Rangitoto is almost completely undeveloped, and the DOC (Department of Conservation) is very strict about maintaining its pristine ecosystem. Before getting on the ferry, they made us brush off any traces of mud or soil on our boots to prevent the transportation of any soil-dwelling microbes, or who knows what. After a 20 minute ferry ride, we arrived on the island.
Auckland from the ferry
Rangitoto from the ferry
Rangitoto wharfWe had decided to take the last ferry back at 4pm, so we had quite a bit of time to kill. Instead of following the mass of people up the main track to the summit of the volcano, we wandered off and explored some lesser-traveled side paths through fern groves. At one point, we even walked on lava fields, which had morning dew evaporating off the scoria rock in the form of vapor. It almost looked like the volcano was no longer dormant and had started venting.
We took a meandering route to the summit, which turned out to be a great decision, as we steered away from the crowds. The volcano's crater was very overgrown, so that was bit underwhelming, but the view from the summit more than compensated. A broad shield volcano, Rangitoto is only 850 feet high, yet it still provided a miraculous 360ยบ panorama of Auckland and the surrounding area.
After eating and relaxing at the summit, we hiked down a ways and ventured into the lava tubes. Lava tubes are a natural formation that occurs when a lava flow is exposed to the air, and so the outer layer cools and hardens. The inner core of the lava flow is still hot and insulated, however, and so it continues to flow until the eruption ceases. Afterwords, a hallow lava cave remains.
Finally, we hiked down the summit track until we reached an open field near the bottom that we had passed earlier, where we played frisbee until we had to catch the ferry back to Auckland.
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