Well, today was a long awaited trip to the local dormant volcano.
we got up early to get the ferry from downtown Auckland and arrived on the island about 10am ish
we decided to walk all the way to the top of the volcano rather than getting the tourist 4×4 (although that would have given us a bit of a commentary on the way. we got that from Kezia instead. although her version was a little more moany.
it’s a weird place with all these crusty old bits of lava lying around rather like someone had ploughed a field. but it’s just how the lava on top kind of dried and got all crusted up as the lava underneath was still flowing
it looked more like someone had smashed up an old road, or the remains in a fireplace the morning after a good fire
despite all the desolation it’s actually very green as trees and flowers found their way on to the island.
there were plenty of lovely plants
these are kidney ferns which curl themselves up to minimise their surface area so they don’t get too hot from the sun (or the rock itself which was really hot just from absorbing the sun’s heat)
we eventually made it to the edge of the crater. here are esther and kezia looking down at the cone shaped inside. it looks a little better on the google maps version down below.
then we climbed the final bit up to the top
the views were quite amazing. jane and i had another one of our ‘gulp, we actually live here’ moments.
here’s the harbour bridge i go over on the way to work each day (i work in the CBD – Central Business District which is south of where we live on the North Shore)
we stopped and had a picnic next to this lady. she had a curry and cooked peas all washed down with a huge bottle of tonic water. nice job lady
esther and kezia advertised their old school for the today with both their hats and their leaving jumpers. their jumpers were only really needed at the top, as although it was quite a cool wind, most of our walk was round the sheltered side. and with the extra heat from the rocks (warmed by the sun rather than anything geothermic) we were plenty warm enough
we then went for a walk round the rim of the cone
before heading down to the lava caves
jane read in the leaflet we should bring torches which was fab as it meant we could explore some of the lava caves ourselves without bashing ourselves about too much
this was a classic kiwi health and safety thing. loads of natural rock to bash your head on in the dark, but no warnings, and plenty of fun. hoorah !
when we emerged at the other side of the cave we found this sign.
here’s some of the scenery which was less barren
finally we made our way back down the hill again
it’s always nice to have a sign explaining how prisoners made a toilet wall
and how about this – it’s a flip flop tree (or jandals as they are called here) outside a bach (short for ‘bachelor pad’ or little basic holiday house type thing)
we also managed to do a geocache and took this travelbug
i suspect everyone will sleep well tonight !
read more about rangitoto here