Rangitoto

Friday was the ferry trip across to Rangitoto with my niece- a highlight of my week.

It was raining when I woke (again!) but the sun emerged as I walked to the ferry terminal.

 

The ferry was really full for this trip over to the island, and it seemed like all semblance of a peaceful time on the walk was gone. However, as it turned out, only a minority of the huge group of international students actually climbed to the top.

 

The peak lay ahead and uphill, but the climb was much easier than I had anticipated. It started off at a very gentle slope, wending its way past scoria that had little vegetation. Kidney ferns were growing strongly at certain points.

 

 

 

To our surprise, the vegetation grew more lush as we ascended. Contrary to what I'd imagined, the higher crater area was formed by the original eruption, and the lower slopes were formed from more recent craters.

 

It wasn't nearly as hard climbing as I had imagined, and before long we were at the summit, enjoying splendid views of the city of Auckland.

 

 

 As we descended we could feel it getting colder and greyer. But we were just reaching the wharf at the same time as the ferry before it actually rained. As we left the island we could see it disappearing into the misty rain, as too was the container ship we passed as we headed back into the ferry terminal.

It was a great day. I heartily recommend a trip across to Rangitoto to anyone visiting Auckland.

Auckland Zoo

Yes, I have mixed feelings about zoos- and would rather not see animals confined even in more modern 'open' enclosures, but I went to Auckland Zoo anyway. 

As always the meerkats grab attention.

 

There were some interesting aspects of enclosures throughout the zoo, but one that really appealed to me was the wall of nesting boxes for the lovebirds, decorated by children from a local school.

 

Another favourite feature was the 'fence' made of 'koru' in a New Zealand walk-in aviary.

 

And in that aviary I was pleased to make the acquaintance of a kaka.

 

From the zoo to the port... I took an evening walk near the port nearby. The sun shone on some of the industrial sights quite beautifully, and I discovered more about the little park nearby. 

 

Blogging on the road

For the last few years I have managed to blog when away from home using one of two blogging apps, Blogger or Blogsy. Both of these let me compose offline, and then publish the posts when I had access to enough wifi. I had intended to blog each night while in Auckland recently, but then found to my surprise that neither of my two apps seemed to work anymore! Further investigation back home has shown that neither app is in the App Store anymore😟. However, I have bought another app, BlogTouchPro, and will try it out in a moment... Instead of daily posts, you'll just get some quick highlights! (Phew, they say in the cheap seats!)

Coast to Coast Walk

The weather forecast was looking dodgy but I decided to head off on the Coast to Coast walk this morning anyway, heading towards Onehunga. Yellow signs going my way and blue ones coming towards me. No sunshine photos today sorry, but the walk took me through some lovely parts of Auckland- congrats to those who worked out the route.

 First climb of the morning was up to Emily Place towards part of the university. This stiff little climb quickly reminded me that I have been pretty much limited to leisurely walks on the flat lately back home in Palmy!

I was walking in historical parts of early European settlement in Auckland from the outset.
I headed downhill again near parts of Auckland dominated by roads, then up into the Domain, where I was pleased to find a public toilet when I needed one!

 

I was glad to be on my feet mostly in quieter streets and parks as I walked over the (Grafton?) overbridge. 

I walked past Auckland Grammar and was in a very expensive part of the city. Nearby the school was this very simple house, not too different in size and era to my own, but I imagine its price tag would be ten times as much.

Next came the highlight- walking up to the top of Mt Eden, and walking around the old volcanic crater rim. The views weren't 'pretty' with the overcast and drizzly conditions, but the whole place was so atmospheric. How fierce the eruptions must have been once from that crater. And so many other peaks were visible from on top, including Rangitoto where I hope to go soon.

 

Then it was down that peak, to head over towards Cornwall Park and One Tree Hill. I missed a sign after Auckland Teacher's College in the rain, and ended up on a much busier road for a while, but I guess that's the true Auckland too.

