Words and photos by Epic Rider Antonio Cozzolino


The City of Auckland lies in what you would probably call, a fairly volcanic region. There are some fifty volcanoes scattered around the most populous urban area of New Zealand - the greater Auckland Metropolitan Area. In fact New Zealand generally as a whole is rather volcanic, and while yet to be scientifically proven, my theory is that this has something to do with the fact that the entire length of the country - some 2000 kilometres - straddles the Pacific Ring of Fire or circum-Pacific seismic belt if you want to get technical.


In fact, New Zealand is the home of one of the the largest eruptions in recorded history, when what is now Lake Taupo erupted roughly two-thousand years ago in what is described as, get this, “supervolcanic” activity. Said eruption was observed from both China and Rome (get a map out, that is very, very far, from New Zealand) -if you choose to believe that... The crater created by this violent volcanic event is now a lake that has a perimeter of nearly 200 kilometres.


To render all this waffle at least mildly cycling-related, I must inform you of a fantastic event that takes place here each year in November. The Lake Taupo Cycle Challange attracts almost 10,000 entries, most of whom will “circum-cycle” this gigantic body of fresh water, once. Some, those presumably no longer possessing the will to live, will embark on this round-trip two, four, and for the really suicidal, even eight times. The single revolution is (apparently) a great ride, mostly flat but with a couple good climbs, treating participants/competitors to, generally (weather permitting) a wonderful, picturesque landscape the entire way around, the kind you might expect to see in a Disney movie, say perhaps The Lion King, or even Finding Nemo.


Sounds “Epic” you say? A race fit for Epic Riders you say? Well, yes. One would hope (and by one, I really just mean me) that the NeilPryde Epic Riders will venture down to the Antipodes to participate in the 2011 edition. All sixteen of them, Diablos, Alizes and team cars in tow (do we have a car sponsor yet? I vote Audi). I guess we’ll have to talk to the boss about that...


Anyway, back to the central underlying theme of this post. Auckland. Volcanoes. Mucho. As the title suggests I take on these five rideable peaks around Auckland, comprising of (if I were to put on my well perfected Italian accent):


Mont’ É-dain (Mount Eden)
Oun Tri-ille (One Tree Hill)
Norrrte Ai-de (North Head)
Monte Welling-tone (Mount Wellington)
Monte Vittoria (Mount Victoria)


Because I thought it might be boring to write about riding up five rather small hills, I thought I may just provide you with a description for now, and deliver in some weeks time, an action packed, aesthetically pleasing, Oscar-winning feature film. See below for pictures and anecdotes.





Name: Mt Eden
Maori name: Maungawhau
Elevation: 196m
Type: Cinder Cone
Suburb: Mt Eden


Slightly south of the city, this crater is ideal for sliding down into on either cardboard boxes or rubbish bags, however this is not an activity for the faint at heart, there are inherent dangers to this sort of activity. Namely, large rather sharp rocks.







Name: One Tree Hill
Maori name: Maungakiekie
Elevation: 182m
Type: Volcanic Peak
Suburb: Epsom


The irony here is not wasted on the masses. This hill did in fact once have a tree next to that obelisk. Some locals were unhappy about said tree because they used said obelisk as a sundial. As a result, they cut it down. The Government though, felt that it would be inappropriate to rename the iconic land mark “No Tree Hill”. U2, the band, also have a song that goes by the same name (they too, decided not to go with the name change).







Name: North Head
Marori name: Maungauika
Elevation: 79m
Type: Volcanic Headland
Suburb: Devonport


The southern end of the East Coast Bays peninsula. Home to some of New Zealand’s greatest bakeries, restaurants and Olympic medalists. Also, a great place to sail into if you are looking for that cheeky wind shift or inside pressure to get a head of your opposition.







Name: Mt Victoria
Maori name: Takarunga
Elevation: 87m
Type: Volcano
Suburb: Devonport


Located only a few hundred meters from North Head, this area is one of the best naturally occurring spaces suited to games of “Capture the Flag”, for obvious reasons. As can be seen here in this image, there is also a stunning, un-obstructed view of Auckland City.







Name: Mt Wellington
Maori name: Unknown
Elevation: 63m
Type: Volcano
Suburb: Mt Wellington


There is really not a lot to say about this Volcano. This Alpe D’Huez-esque climb is located in a once-commercial-now-ever-more-residential area. There is a Wendy’s close by for all you fast food junkies.




Keep an eye out for the video that will relate to this post. Similarly don’t forget to check out the “run this town” clip I talked about in the last article.


Happy Climbing!