Rangitoto Island

Have any extra uninhabited volcanic islands just laying around? New Zealand does! 

A few days ago while in Auckland, I took a $30 NZ ferry out to Rangitoto Island, a volcanic island about twenty minutes off the coast. 

It is completely uninhabited beyond a handful of small vacation/fishing homes clustered near the dock that have been grandfathered in, as they now represent a dying way of life in New Zealand. 

Beyond that, it is an island to itself, left to the purposes of the plants and birds there. 

The ferry goes out and back a few times a day, taking tourists, and that is it! There are no shops, no food, no water, no cell phone towers. Just you and the black lava and the blue ocean and the green growing across it all. 

The island is only around 700 years old, making it probably the youngest land I have ever walked on. It is young enough that it's creation is still "remembered" in verbal histories passed down in the Maori groups living here. 

It has no fresh water--no rivers, no streams, only the rain to feed its plants. The soil is just what has eroded from the lava. 

And yet! There it is, covered with lush green, different types of plants covering the rough black rock. 

It takes about an hour to walk / climb straight to the summit, but I added on another loop which took me across the lava fields and through the forest. The day was fairly overcast, which helped.

It was amazing! Despite the 20 or so other people who had come on the ferry with me, I was alone. There isn't much animal life on the island, but I did see and hear some new birds. The bird songs in New Zealand seem unusually complicated and strange. 

I also came across the best bird feather I have ever found, a title previously held by Malahide Beach in Ireland:

The island has trails leading out to a few lava tubes--areas where molten lava moved through, leaving behind tunnels as the outer edges cooled and solidified but the hot center kept moving. 

I was afraid of them, honestly, but went through anyway. Luckily they were short, so I could almost always literally see the light at the end of the tunnel. 

They looked almost prehistoric, like you would go through and come out to another world.

Here is the view from inside one of them:

And an obligatory cave selfie:

I covered a fair amount of the island's trails, and then headed back to its ragged edges. It was strange, where the lava met the sea. You could see its shapes, how it had moved 700 years ago, frozen in time.

Around 2:00 I went down to the dock to wait for the ferry, since I had to be back in Auckland to pick up a rental car at 5. The final ferry of the day leaves the island at 4:30, and I'm not sure what happens if you miss it! A lonely night on a sleeping volcano?

It was such a strange and unique experience. What a concept, to take a boat out to an uninhabited island, left for nature to do with as it sees fit. 

The landscapes here in New Zealans are pretty incredible as a general rule, and this was no exception. The overcast shady day didn't result in the greatest photos, but trust that it was quite a view to see the city of Auckland winking in the distance, beyond the ocean and jungle and lava fields. 

It felt great to get out and walk, and be surrounded by nature. Amazingly, this isn't the only island hanging around New Zealand, so hopefully I will explore a few more before our two weeks here is up.

One of the best things about our trip has been seeing just what things are out there. I love even just knowing that there is a place like Rangitoto, just out there in the ocean, doing its thing, the plants growing and the birds singing whether or not you are there to see it. 

Turns out the world is full of such places, and we are all the better for it.