Mount Eden

Thanks to a very friendly cab driver, we made it to the top of Mount Eden.  This is the highest point in Auckland at 196 meters and gives 360 degree views of the city.  It was really marvelous to see the city against the backdrop of the bays and the ocean which are throughout the region.  Mount Eden itself is also very interesting as there is a huge crater in its middle, attesting to the volcanic nature of the area.  We strolled around and enjoyed the vista and marvelled at the depth of the crater and then walked down the paths to the streets below. 

We found the local commuter train to take us back into the heart of the downtown area...our first foray on this type of public transportation, and then walked through the Wynyard Quarter.  This area is an old industrial area of the port which is being reinvented as a restaurant and condo area.  It harbours many very large and extravigant yachts and racing boats, for whch New Zealand is famous.  It was a lovely spot to stop and see the sunset as the day drew to a close.

Auckland

Having just six days left in New Zealand, we decided to captalize on our last Sunday with a trip to the centre of Auckland.  The weather was perfect, blue skies, 22°c so we decided to walk through various districts to see the sights.  We started at the waterfront where we saw the iconic ferry building and the metal fence and gstes which delineate the passenger area from the main road.  We made our way past shops and narrow streets with boutiques and went to the civic centre where we visited an art show.  We made a tour through Albert Park where we were able to take advantage of the huge trees in the park to stroll in the shade.  We also visited a local cinema which is famous for the decorations within that are in a "futuristic" design...We then grabbed a taxi to take us to Mount Eden, the highest point in the city.

Taking kite flying the next step

We have extra time on our hands as we have stopped our touring adventure early, so we looked for activities to fill our time.  We have long loved flying kites and we had learned about kite surfing from one of our Air BnB hosts...so...we decided to take some kite surfing lessons.  The area is perfect for learning, or so we are told by the experts, and we were able to sign up with a local school.

Lesson one was humbling for us, as our "expertise" in kite flying proved to be less than enough for this demanding sport.  In fact, many of the techniques we use on land are not effective for kite surfing and have to be unlearned.  To begin with, we have to struggle into wet suits...not attractive at all but essential at this time of year.  The effort of getting into wet suits nearly had me done in before we even started.  When these huge kites, which are connected to one via a harness, catch the wind we come right off our feet, and spend a lot of time spluttering as we pick ourselves out of the waves after a face-plant.   At the end of our second lesson, we were able to launch the kite and to fly it for a few seconds...which we are assured is great progress.  Paul was able to get the kite to drag him through the waves a bit, which is impressive indeed.  We finished the second lesson with our egos somewhat intact as well as our bodies...so all is good.  The area where we are learning is lovely as well, Shakespear Regional Park which is very picturesque.

Whangaparaoa

With camping at an end, we settled into a small apartment on the outskirts of Auckland.  We didn't realize that we were as travel weary as we were until we stopped.  We therefore spent our first two days, both of which were rainy, indoors.  Our apartment has a magnificent view and we just soaked it in.  We explored a very little bit in the immediate area and went to a movie just down the road.  We overlook, and have access to Arkles Bay, a lovely quiet beach.  We can also see Auckland off in the distance.  We visited the local pawn shop and got rid of our extra camping gear; as well we cleaned and packed away all of our gear...so we are ready to go when the time comes.

We surfaced after a couple of days and went to visit Murwai Beach, home of a huge Gannet colony.  It was incredible with the Gannets soaring above our heads as we looked out over huge waves crashing onto the 60km long black sand beach.  I got some great pictures, which mysteriously disappeared from my mini sd card, along with all my other pictures!  I am very sad to have lost them...but glad to have blogged up till now.

Goat Island Marine Reserve

After being fortified by coffee, it was off to the Goat Island Marine Reserve.  Throughout our travels, we had wanted to go snorkelling, but water temperatures and other circumstances had conspired against us to date.  In this marine reserve we were able to rent wet suits and snorkelling equipment right on the beach and were able, at last to see some of the marine life.  The water was cold, and the day overcast.  Winds experienced in the past couple of days had served to reduce the water visibility, which made the experience a little less exciting.  That said, we were able to see several types of fish, including a number of large snapper who swam beside us most of the time. 

After about an hour, we were getting cold and so we called it quits.  We will reserve future snorkelling for the more tropical waters of Hawaii at the end of our trip.

We had a picnic lunch by the bay and realized that there was a colony of cormorants nesting within easy seeing distance, which was a treat as well.

Leigh

After a stay at a remote holiday park, in one of the small cabins one finds everywhere at New Zealand camp grounds, we made our way down the coast toward Auckland and our one week rental.  We stopped in at Leigh on the recommendation of Neville, our host in Tata Bay (thank you Neville for all the great suggestions...we have loosely followed your strategy throughout the North Island!). 

Leigh has a lovely little harbour, which was very picturesque.  It being early on a Sunday when we arrived, we spent some time poking around the harbour waiting for the commercial sector to open its doors and to get a coffee.   Along the way we stopped also at the public toilets...which were of a most interesting and unique design.

Kauri

Our trip took us down the west coast of the Northern Penninsula.  We felt that we had to stop along the way to see Kauri trees in situ, having spent so much time seeing them in swamps.  These are huge, slow growing trees which were harvested aggressively by the British and others back in the day.  They are now rare and reforestation efforts are underway.  They are also being attacked by a withering disease, spread through soil transfer on shoes and the like.  One of the national parks has been established to protect the trees and this was our stop on the way. 

We arrived and took the short walk in to see the largest living Kauri in New Zealand, and it was impressive indeed.  Pictures do not do justice to this 2,000 year old giant.  Its huge, straight trunk thrust up above the rest of the forest and it was awe inspiring to see.  It was also easy to understand why the trees were so tempting to shipbuilders, and to the Maori who used the trunks for canoes. 

As we carried on driving, we drove through the forest where many of these trees still stand, some along the road side.