I have a friend named Pete. He is from England but lives in Auckland. He is in grad school studying mathematical models of shark brains (aka he is smart). When I want to do something fun, even if it's during the week when most people are working, he is always keen. Over the past few months we've been doing several activities involving volcanoes.
The first involved Mount Eden, the neighborhood in Auckland right next to where Pete lives. Mount Eden is a cinder cone located 5km from the city center. It's the highest natural point in all of Auckland, so the views are great. The coolest thing though, is that it's a dormant volcano with a huuuuge crater in the middle.
You can walk around the edge but you're not allowed into the crater. (Wouldn't that make an awesome sledding hill if it actually snowed in Auckland?) Mount Eden was formed from an eruption 28,000 years ago. It's dormant now and not expected to erupt again (thank goodness--- or Auckland would be screwed!)
Here's Pete and I posing with the crater. He's pretending to be taller than me.
Our next volcanic adventure involved a day trip out to this place--- Rangitoto Island.
Rangitoto is a relatively young volcanic island, just a short ferry ride away from Auckland. It formed about 600 years ago in a series of dramatic explosions. At the time people were living on the island right next to it, Motutapu. Can you imagine, just one day, hearing an explosion and a new island popping up next to you? Wild!
In the early 20th century there were a handful of people living in simple beach baches along the coast. Now no one lives there, and it's a nature reserve.
A one hour trek leads to the top (260 meters), and you can look down into the crater.
Definitely a contrast in vegetation compared to Mount Eden!
Here are Pete and I at the top of the crater, with Auckland city in the distance.
Windy day!
Zooming in on the views of Auckland....
Near the top of the crater there were some lava tubes to explore. Here's Pete heading into one.
It was quite dark inside the caves! I had my trusty torch on my cellphone. Didn't help much, it was still pretty dark. :)
The trails up, down, and around the crater all looked like this--- no dirt, minimal green--- just lots of lava rock.
And here was the ferry that took us back to Auckland. Fun day!
But just wait, there's more volcanic adventures with Pete!
Below in the distance is Mount Pirongia, about an hour and a half drive south of Auckland. Mount Pirongia is... you guessed it... an extinct volcano, this one rising up to 959 meters (3146 feet). There's a hut near the summit and several tramping tracks leading to the top. Pete was keen for a tramp, so off we went!
Mount Pirongia is actually part of a decent sized forest park. We were stoked that the park offered two little cabin accommodation thingees at the base of the park and start of the tramp. They were cozy and comfy and WARM (we were warned that our hut at the top had no fire, no stove, no source of heat... and the predicted Pirongia temperature that evening was 1degree C (and that was at sea level--- the hut was at 900 meters!)
(Oh, and in case you plan on visiting the town of Pirongia, do NOT, I repeat, do NOT show up hungry. We did, and there is literally nowhere to eat in this one-horse town. However, if you drive about 20km, you'll get to Te Awamutu, which has an amaaazing Roast Dinner Place. Mmmm.)
Here's Pete in the morning, packing up his pack after our last night of warm and comfy sleep.
One hour into the hike and still smiling! (Only about five hours to go)
At the Ruapene Trig, our first break.
The views from Ruapene Lookout. Nice Day, lots of green down there!
Next step was making it over to those green hills in the distance. Onward!
Next up were passing the Tirohanga Bluffs, some nice, hard, volcanic lava. Someone recommended we take a side trip up to the top. It was a bit of climbing, but worth it!
A few more hours and we reach the highest point of the walk, the Pirongia Summit. Beautiful views from 959 meters in the sky!
We were almost to the hut when we saw these cage like things on the side of the track. What the????
Yeah, so the Dept of Conservation uses dogs to help control the goat population. Here are the kennels where the dogs stay when they're out on a hunting trip (no room in the hut for the poor doggies). Crazy! First time I've ever seen dog kennels on a tramping track!
So, about 5 or 6 hours of steady walking uphill, we made it to the Pahautea Hut. Success!
It was a simple little thing with 6 bunks and a cooking area. No fire or stove or anything other than warm clothes and our sleeping bags to keep us warm. We were joined by an interesting ex-army man who lost his job, lost his wife, and just might've been living in that hut for the past several days. A bit creepy, but also a bit amusing. Was real glad Pete was there too to keep me safe from the slightly eccentric man!
Before sunset, we took a wander to the helipad nearby as eccentric man told us the views were great.
Check it out--- that's Mount Ruapehu!
And there's Mount Taranaki!
It was a chilly night in the hut, but not too horrible. Putting on cold wet boots and socks the next morning was the worst, though. Plus, check out the creepy crawler who decided to bless my boots with his presence!
After extensive online research by Pete and myself, it was determined this was not a spider after all but a "harvestmen", more commonly known as daddy long legs. They don't bite, thankfully, but they're still creepy to find on your boot first thing in the morning!
The walk down from from the hut was long and technical. Some fun chains to grab onto where the rocks were big. Unfortunately the views were crap, as it was a very foggy day.
We passed the time by Pete teaching me all sorts of English slang that
us Yanks have never heard of... like "kip", "peckish", "chuffed", and
many other words that I've already forgotten. Crikey, those bloody Brits
have a language all of their own! :)
About four hours later, we made it to the bottom of the track. Success!
Mount Eden, Rangitoto, and Mount Pirongia--- a trifecta of fun volcanic adventures with my mate Pete.
No comments:
Post a Comment