Auckland Adventure II - Rangitoto

Today we explored Rangitoto Island in Auckland Harbor per my wonderful husband's suggestion.

To get there we had to take a ferry from downtown Auckland.
Rangitoto is a volcano that erupted from the sea 600 years ago.It is mostly comprised of volcanic rock.

We decided to climb to the summit.
The lava rock absorbs then radiates heat.
We are very glad that we did not go there in the summer! Instead it was a gorgeous 50 degree F (10 degree C) winter day. What could go wrong...

Well, we decided to check out some lava caves that were advertised in the brochure. We even ran to buy a last minute torch (flashlight) at the pier that the brochure recommended we use to explore the caves. So after reaching the summit,and enjoying the 360 degree view, we headed down the trail towards the lava caves.
Is this it? I don't see any signs, but this must be them...
Scott graciously let me go in first.
And then followed when I started to get a little claustrophobic and panicky.
We thought that the cave was a little narrow and difficult to get into, but once inside we could stand up, so it was fairly awesome. There was even a light at the end of the tunnel...

So out we climbed and went on our merry way presumably back to the main trail...only to come upon this gaping hole in the world that was the actual lava cave we were supposed to be exploring.

The best part was meeting some fellow cave goers and relaying our tale only to hear them exclaim, "We saw you! And I said to my husband, 'I can't believe someone is going in there!'" Yep, this was our kind of adventure.

Well, we felt quite silly and really couldn't stop laughing about it, but we were on a time schedule to catch the last ferry out at 4pm, so on we hiked.

And on...

And on...

Over jagged, ankle-breaking lava rock...

And over crevasses...

For another 3ish hours!

We were exhausted and low on water, but finally the pier appeared in the distance!

We rested for a bit, and I even managed to buy some more water from a passing tour boat. Then we made one more valiant trek on a short hike in the Kidney Fern Glen, but unfortunately the camera battery was tired too because it gave out at that point. We pretty much got lost and were just in time for the ferry home! Oooops, my bad...Anyway, it turned out to be our kind of adventure and now for some Ibuprofen and some shut eye!

Jen (and Scott)

P.S. See, Mom, palm trees in New Zealand. ;)