Ferry To Rangitoto + 7.5 Mile Hike

 

Goodness, there seems to be water everywhere, and with that in mind Thursday we returned to Queen's Wharf to board a ferry to Rangitoto, a volcanic island and public reserve. Rangitoto blew out of the sea just 600 or 700 years ago, making it the youngest island in the Hauraki Gulf.

See Rangitoto just north of Auckland,

the large dark oval?

The ferry ride takes only 20 minutes. But let's back up, because maps and facts are merely part of the story. 

After just 72 hours here, ferry ticket agent Helen symbolizes the unfailingly friendly, helpful, just plain nice people of NZ. Smart and snarky, she directed us to Pier 1 to board, but warned us not to blame her if they changed departure piers since some repositioning was being done. (Of course they did change piers, and walking back we gave her The Look and she laughed out loud.)

Helen

 

Pause for water pix

as we pull away from the wharf

 It's a working wharf too

Grab your lunch and water bottle--there is neither on this island--and let's disembark. Be mindful of the time, since the last ferry pick-up is at 4 and you probably don't want to spend the night.

See the volcano summit at right?

It's a hot hike, surrounded by volcanic scoria that looks a little like soil turned over in the sun to dry. But it's hard like rock.

Hard to believe all that grows here out of this rock. In fact the island is a botanical gem, known worldwide for hosting many unusual and rare plants.

The direct-to-summit path looks surprisingly tame here, but it's fairly vertical to the 800-foot top and the walk gets our hearts thumping.

Hot among the lava rocks! Time for a water/snack break. Note our beloved picnic knife, nearly lost in my unfortunate TSA encounter. It's been traveling with us for 30-some years.

 The crater crown, described...
 ...and actual view, low on drama because it's grown in so fully.


The summit platform just above the crater, with panoramic views of Auckland and the Hauraki Gulf.

And a little bit of history too...

Wireless communications hut,

part of WW2 coastal defense system

Rangitoto today has no permanent residents, but in the early 20th century a small community lived in modest holiday houses called baches. Building was prohibited in 1937 and just a few baches remain.

This one was built in 1927 for the retiring island caretaker Mr Pooley and subsequently restored. It now serves as as a museum (not open the day we visited so I made pictures through windows).

The interior includes items left by families who once owned the bach, and it makes me at the same time a little sad and happy to think about that.

More form the Rangitoto Island Historic Conservation Trust:

Because other bach communities, which were prevalent throughout the country, have virtually disappeared, the Rangitoto bach settlements are irreplaceable artefacts of New Zealand's architectural and social history and therefore are important beyond their locality.

 View from the bach as we await our return ferry...

With 7.5 miles registering on Art's fitbit, we're happy to head home.

Coffee Rules Everything Around Me: Auckland City Sights

Britomart Transport Centre is the public transport hub in the central business district of Auckland, New Zealand, and the northern terminus of the North Island Main Trunk line. It combines a bus interchange with a railway station in a former Edwardian post office, extended with expansive post-modernist architectural elements.

Childhood in the war years...

No naked flames.

A Little In Love With You, Auckland

Can you blame us?  Auckland put on her most brilliant blue yesterday for our arrival pre-dawn. It was only later we realized she was wearing summer clothes! 78 degrees F out on the wharf.

 

Flat white (pre-slurped in desperation) from the next-door carryout,

my first in NZ, where it may have been invented

Earlier we ran the gauntlet of security/agricultural stations at the airport, softened considerably by the working dogs. No pix, but a young beagle just learning her trade sniffed out the specter of some fruit I'd finished on board the flight. Her handler asked if I'd had fruit, and then asked permission to let her charge further sniff the outside of my pack.

The pup got a confirming signal from her handler (good dog--you found fruit), and we're reminded why these beautiful animals are the best PR any airport could ask for.

The handler's other working dog

 

We're staying at the Barclay Suites right in the center of town, steps away from the harbor. Small apartments with kitchen and washer/dryer--just what we need. Thanks to Rob for finding this splendid place with a view of the spire in one direction and the harbor in the other from the tiny balconies.

 

The harbor was directly where we headed after settling in. A crisp salad of greens and an exquisite piece of John Dory and we're feeling alive again after the overnight flight.

Today, more local exploring...

Blow Into Auckland, Steal From A Liquor Store

Charmingly, they call liquor stores "bottle shops" here. After a pre-dawn arrival in Auckland followed by some sumptuous fish on the wharf (pix to come), we grocery shopped and trudged back. It's very warm in this absolutely sweet city.

Chores done and to quell the jetlag haze, we needed a G&T.

No worries, says the lovely lobby guy. There's a shop across the street and two blocks down. We find it, buy the gin and the tonic, check out, walk back. And suddenly remember we have no ice.

No worries, says the lobby guy--they should have it at the bottle shop. So I return and the proprietor greets me with "you stole a bottle of wine."

This bottle of wine

We did not! Oh yes you did and I have your husband on video (why is this reminding me of the TSA knife episode?). "He's allergic to sulfites and can't even drink wine," (this doesn't register at all), I exclaim, as he proceeds to show me a vid of Art putting someone else's wine into our bag with the G&T. The propeieter is still looking askance. I ask him why I would return for ice if I'd stolen his wine.

He softens. Walkwalkwalk back to the lobby guy, who thinks this is the funniest story he's ever heard. I ask him if he's seen Groundhog Day and he doubles over ("It's exactly like Groundhog Day!"). Up to the room. Do you have a bottle of wine, honey?

Yes, says Art. Why? (Some of us are a bit more jetlagged than others.)

Walkwalkwalkback back to the bottle shop, triumphantly holding up the wine. Big smiles and all is forgiven.

Way past time for a cocktail...

Mahalo Hanalei, Kauai!

Mahalo=thanks, 

gratitude, admiration, praise, esteem, regards, or respects.

For 73 degrees with a nonstop breeze, sun and rain, sand in our shoes, your incredibly warm hospitality, and, of course, mai tais in an open-air resto.

Off to Auckland on the night train, er plane...

 

Beaches: Past, Present, Future

So...beaches. Glorious, wave-pounded/water-lapped spots for walking, sunning, and, with luck, swimming. I like to get right in and roll with the waves, which is a challenge where we are on Kauai.

The beach in front of our hotel is a stunner. Check it out. But see also the fierce coral in dark strips out in the water? Lethal.

This month of March, four people drowned off Kauai. Drownings are the leading cause of death here, maybe no surprise, but still.

Here's the beach I spent a week every year on for 35 years. Silky sugar-white sand and virtually nothing on the sea floor (not a sign of sickness--just the way the beach is, though all the Corexit they dumped in the Gulf after the BP disaster makes it suspect for other reasons).

West of Panama City, FL

 

You can still get pounded by some monster waves when bodysurfing, trust me, but you get pounded onto a sand bottom, not razor-sharp coral.

The Kauai beach we wrote about in an earlier post, Ke’e, is protected by a reef that forms a sort of pool where it's OK for swimming. Plus there's a lifeguard station there. Ke'e was mentioned by our knowledgeable van driver Joe as one of the safe spots to swim on the north shore of Kauai.

Ke'e

No real conclusions here except some beaches are treacherous and you'd better know where it's safe to swim. Maybe I'm spoiled or just wishing I could walk out the door and get in there.

However, there's always the saltwater pool...