Maungauika & The Convalescents
North Head is a small basaltic volcano (alkali olivine basalt) located at the tip of the Devonport Peninsula. It is one of the oldest of the fifty cones in the Auckland volcanic field, formed over 50,000 years ago in a series of volcanic explosions. The layering of volcanic material is visible in the cliffs at North Head, each one representing an individual eruption. The coast is now dominated by hard volcanic rock shelves and sheltered from the open ocean by Rangitoto Island. In post-glacial times before Rangitoto had emerged, the cliffs were heavily eroded without its protection. This can be clearly seen on the eastern and northern sides where the volcanic material has been undercut and indented by wave action. Māori were the first to use North Head for defence purposes. It was one of three cone pā in the Devonport area and highly important as it forms the mouth of the Waitemata Harbour. When fears of a Russian invasion began to sweep New Zealand in the late 1800’s, North Head offered a strategic position once more as a number of defence forts were rapidly set up to protect Auckland.
The built structures along this piece of coast tell a history of geology and war. The Devonport Convalescent Home was used as haven in First World War, for wounded and recovering soldiers. A salt-water swimming pool was constructed of scoria on the tides edge, as the medicinal properties of salt-water bathing were held in high regard at the time. Today, its barnacle crusted rim encircles a crater-like pool, reflecting the sky and the occasional bather. There is a simplicity in material used in these old structures that lets the landscape speak for and with itself. This was not a conscious design decision by old-timers, but an ease of procuring local material from site. At Krarkin Point, a narrow flight of concrete steps squeeze between an incision into the striated cliff wrenched apart by thick pohutukawa roots. A curious curving inset of scoria and mortar provide a facade for an old drainage pipe.
A decade ago, the original war-time pathway around the rocky shore was upgraded by Stevenson Concrete, led by Chris Smith and Ryan Jenner. A sinuous grey concrete path glides across diagonal lava flows, a scoria block edging runs along the seaward side subtracted at certain points to allow access to small sandy coves. A cantilevered path along the cliff face, is punctuated by precast trapezoidal exposed pebble posts. The concrete path was mixed with jet black oxide to meet Department of Conservation’s requirements to match the cliff colour. In my opinion, an under appreciated work of landscape design that artfully blends a simple palette of stone into a cohesive trail that references the volcanic nature of site.
References
Image 7. https://www.researchgate.net/publication/276320076_Construction_of_the_North_Head_Maungauika_tuff_cone_a_product_of_Surtseyan_volcanism_rare_in_the_Auckland_Volcanic_Field_New_Zealand
Image 8. https://www.doc.govt.nz/globalassets/documents/science-and-technical/srir79.pdf