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| Rangitoto Island from Long Bay Oneroa Track |
North Shore Nordic Walkers met at Valley Road car park in Browns Bay on Sunday, we walked across the wooden walkway and along the beach front then into Anzac Road. We followed the road and crossed at the traffic lights onto Glencoe Rd turning just before the dairy on the right and under the bridge; we followed the concrete walkway alongside the creek which brings you out into Mistletoe Place. We continued further along and turned left into Redwing Street and doubled back towards Freyburg Park, we then turned left up the steep walkway onto Woodlands Crescent, and turned right into Carlisle Rd. We continued right onto Beach Road before turning left and back into Valley Road in Browns Bay.
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| Archway built in 1920's/30's by convicts, it was the entrance to the mens public toilets |
This was a short walk and because the weather is so changeable at the moment I have been sticking to local walks. We were very lucky with the weather again and it actually turned out quite pleasant if not slightly damp underfoot. The best feature of all of our walks on the Shore is the views of Rangitoto Island which is located in the Hauraki Gulf; you will have seen this relatively young volcano featured in several of my photographs. I’ve not actually made it up Rangitoto yet, the kids have during school trips but the prospect of walking there with a herd of noisy school kids wasn’t much of an appeal to me, especially in the height of summer!
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| Scoria pathway on Rangitoto |
Rangitoto translates as ‘Bloody Sky’ which is derived from the Maori phrase ‘Te Rangi totongia a Tamatekapua *– the day the blood of Tamatekapua was shed’. It’s believed to have erupted around 600 years ago; despite the presence of around 50 volcanoes in and around Auckland; it’s the only eruption to have been witnessed by man. Rangitoto is different from all the other volcanoes as it came up from the sea and is classed as extinct, whereas the volcano field in Auckland is still only dormant. Maori occupation on Mt Motutapu saw the volcano erupt from the sea, the scene must have been phenomenal as the volcano spewed ash and fire, a crater was formed, a number of cones developed and appeared which resulted in a summit of around 260m high and a 5.5km wide island.
The volcano is these days a great attraction, and the hike up to the summit offers spectacular 360 views of Auckland City skyline and the Hauraki Gulf. The tracks on the island were built with convict labour and scoria on the island was quarried for Auckland buildings.
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| The crater at the summit of Rangitoto |
There are more concrete pillboxes along the coastline, which are remnants of the World War II fortification and during the 1920’s and 30’s the area was used as a holiday destination. Baches were built on the island, with apparently no services and all water was tank water, not much of a holiday by today’s standards! There were originally around 140 baches and when the leases lapsed they began to disappear and deteriorate. The Rangitoto Conservation Trust now administers around 34 of the remaining baches on the island.
Sources and Information:
New Zealand Herald ‘City of Fire’ 13 February 2008
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