Mount Eden

Volcanos...there is something about volcanoes that we like... NZ is full of volcanoes, and just around Auckland, there are 48 of them. We will have fun here!

Mt. Eden is Auckland’s highest volcanic cone (196m) and the crater is 50m deep. To us it looks like a smaller, yet deeper, version of the volcanic crater we walked up to in Chacala. The walk here was easier as the trails are used a lot by the people who live here, as well as the many visitors who come to see the view.

And the views were amazing. We had asked someone in the grocery store about the views from the Tower and he told us that the views from Mt. Eden were better, and it was free. We could stand in one spot and do a 360 degree turn around and see for miles and miles. It was great.

An interesting fact - In the late 19th century, much of one side of the mountain was quarried to build some of Auckland’s earliest homes, prisons and other structures in the region, as well as the platform at the top the peak. The laborers were mostly Maori men and prisoners, but one was a royal elephant.

Prince Alfred, the Duke of Edinburgh, was about to finish his 1870s tour of the Royal Navy in Auckland. When passing through Nepal, the prince was given a three-year-old elephant by Sir Jung Bahadoor. Alfred named the elephant Tom, and took him along to New Zealand, much to the delight of Auckland residents who had most likely never seen such a creature before.

Over the course of the prince’s stay the elephant was kept in the royal barracks. But his strength and size weren’t put to waste. While on board the ship from Sri Lanka to New Zealand, Tom carried 300 tons of coal across the vessel, much to the delight of the sailors. He was put to similar work on Mt. Eden’s platform, hauling heavy basalt up the mountainside. The royal pachyderm was rewarded for his labor with candy and beer.Read more