Cornwall Park was lovely, and like other parks I'd walked in/near today, needs proper exploration all by itself. I was glad to see some of the sheep I had read about, so close to the CBD, with the bonus being that there were lambs too. 

These last shots were taken while sheltering under my umbrella, and I was starting to feel a bit damp, albeit warm. So I never went to the summit, but instead headed down towards Royal Oak where I found lovely shelter and company at a bus stop. Then it was back to the CBD. Strava tells me I did 13.8km, and it was a satisfying walk with lots of interesting sights along the way.

Auckland holiday- arrival

These hols I am having a wee sojourn to explore a little of Auckland. It started off a little slowly with a delayed flight out of Palmy, but eventually I was airborne and leaving Manawatu.


I had a window seat, and the cloud stayed away long enough to see one of our meandering rivers below. But then cloud became our companion below.

I was glad to find some sunshine in Auckland as they have had so much heavy rain lately. I was very happy as soon as I saw my Aparthotel room, as it has lovely windows that let in plenty of light, and there is a bit of a park I look out at, near Vector Arena. And even better, I can see the view even when I am resting my feet up on the bed!

 Once I had settled in I took a bit of a walk downtown.

I got an ATHop card so I can get around on public transport easily, then headed towards the Wynyard Quarter down by the harbour.

Many expensive boats around as it is a Boat Show week. Looked amazing, but hard to reconcile such luxury with the homelessness and inadequate /expensive housing so many endure in this city.

 There is always so much to see and explore in the Wynyard Quarter.

 I noticed a City Link bus stop nearby so caught it and used my Hop card successfully for the first time to get to Queen St. So many contrasts. The Sky Tower and St Patrick's Cathedral, and road cones...

I made my way back to the hotel via Countdown with a couple of bags of groceries to see me through... Now to get ready for tomorrow's adventure...

Taranaki Sojourn

I had several days in New Plymouth last week, and have made a Flickr Album of some photos.  I may or may not get around to a proper blog post later ;-)

Weekend in Palmy

This weekend was a Palmy stay-cation... Saturday saw me walking along the 'far end' of the river pathway for a change, from the carpark by the motor camp, down just past Waitoetoe Beach. It was 5.2km Strava tells me, so a good stretch for the legs.

 The water in the river was flowing quickly and it was quite full after recent rain, carrying plenty of sediment.

 The path had a good smattering of walkers on it, many of them with dogs. With the black skies ahead of me, I was expecting to encounter rain somewhere along the way- but I was lucky.

 There was a new sculpture acknowledging the history of the Rangitane people in this locality. The plaque told of a nearby lagoon which was used for fishing, but that has long been drained.

 Across the river along the other bank, you can see evidence of the new shared path they are constructing, that will mean people are able to cycle/walk all the way out to Linton on a separated path. I am so happy these paths are being developed, and I am sure I will be out on my bicycle more often again soon!

This side-track leads down to Waitoetoe Beach, which seems like a peaceful place albeit a bit on the wild side. Today my eye was drawn to the darker layer in the cliff face, and I wondered whether that dated from a distant volcanic eruption, or how else it might have been formed.

The track continues to come out near Panieri Park, and there is a toilet block there if you want to use it- wharepaku.

 In this photo you can see the pile of limestone chips that is ready to be laid on the track on the other side of the river.

Today I had a quick expedition downtown and wandered in part of the Square. This blue building is Square Edge, and was the PNCC building in a former life. It had a gentler colour scheme for many years, with a beautiful mural on it. I was sad to see that disappear, and it took me some time to accept this new, more vibrant colour scheme. But I actually appreciate it now, and it does look good with blue skies behind.

 Right next door is All Saints Church. This is currently closed until they do major earthquake strengthening. It has a similar brick construction to church buildings that failed in the Christchurch quakes, and we have a large chance of a similarly large quake centred near here one day.

 And just to finish off, here is a winter tree in the Square. The skies might be blue, but the air was somewhat chilly, and despite a 'delayed arrival', it is definitely wintertime here now.

Arrivederci from a Palmy winter!