Our mission today was to walk to the top of Rangitoto Island. It’s a volcanic island located a 25-minute ferry ride from Auckland. It’s a nature preserve that offers a chance to see a wide variety of native plants as well as different stages of lava flow. Nature just across from downtown Auckland.
The day started with a walk to the pier and a stop at a Gelato spot right by it. It helped us wait for our boat to arrive. Even if we’re far from Italy it was well made and full of flavour. It reinforced our impression that food is a serious thing in NZ.
The fact that the only way on Rangitoto Island is with a single ferry that makes the trip to the island 4 times in the day (and four trips back) forces everyone to start the hike with everyone else that was on the ferry. The first 45 minutes (of a 1 hour ascension) was crowded with a bunch of lemmings. Once we got passed the lemmings we really got a chance to appreciate the nature of the place and the beautiful weather.
Walking around a volcano always feels like being on another world. Of course it’s been extinct for a long while so there’s life in the crater (and lots of it). We could not look at a spot in there for more than 10 seconds without seeing a bird fly in or out. Many different bird calls could be heard to our great pleasure. The fact that it was 26C and sunny helped us enjoy the excursion to Rangitoto Island too.
We’ve been in NZ for 3 days now. Other than food being a serious thing, we’ve discovered that the New Zealanders love their almonds. We were given almond lip balm, then almost bought almond milk laundry detergent. On top of that, almonds seemed to be added to a bunch of different recipes that really don’t need them (in my opinion). Who wants almonds as a broccoli topping? In any case, we now have to be on the lookout for nuts everywhere.
Rangitoto Summit Track · Auckland 1010, New Zealand
★★★★★ · Hiking area
maps.app.goo.gl
