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Published: January 18th 2009
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I arrived in New Zealand on the 12th in the late afternoon. Louise picked me up from the airport at Auckland and we checked in to a hostel she had booked. That night we wandered around the city centre and had a good Indian meal in Parnell. The next morning we went to some local markets, to the Auckland Domain park, and then to the Auckland War Memorial Museum. The museum was good, Louise showed me lots of (stuffed) local wildlife and we saw Maori pieces and a culture show which was awesome - complete with Haka and fighting technique demonstrations. Unfortunately we had only just hit the war section when they were closing, which was a shame. We then bought food and cooked up some fajitas at the hostel.
The next morning we drove to Devonport, in the north of Auckland, where we were staying with Louise's aunty and uncle Sarah and Roger, and their kids Ella and Miles. That afternoon we drove to Milford beach, and di a scenic walk along the rocky coastline to Takapuna beach and back. We then went back to Sarah and Roger's and had barbecued lamb and salad on their front lawn as
the sun went down.
The next morning we headed to the local volcano, Rangitoto, which is only 600 years old and in the middle of Auckland Harbour. They have evidence that there were Maori tribes in Auckland when it erupted and formed the island. As you walk up the trails you are surrounded by big black blocks of solidified magma that look like beds of coal. The earth is so rich that vegetation shoots up between the boulders, and the whole island is covered in vegetation. We walked to the summit, which took about 40 minutes, but stopped on the way and climbed in some lava caves. The caves are formed by tubes of lava cooling and setting on the outside first, and then the still hot middle section drains away, leaving neat caves. We sat in a really deep one and had lunch. When we reached the top, the view from the summit was absolutely stunning, my photos don't come close to doing it justice. At the top you can see the crater at the peak of the volcano which is absolutely enormous, and now covered in vegetation. It must have been a kilometre in diameter.
That
afternoon we took the ferry back and went to Auckland for a while, and then checked out Roger and Sarah's new house on the beach, which they were in the process of moving into. We then sat on the front lawn with Miles' acoustic guitar and sang Crowded House and Ryan Adams songs. That night we all went to a restaurant on the harbour and had pizza.
The next morning we helped our hosts move some boxes, and then Louise and I headed to the Auckland Big Day Out. We saw a few good bands, including the Black Seeds, but the highlight was easily Neil Young. He played a really energetic set and hasn't lost anything. He played all the classics too, as well as a cover of the Beatle's "A Day in the Life" as an encore. My only dissapointment was that he didn't play "After the Gold Rush", but I suppose you can't have everything.
The next morning (Saturday) we drove to Leigh, a little holiday town one hour north of Auckland. The traffic was agonisingly slow and really frustrating, especially considering we were tired from the big day out. It took us almost two hours
to get there. We met Louise's family friends Hedda and Mark (who we were staying with), and their friend Yvonne. Hedda and Mark have just moved from Auckland to Leigh and are living in a converted garage on the beach. You'd never know it used to be a garage though, it's been really well done up and is a beautiful place. Louise and I went to Matheson beach, swam and sunbathed on the black volcanic sand, and then went to local Wharf and did some walking along a trail. The scenery in Leigh is spectacular. Everywhere in this part of New Zealand the landscape, even looking over the coastline, is dotted with volcanoes. We then went back to Hedda and Mark's and had masses of really good barbecue food with a group of their friends. We then went to the local bar - the Sawmill, which was an awesome venue, and paid ten bucks to see a band, who were quite good. Not quite good enough for us to stay for the whole set though. Because Mark and Hedda already had people sleeping in their spare room, Louise and I tented on the front lawn, which was quite cool.
Goat Island
at Leigh, an hour north of Auckland. On the Sunday, we woke up in the tent and headed to Goat island, just around the corner. We brought snorkelling gear, but it was cold and windy, so we chickened out and went for a walk instead. After lunch of reinvented barbecue leftovers, we all went down to a little sheltered beach on the other side of a walking track. The water was cold but we had a good swim. After that, I went for a jog around the area and absolutely exhausted myself by running up and down hills (and rock steps) for 45 minutes.
Tomorrow we will go to Louise's hometown of Rotorua with a stop on the way in a place whose name temporarily escapes me.
I'm having a great time! Hope everything's good back home!
Renan xx
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