There's no excuse for not exploring Rangitoto.
After living in Auckland much of my adult life it was always a shameful admission that I'd never made it up Rangitoto Island's craggy slopes. One more cry of "What? Really?" finally drove me into taking action. Even then I needed a bit of help, but my buddy Chris looked up the ferry timetable and organised our group of Sunday walkers.
Once on the ferry I felt even sillier when I discovered Rangitoto is a mere 25 minutes from downtown and only 15 minutes from Devonport, where I boarded. On this beautiful spring Sunday the ferry was crowded. Obviously nobody was put off by the idea of climbing an extinct and reasonably steep volcano.
Once at Rangitoto Wharf, we decided that there'd be plenty of time to look at the impossibly cute little baches lining the shore under the pohutukawa on our return before the last ferry at 4pm. Best to tackle the hill while our enthusiasm was high.
Winding up the DoC-maintained track was not difficult. I don't know why I had always imagined we would have to scramble over bare scoria. This was a well formed path on a steady, upward gradient. Largely shaded by trees, it was pleasant rather than arduous, although I had to admire the parents who carried young children on their shoulders or the super-fit bronzed woman of mature years who bounded past at a run.
