Rangiphoto

km wide island is an iconic and widely visible landmark of Auckland with its distinctive symmetrical shield volcano cone rising 260 metres (850 ft) high over the Hauraki Gulf.[1][2] Rangitoto is the most recent and the largest (2311 hectares)[3] of the approximately 50 volcanoes of the Auckland Volcanic Field.[2] It is separated from the mainland of Auckland's North Shore by the Rangitoto Channel. Since World War II it has been linked by a causeway to the much older, non-volcanic Motutapu Island.[4]

Rangitoto is Māori for 'Bloody Sky',[5] with the name coming from the full phrase Ngā Rangi-i-totongia-a Tama-te-kapua ('The days of the bleeding of Tama-te-kapua'). Tama-te-kapua was the captain of the Arawa waka (canoe) and was badly wounded on the island, at a (lost) battle with the Tainui iwi (tribe) at Islington Bay.[