NZ: Pete and the Volcano

Well, last night I slept through for about 10 hours and then crashed again at lunch for another two or three. Lucy says this is a delayed form of jet lag but I think it had something to do with my decision to walk up a volcano yesterday.

Rangitoto Island lies just off the coast from Auckland and is one of the more recent volcanoes in the region having sprouted a mere 6-800 years ago. Because of this it’s still covered in sharp lava though there’s a fair amount of vegitation growing in the thin layers of organic matter that have settled over the years, most notably a significant amount of New Zealand’s national (I think – they certainly like it here) plant, the Pohutukawa.

I took the camera and tripod and despite my best efforts could only reduce my photos down to 55 from an original 128. That’s a pretty good hit ratio by any standards but then, allowing for some metering issues with the black rock, it wasn’t hard.

Being rather lovely and so close to Auckland it’s a rather popular destination but the relative harshness (no shops or even drinking water) and need to get there by boat (the ferry cost NZ$20 return – about £8 – so fairly cheap) means it’s not that busy even if you do stick to the most popular track, as I did. The route straight up to the summit.

I chose to go up partly because when faced with a mountain the only thing to do is climb it but also because I’ve become aware how unfit I am after a year of blogging. The guide suggested it would take an hour. I did it in 40 minutes. And it was lovely up there in the clouds, even if the view wasn’t as clear as I’d have hoped. Still, I took my time coming down, diverted off to see the lava caves (which you can walk through!) and took in the scenery.

The weirdest thing about the island is, of course, the lava fields. At first they look like freshly tilled soil and, having heard about the efforts to restore the Pohutukawa trees, I assumed somebody had dug them over. But no! It’s actually piles sharp rock, formed when the lava cooled and the crust was broken up by the still flowing hot stuff underneath. The black rock also means the island is very warm and even on a relatively overcast day you can feel the heat radiating up.

I’d originally wanted to walk all the way over to the enticing sounding “shipwreck bay” but missing the first ferry and fearing missing the last meant I didn’t and spent some time wandering along the coast. Again, the contrast with the lava rock was striking, this time against the sea which hadn’t had time to break it down.

And then, just as the ferry was approaching, a storm suddenly hit. Minutes earlier I’d been lying on the deck sunning myself but now I was standing shivering on the pier as one side of my body was drenched. The weather is very changeable in New Zealand, doubly so on the islands.

Looking back over this week I’ve sort of been playing it safe, but that’s no bad thing I feel. While exhausting in places it’s been good to relax and get my bearings a bit. I’m going to spend a bit more time in Auckland tomorrow and then on Saturday we’re off camping for Xmas. After than I think I’ll take things up a notch or two.

(Oh, and having lugged the tripod around for two days with it bashing against my legs I relented and finally bought a Gorillapod. It’s lovely! Must stop buying camera stuff now…)