Rangitoto: "I am the wettest in all the land!"

Saturday, Dec. 9th, marked our first tramp. We took a ferry over to Rangitoto Island for an afternoon excursion. Rangitoto Island is the newest of the volcano cones which dot Auckland. It erupted from the sea about 600 years ago. Until the late 1900's, it was a cone of volcanic rock with minimal vegetation. Now, it is covered in lush fern groves and forests of native plants/trees. You can hike up to the top of the cone and look down into it; though it is covered with green life, its volcanic history is still quite evident. (Picture: view of Auckland from Rangitoto.)

The day-trip did not start so well. All of the walking we did on Thursday and Friday came home to roost on Saturday. I repeatedly found myself wishing that I had done something, anything physical before we left Seattle. Luckily the kinks were out by the time the ferry docked at the island. Given how my legs were feeling, the ferry boat captain had an unpleasant surprise for me. Given the forecast of rough weather (uh, what rough weather?), the ferry boat would only be docking at Islington Bay Wharf. The expected docking was at Rangitoto Wharf, about half the distance from the summit as Islington Bay Wharf. Ugh!


About twenty minutes into our hike, I realized how wonderful it was to be on vacation. The weather was perfect (low 70s with a nice breeze), the company was entertaining (Joey at his best), and the walk was mostly flat. About forty minutes into the hike, the walk was no longer flat but the company and weather continued to be lovely. We saw a'a and pahoehoe lava on the hike up. (Carlson family -- it even smelled like Hawaii.) The summit accorded us 360 degree views of Auckland and the surrounding islands. The pictures just do not do it justice.


US Servicemen constructed a watch-tower, munitions depot, wireless barrack, etc. on Rangitoto during World War II. Only the watch-tower and wireless center remain. We stuck our heads into the wireless barrack. (This was the first of two moments when I was truly glad that NZ is snake free.)



The second best part of the hike was walking through two lava tubes on the island. I am a bit claustrophobic; the tubes were just long enough to be dark and scary without being terrifying. I did it twice. We took a ton of pictures; I have included two of my favorites. In the second, I am just about to enter the lowest point in the tunnel. It really did come out on the other side, though I don't look too sure of that in the picture.
















The best part of the hike was the walk back. Various storms had been threatening throughout the day but nothing happened... until we headed back to the ferry. Fifteen minutes into our hour+ hike, it started to drizzle. By the time we got our raincoats out of the packs, it was a down pour! Our new orange raincoats saved the day but we still ended up soaked from our thighs down. Oh, and GoreTex lined shoes only work until the water starts pouring in from your socks. Wet feet and all, it was great fun to tramp back through the mostly warm rain. By the time the ferry picked us up an hour and a half later, the rain had stopped. We got fairly dry on the ride back across the bay. The shoes took a little longer. I stopped squishing by Sunday.