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Rangitoto Island - New Zealand


Image: Angela Curtis


Doctor Knight's diary mentions Rangitoto Island and today you can visit the youngest volcano in New Zealand. It last erupted 600 years ago after which the native Maori lived upon the island. They sold it for £15 in 1854 to the Colonial Government. Basalt and scoria were quarried on the island and shipped to Auckland where they played an extensive role in building the city.

The first view you see in the footage below is filmed on my great, great granddads private beach named Cobley Beach. He renamed it Cheltenham Beach before selling the property. You can read more about his 40 acres, one of the most idyllic spots in Auckland in my book The Shotover - 150-Year Souvenir. 

The Ashmore entered the Hauraki Gulf and sailed between the islands with the help of a pilot who arrived early to catch up with his friend Captain Whitmore. It wasn't necessary to have a pilot boat escort that day, but they were given the royal treatment because she was considered in Auckland as a 'very handsome vessel'.

View From Cheltenham Beach - Devonport - Auckland - 1908

Image: Wikipedia

Rangitoto Island is a volcanic island in the Hauraki Gulf near Auckland, New Zealand. It is a symmetrical shield volcano cone, reaching a height of 260 m (850 ft), is 5.5 km (3.4 miles) wide. Rangitoto is the youngest and largest of the approximately 50 volcanoes of the Auckland volcanic field, having been formed from an eruption around 600 years ago. It covers an area of 2,311 ha (5,710 acres), separated from Auckland's North Shore by the Rangitoto Channel. It has been linked by a causeway to the much older, non-volcanic Motutapu Island since World War II.


Rangitoto Today

Footage: Roadside Stories with David Bellamy & Manatu Taonga


Thanks for reading and watching my BLINK.

Please feel free to leave a comment.



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