East Tamaki Volcanoes

In between lunch and an appointment we decide there is time to sneak in a few volcano ticks or 'bukits' as we have come to know them after our time in Malaysia in January. The day is humid to the point that raindrops indifferently fall in ones and twos without discernible pattern. We initially miss our turn and end up at Polaris Place, where a highly visible worker imitates a dragon and the industry whirs around. This is the former site of Styaks swamp crater though no trace remains and we are not even sufficiently excited to leave the car.

We drive on to Hampton Park and walk up an uninviting drive following council signage. The council park skirts awkwardly around a private house and their animals roam the public land. Horses and sheep flee into the long grass. We appear to have ably shed the industrial landscape besides a persistent hum. Standing atop the tuff ring we look down at trees of the height and variety that suggest a settlement long defunct. This suggestion is confirmed but not eclipsed by the information panels and ruined stables. Walking down past decaying stone walls with rabbits springing to and fro is very Watership Down. The scoria cone too is engaging as you can access any part of it you please. Overall, Hampton Park ascends rapidly in the niche ranking of underground Auckland volcanoes.

Aerial photography suggests that there may be a route out of the north east corner of Hampton Park onto Lady Ruby Drive. Scouting proves this route viable and it is a simple matter of a normal height fence to cross before we are on mown grass and then footpath. From here we cross into Barmac Place. Google Maps suggests that while this may be a dead end for vehicles that there is likely foot passage through to the next road. However, at the turning area there is a locked gate with hazchem signage. One of the nearby driveways has a sign saying "Private Road. No through traffic." which we take as an advertisement that you can get through. Trying to look confident we walk slightly quicker than normal. Soon, we are on the road feeling smug about our two successful urban shortcuts.

We walk toward Basalt Place traversing the former site of Otara Hill (Te Puke-o-Taramainuku) before it was entirely quarried away. Completing the loop back to the car is simple though the heat is starting to rise. To finish off the volcano explorations we drive to Greenmount reserve and try think geologically to determine the edge of the Matanginui (Green Mount) tuff crater. Unfortunately, the sculpted edges of the football fields make this difficult. Matanginui was initially quarried, then used as a landfill and has now been 'rehabilitated' (how rehabilitated given it is still closed?). Consequently, it is now a grassy knoll overlooking the football fields and the title of green mount is perhaps more accurate than it has ever been.

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