In North Island have land-surface that much broken, hilly, and in parts mountainous. The main range extends from the east of Wellington Harbour to the East Cape. The highest peaks are in the Ruahine and Tararua Mountains and Mt. Egmont (2521 m.) in Taranaki is an extinct volcano standing far isolated from other mountains; its summit carries perpetual snow. The center of the island is a volcanic plateau much of which is, at an altitude of more than 600 m but northwards gradually becoming lower, it extends to the Bay of Plenty.