Rangitoto, Auckland’s scenic reserve island known for its lava caves, volcanic rock, and beautiful skyline views from atop the crater. Visitors can enjoy the beauty this island has to offer by taking a short $30 ferry ride from the main port in downtown Auckland. There are many times for departure and return to select from with the last one being at 4pm. If you miss that you’ll be forced to fend for yourself for the night as besides a few small privately owned summer style homes, there are no places to stay, get food or water, or camp on the island.

Getting off the ferry and following the coast line to a trail that leads up a densely forested brush, one trumps past piles of volcanic rock diced up into baseball sized pieces. Birds sing from tree branches above, such as the common Tui bird of which we saw several, singing romantically back and forth in neighboring tree branches. Halfway up are the popular lava caves, of which a person can squeeze through with the bleak light of an iphone6 and some helpful hands from some good friends. Filled with spider webs and massive spiders, these caves are an otherwise delightful experience.

Continuing on to the top of the island, one reaches the crater overlook. Quite different from Mt. Eden, a crater on the mainland which is filled with grass, this crater on Rangitoto is completely filled with growing trees and brush, a forest in a hole on a mountain. A few more steps up and a viewpoint allows for one to see not only the whole city of Auckland including suburbs, but also neighboring islands such as the linked sister island to Rangitoto, Motutapu. Reaching Motutapu requires at least a 3 hour walk from the ferry dock and any travelers wishing to do both should be sure to take the first ferry trip of the day.

After some pictures and lunch on top of the crater, we headed back down in time to catch a 2:30 ferry back to the city to do some much needed grocery shopping before the weekend reached its end.