Viewing Auckland from volcanoes

As touched on in my post from Auckland, the city sits on a volcanic field, with around 50 of them spread across the metropolitan area. While it strikes me as a bit nutty to build a city on a volcanic field that will erupt again, it's undeniable that these volcanoes allow for some great vantage points.


My first full day in the city, walking along the waterfront, I stuck my head into the office for a ferry company that runs boats to Rangitoto Island, the city's youngest and largest volcano. I just wanted to get some info on possibly going out the next day, but when the woman told me that that was the last day they'd be running boats to the island for the next ten days, and the last boat was leaving in ten minutes, I said to myself Screw it, let's do it! and jumped aboard.

A 20 minute ferry ride and one hour hike later, I stood at the top of the island.

Quite the view, although unfortunately not the greatest of days to be up there. What was fortunate, however, was the weather on my next day, when I visited Mount Eden. Sharing its name with the surrounding suburb, this volcano is much closer to downtown and is the highest point on Auckland's mainland.

A quick, 20 minute hike up the hill provided for a really great view.

Hope this has been educational! If nothing else, I've learned that I should probably start using different intros for each of my videos. We'll see what I can come up with next time.