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Story: Nearshore islands

Rangitoto and Browns Island

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Rangitoto and Browns Island

In this 1850s watercolour, Charles Heaphy shows how Auckland’s Waitematā Harbour is dominated by the volcanic island cone of Rangitoto. It emerged from the sea about 1400 CE. Browns Island (Motukorea), just to the left of Rangitoto, is also volcanic.

Using this item

Alexander Turnbull Library

Reference: C-025-013

by Charles Heaphy

Permission of the Alexander Turnbull Library, National Library of New Zealand, Te Puna Mātauranga o Aotearoa, must be obtained before any re-use of this image.

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How to cite this page

Eileen McSaveney, Nearshore islands – A nation of islands, Te Ara – the Encyclopedia of New Zealand, https://teara.govt.nz/en/artwork/13009/rangitoto-and-browns-island (accessed 5 June 2026).

Story by Eileen McSaveney, published 1 March 2009.