showed up. Perish the thought. Imagine getting dive bombed by a six foot tall eagle with 4 inch talons.
The museum was great fun, but I had been on my feet almost non-stop for 10 hours. It was time to get back to our hotel...by walking. Sigh. After 10 bajillion miles of walking, a warm bath, and a healthy dose of ibuprofen, I slept like a baby.
