Rangitoto Island is the largest of about 50 volcanic cones and craters in the Auckland volcanic field. It erupted from the sea around 600 years ago, and is now extinct.
The island, which is 30 minutes ferry ride from downtown Auckland, dominates the local seascape, and is now a public reserve managed by the Department of Conservation.
You can take a 'hard' 2 hour (return trip) walk to the summit. A loop track around the crater rim gives fine views of the extinct crater and Hauraki Gulf. (Fullers Ferries operate a tractor 'train' ride to within a 15 minute walk of the summit. Tel: +64 9 367 9111 for bookings and details).
There are also several other walk tracks, including a coastal path.
Rangitoto Island's Pohutukawa forest is the largest in New Zealand.
The island also features 200 species of native plants, including 40 fern species
Bare lava fields, lava caves, pillars and tunnels and different types of lava flows are all obvious features of the island's volcanic landscape.
You can also find some World War II defence installations on the island, including a fire command post on the summit.
Up to around the 1970s, houses perched on the island's edge in a ring, but most have been removed since the legality of their existence was doubtful right from their start in the 1930s, and because the island has now become a scenic reserve. Some of the 'bachs' are being preserved to show how the island used to be, once boasting a permanent community of several hundred people.
The island is linked by a causeway to the much older, non-volcanic island of Motutapu.
NOTE: There is no accommodation, cafes or drinking water on the island so you must take your own drinking water and food.
How to Get There
Fullers Ferries operate around 3 ferries a day to and from the island.
EXternal Links
Rangitoto Island Historical Trust
Department of Conservation
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