Hello my Charmings!
I walk around like everything is fine, but deep down inside my shoe, my sock is sliding off. — Anonymous
It’s been a few weeks and we are still busy settling in to our new place. We decided to take a break and do something refreshing for a day. We planned this walk a week ahead as pre-booking is essential when going to Rangitoto Island. We booked through Fullers Ferry. I suggest booking online as it saves you a few dollars over booking it in the ticketing office. All information that you need to know including the timetable for your destination is written on their website. We booked a morning departure (9:15am) with return at 4pm — there are only 2 departures from Rangitoto to Auckland everyday, the other is at 2:30pm. So we had the whole day to explore the Island.
Rangitoto Island, as known to many, is a very popular day walk in Auckland. Auckland is known to have 50 dormant volcanoes (so nothing to worry) and Rangitoto is the youngest and by far the largest volcano in New Zealand. It is pest free, so when you’re in the port before boarding the ferry you’ll find these things to clean your shoes first to ensure that you don’t bring pest, soil or seeds.
We brought lunch and water with us as we planned to have our lunch on the Summit, plus no shops to buy anything so we came prepared.
Arrived on the the island and the weather is a bit gloomy. As we came prepared, we have umbrellas with us. Before we proceed on our walk, we passed through an Information center to check our routes and to use the toilet (as toilets are far apart on the track). And no rubbish bins on the entire island so you have to carry your own rubbish. We took the Wilson’s Park Track (an alternative to reach the summit).
Good thing we wore our dependable walking shoes as we were advised that we would be walking through a field of black scoria (fragments of basaltic lava ejected from the volcano).
Or else, we could have end up like one of this walker…
The pathway is no joke, it is hard on the shoes and hard on your feet so make sure that your shoes are built to withstand hard rocks.
As I know that this Island is full of scorias I thought that this island would be barren and lifeless. But I was wrong.
On most paths that are covered with greeneries, you’ll encounter different kinds of moss growing everywhere — on normal rocks, trees and ground.
FUN FACT: moss is an indication that the air is not polluted.
This kept me thinking, as I was reading about mosses, that growing moss is a sign of excessive moisture. But this area is surrounded by scorias — a form of very dry rocks — and it baffles me. There’s certainly an explanation to this, but for now I’ll stick with what I can see, and that is that it seems like there are 2 different ecosystems on this island.
Before reaching the summit, we passed through the crater crown. I was in awe as it doesn’t really look like one as it’s now covered with greeneries. The inner edge of the crater is now covered with tall pohutukawa (NZ Christmas tree) and young rewarewa (NZ Honeysuckle).
A few more steps to the top — Rangitoto Summit.
Our main destination…
We had our lunch, rested and encountered some friendly brown quails.
After lunch, we decided to go back to the dock. We went back to the same route we took going to the summit with a detour to see Mackenzie Bay.
We’re supposed to pass by Flax Point which is the biggest concentration of seagulls in Rangitoto, but we’re almost out of time. The last sail leaves at 4pm and we can’t be late as alternative transport back to the mainland is expensive. On our way, this happens…
The path towards the dock.
Baches — NZ term for lodges or cabins — can be seen in this area. Some of them are privately owned and some are for rent (you need to book a bach in advance).
Overall, this walk is just what we needed. There’s so much more to explore in Auckland alone. We might be back on this island in summer, as we want to see the scorias in its natural color – red.
CHArmed Life 