Days 23 and 24 Auckland – and Rangitoto Island
We met up with our new tour group at 6pm. There are only 7
of us….a nice number, actually – all from the British Isles and all of whom are
experienced travellers within a decade or so of our age…so, hopefully, a good
group. We have 2 guides for the North
Island section – an experienced guide and a young girl leading her first Exodus
tour. She has led many other tours on South Island, though, so Clark – the
older guide – leaves us at Wellington. We had the usual pre-tour briefing and
then went out to dinner at a lovely harbourside restaurant to get to know each
other a bit….
The weather in Auckland is cooler and windier than usual for
this time of year….so instead of the beach island, we took the ferry to Rangitoto
to climb the volcano and explore the lava tubes. Auckland is located on a
volcano field – at least 43 dormant volcanoes lie beneath and around the city.
Rangitoto is an island created 600 years ago by the most recent eruption. It is linked by a causeway to one of the
oldest islands, Motutapu, where Clark once lived….
Rangitoto is a great case study for how flora and fauna
colonise a newly created volcanic area.
The lower slopes are Pohutakawa forest – the largest in New Zealand –
and home to many strange ferns – such as the translucent ‘kidney fern’ that
doesn’t look like a fern at all – as well as the trees and grasses of an
emerging rainforest. The upper slopes
where the soil is compacted ash, have menuca trees – from which the nectar for
the famous honey comes and silver ferns – the national plant of NZ. We climbed the rocky path to the summit and
stopped at the various viewpoints to see the crater and magnificent view over
Auckland harbour. On the way we saw a rare Saddleback bird and the much more
common Tui with its white bow tie markings.
The New Zealanders have finally eradicated from the island the imported
rats that had destroyed the native bird population; it is clear that the birds
are now returning……
We scrabbled down a rock-strewn path to a cave where several
lava tubes met. Clark and Nicole, the
young guide, had brought a camping stove and supplies to make tea to go with
our packed lunches – a lovely thought – and after lunch, several of us climbed
through one of the lava tubes….Amazing! I had wanted to do that ever since we
went to the lava field in the Galapagos Islands…and here was my chance! We had to crawl through the first couple of
metres but then the tube opened to above head height – with tree roots hanging
down and the drip, drip, drip of mineral-laden water that had percolated
through the soil and rock. We had to
climb upwards to get out of the tube…and we were surprised how far up the cone
we had gone…it took a good few minutes to walk back to our luncheon cave….
We then walked the several kilometres back to the island’s
harbour and some of us continued across the narrow causeway to Motutapu
Island. Motutapu is completely
different – long inhabited and cultivated, it was a major military installation
in World War II. I couldn’t resist
going down to the beach to feel the water - - it was just about the same
temperature as Southold Bay in summer….too cold for a cloudy day – but
delightfully refreshing if it’s hot and sunny.
We returned to the mainland by ferry at 4:30 and had the
rest of the afternoon and evening
free. Rob and I wandered the city for a
bit of shopping - then had a quick dinner and returned to the hotel for an
early night. My, we’re getting old……
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