600 year old Rangitoto Island! (Taken from North Head!)
Day 332 Tuesday 29th January 2008
Auckland, New Zealand - FOUR HOURS AHEAD OF YOU PERTH GUYS NOW! Weird hey..
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HAPPY BIRTHDAY to my gorgeous sister in law JO~!!! Hope you have the most wonderful day today..and Andy takes you out to a great restaurant and spoils you to death! :-)All our love, jen and greg xxx
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After arriving here absolutely worn out, we checked into our hostel, which is downtown and close to the harbour and then we slept! We slept the whole day, and night and work up the next day without eating at all!
As soon as we did rise, on Tuesday morning, we headed to Subway and ordered a foot long chicken and advocado roll and then went looking for a tent for our camping days ahead!!!
We found one at a local camping shop in Queens Street and decided we'd 'think' about it after we went for a walk to the harbour. While we were there we booked a boat to Rangitoto Island.
Rangitoto island is a volcanic island (erupted 600 years ago) off Auckland harbour that takes about 25 minutes by boat. We were told if we missed the last boat home, we stay there the night and there is nothing there, no fresh water or food. So we'd better rememember the boat departure times!
Auckland harbour is so gorgeous. I keep using the word 'fresh' because that's what it is. It seems so clean and fresh and beautfiul here. It really uplifts the soul and the water is so blue and crystal clear. Auckland really is a beautiful city.
We landed on Rangitoto after firsly docking at Devonport and what a remote, volcanic island. From the jetty on the island, you can see a few 'holiday' houses dotted on the water's edge, but after some research, we found these are not occupied. No one lives on this island. And there are no shops there at all. We were glad we brought a litre of water with us because it was hot, dry and the walk was quite a way to the summit!
Some people boarded the volcanic island train, taking them up to the volcano summit but we decided to do the walk and use up some energy. It was 2km upwards.
It's a fascinating island. As you walk the trail (Kiwi's call it 'tramping'!) you can see all the volcanic rock in slides that look like a lava flow! In some areas there is extremely dense vegetation, on others there is only the once moulten rock. The volcano that created this island only erupted 600 years ago, so in volcanic terms, this is a very young island.
We ventured into the Kidney Fern Walking area and it felt like we were in the Land of the Giants. Giant tree ferns and vegetation. So beautiful!
After spending some time in there we continued our walk on the crater rim to the Summit lookout which is situated at 259m.
Once we got there we got breathtaking views of the harbour!! Gee, this place is so magical, who would ever have known?
On the summit. We reflected. And thought about our choice to come to NZ.
I have to let you in on a secret. I was not looking forward to coming here at all! I had been here before and didn't really want to come back. This is Greg's first time here, and he was really keen to come to NZ. To comply with our ticket requirements we had a choice of coming here..or going to Hawaii..and as we'd both previously also been to Hawaii we decided on New Zealand..
I am SO glad Greg convinced me we should come here..
As we were sitting at the summit, on Rangitoto Island we looked out..over the beautiful harbour of Auckland..and i thought, i'm so glad we have 3 weeks to see New Zealand!! From what i've already seen...it know we're going to enjoy ourselves!
We left the Island at 4pm and stopped once again, at Devonport (which looked a beautiful place) and here we got ushered out of the port because another ferry was wanting it's space. Our captain was half an hour late to pick us up..so his whole schedule was out of whack!
As we arrived at Auckland Harbour we saw the Pacific Star being led out of the harbour by the tugboat. We waited while it emerged (Once again, because our boat was late, we had to wait for the ship...we should have left the Island at 3.30pm!)
It certainly was a site to see this ship manouver itself out..and more awesome was to watch the Pacific Princess that was also in the harbour, completely overshadow this whole boat, with it's incredible size!
Once we walked the gangplank and walked through the harbour, we decided to DRIVE to Devonport ourselves..and cross Auckland bridge!
But first! We had to go and buy our tent. Coleman's was closing at six and we wanted to be equipped for our camping stint!
It was pretty exciting too. Equippping ourselves with our basic two man tent, and double bed mattress..all for under NZ$100 too!
Travelling on the Auckland Harbour Bridge at peak hour is not recommended. But we did it anyway..and headed to Devonport. It's such a pretty place! We mounted another volcanic mount called, "Maungauika" in Maori terms..otherwise known as North Head. Another beautiful view of the harbour and of the Sea Princess leaving Auckland!
Just a note about "Maungauika". This old volcano cone is one of the oldest in Auckland. It erupted to form the mount 50,000 years ago! The Maoris firstly inhabited it, until the Europeans kicked them out to make the summit as a pilot station for the harbour entrance.
There are tunnels, guns, searchlights and fortifications created here to fend off an invasion. It ceased to be a pilot station in the 1950's and is now managed by the Department of Conservation. We're glad we took the effort to go to Devonport. A different view of Auckland.
It's so weird being in Auckland. The ANZ bank is everywhere. There are familiar magazines in the shops and all the directions and name plaques are in English. The tv is in english. The computer language is set in English! It's clean and fresh and casual here. Kids smile at you here. There are no beggars. People speak to you in English. People look at you in the eye. I don't feel invisible here. It's just weird. It feels like home. Or very close to it.
Being here is a stepping stone to home. The culture gaps is closing every minute.
But i'm not going to think about home yet..I get too excited! We still have a few weeks here to explore.
We're off to explore New Zealand, in our little car and sleeping in our new tent!!
I'll let you know how that goes!
xxxx
