Day 14 (24 July) We can see for miles and miles

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We had arranged with Caroline to see her today and we had the idea of her showing us the Auckland University campus. After our scrummy hotel breakfast we went down to collect the car. The heavens opened and the rain poured from the skies. Caroline called to say that firstly there was no way she was going to walk around the campus in this weather and secondly she was frantic in that her assignment is due to be handed in by end of day on Friday (tomorrow!) and there is a ton of work still to be done on it. So we picked her up by the university and found the veggie/vegan Indian restaurant that she has been intent on trying out. The restaurant is situated on Karangahape Road (more commonly known as K' Road). This is the road where it all happens - like Camden in London. The food was well worth the visit. Hot (temperature wise), tasty and cheap.

We dropped Caroline off at her apartment and decided to explore south of Auckland city. Our first stop was One Tree Hill. This has been dubbed None Tree Hill since 2000 when the lone pine tree was demolished. The hill is known in maori as Maungakiekie and its scoria cone resulted from the eruption of three volcanos appromximately 28,500 years ago. It is situated in Cornwall Park which was a gift of 120 hectares from Sir John Logan Campbell. The obelisk at the top marks the grave of Sir John. The Maori warrior statue was erected at the same time as the obelisk and represents the centenary of the signing of the Waitangi Treaty. There was a single pine tree at the top which was cut down on several occasions by disgruntled Maoris bringing to the public notice their lack of rights, and finally eradicated without replacement in 2000. Many intrepid walkers climbed up this very steep mountain but we drove to the top and Don merely climbed the steps up to the obelisk. By this time the rain had stopped and the sun was shining.

From there we drove to Mount Eden or Maungawhau. This is another scoria cone and is the highest peak in the Auckland urban region at 196 metres. Again we drove to the top and again Don climbed the last few steps to the top.

i regret that the cold and damp weather and hilly terrain has taken a toll on my bones so when we got back to the hotel it was two very strong pain killers for me. Don went out to get some fruit for supper and came back with a present of ice cream. The pain killers kicked in and I had a sleep. We had a lazy evening in, completing recent blog entries and studying one page of daf yomi.

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Photos

statue and grave atop One Tree Hill
Maori warrior statue on the obelisk and Sir John Logan Campbell grave marker, with view out to the distance