Today's adventure takes us southeast of Mt. Albert to the Auckland suburb of Three Kings.
I had spotted the name on maps in the past and had been intrigued. The name Three Kings undoubtedly refers to the three wise men who came bearing gifts for the Christ Child. I also supposed that the name must refer to three volcanic cones in the area. Three of the fifty-some in the Auckland area.
I found that there is a peak right in town that is called Big King. I definitely want to do some climbing.
Come with me now as I explore...
As I stepped off the bus and started looking around town, it appeared that every business in the place is named 'Three Kings this, or Three Kings that. They must be proud of their town and rightfully so. It seemed nice there.
But I was here to climb the Big King. There he is, over there beyond the Countdown.
As volcanic cones go around here, the Big King is not all that big. He's listed at 436 feet, which turned out to be plenty tall enough for me.
I discovered that the two main trails to the top, and which showed very clearly on the map that I checked before I left home, were closed for improvements. The map didn't tell me that. I ended up walking all the way around to the far side of the thing before I managed to climb it. I had water, a banana and a granola bar with me so I really didn't suffer too much. But I'm an overweight (slightly) 69 year old, and this jaunt pushed me a little closer to the threshold of 'too much' than I liked.
I did enjoy the view from the top and I learned a thing or two about the Big King, or Te-Tatua-a Riukiuta, as the Maori call him.
Although the day turned out fairly sunny later in the day, when I was on the summit, I had spitting rain for a time to contend with. I stayed on the downwind side of the water reservoir that dominates the peak. Let me show you some pictures.
This is the second trail entrance that I passed while looking for ways to the top. The first one was fenced off, so that was clearly not an option. This one sure looked open to me. I climbed about 50 meters of very steep trail before I found the fence closing it off. Hmmpf!
Worked even better than an umbrella.
The rain has passed my hill top. Safe to take the camera out again.
In reading about Three Kings, I learned that the last eruption happened about 28,500 years ago and that lava tubes that originate here, carry water underground toward Western Springs several miles away. This I think, might be surface evidence of one of those lava tubes. I have seen similar looking places on other cones, and one had a sign identifying it as such.
I think that dot on the hillside, left of center, might be a bug or bit of dirt on my lens.
You may be wondering at this point the same thing I was wondering after riding the bus down to Three Kings and finding only Big King to climb. Namely, why is there only one King to climb?
Well, I learned that there were indeed two additional Kings formed by the eruption I mentioned earlier. They were called East King and Highest King by the residents. Highest King was only two meters taller than Big King. There were also a number of smaller cones sticking up here and there. Unfortunately for us, East King, Highest King and all the smaller ones were quarried out of existence. The picture below shows a corner of today's quarry. They are still taking scoria out of it.
I have an early photo of the area toward the bottom of this post and a little more information about scoria for you.
Before I leave the top, I have one more picture. This is the most famous of Auckland's volcanoes, and the youngest. It arose from an undersea eruption only about 600 years ago.
Rangitoto.
I'm on my way back down now.
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So then, what's the story, ah, on scoria?
Scoria is:
noun
- 1.basaltic lava ejected as fragments from a volcano, typically with a frothy texture."chunks of black scoria"
The photo below shows another of the Three Kings, as it was being carried off.
photo from Wikipedia
So what is scoria used for? Here are two examples.
Natural Volcanic BBQ Lava Rock - 2KG Bag
Volcanic Rock is ideal to place on a rack above the burners and beneath the grill on your BBQ.
This rock will keep the heat in the area to provide more heat for cooking. Fats and oils drop on to the hot rock and vaporsises, flavouring the food. The ideal coverage is 60% - 70% of surface area.
During use, the lava rock absorbs food fats & juices. When the absorbed fat becomes excessive the lave rock will need to be replaced
Vocanic Rock also suitable for use in Gas Fireplaces and Braziers.
Scoria 50/20
50/20 Scoria is a clean drainage scoria commonly used behind retaining walls. The aggregate range is 50mm down to 20mm
I think that possibly because of all the volcanoes in NZ, I have especially enjoyed watching video from Iceland's current eruption. I do worry though about how many people are right up against the flow. I think back to our White Island catastrophe and pray that something similar doesn't happen in Iceland.
I don't know if you've been watching it, but here's a link in case you want to check it out. It is constantly changing of course, but this short segment is amazing. Be patient. It takes about a minute and a half before the action starts.
Here's a new one. -djf
You've got some incredible zoom power on your camera and I enjoyed your spectacular views of the far away hills across the water, Rangitoto and the Sky Tower.
ReplyDeleteIt was very interesting to learn about scoria - I wonder if Big King will suffer the same fate as his mates.
The YouTube videos were really interesting but those people in the 2nd clip looked way too close.
Check out this video if you think those people are too close.
ReplyDeletehttps://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ynl7FHPJiFc
You won't believe it.