Auckland Adventure

My birthday, 06 February, falls on Waitangi Day - a national holiday here in New Zealand. What better excuse to head out of town and go explore? I had not yet visited Auckland (aside from the airport) so we flew up to Auckland to explore a bit of New Zealand's largest city.

Foremost on my list of things to see was the Auckland Museum. The Auckland Museum contains a large collection of Polynesian artifiacts - a must see for anyone who has time to visit the Big Smoke.

Our first stop was a private guided tour of the recently finished Grand Atrium, an interesting structure which actually hangs down from four large pillars and is not connected to the main building - impressive.



At the time of our visit the museum had a display called Vaka Moana, which told the story of the seafaring peoples of Polynesia. The exhibit was well done and informative.



Part of the permanent collection at the Auckland Museum is this diorama of Wandering Albatross. I just had to include an image of our namesake!



Another exhibit at the museum was on volcanoes. New Zealand has quite a fair share of volcanoes, and Auckland itself contains no less than 28 of them!



The Auckland Museum has a beautiful collection of Maori artifacts, including complete maraes dating from the mid 1800s



Our next stop was to the New Zealand National Maritime Museum. This museum has a great collection of old boat stuff and interesting historical artifacts. One of the interesting displays is Ms Chippy, the ship's cat aboard Shackelton's epic Antarctic expedition.



The museum's collection includes several boats docked at the wharf. One such boat is a neat old steam engine sea crane. We saw a similar crane docked in the Wellington harbour.



One day we took a ferry across to Davenport, located on the North Shore. The weather was wonderfully warm and semi-tropical.



We walked around Davenport for a bit then scaled the mighty Mt. Victoria (yes, another volcanoe). Mt. Victoria still retains some old fortifications from WWII, such as this disappearing gun emplacement.



Above the bunkers (which, unfortunately, were off limits), the vents were all painted like big toadstools.



From the top of Mt. Victoria there is a great view of Rangitoto (yet another volcanoe).



Our next stop was the Sky Tower. Tickets for the elevator ride up to the observation deck are a bit steep at NZ$25.00 per person, but it is worth doing once for the high vantage point of the city. We were thinking of dining at the restaurant at the top, but I guess that's a whole different elevator ride from the observation deck - oh well.



During our entire 5 day trip to Auckland we had no rain, even though at times the skies appeared threatening.



The next day we walked over to the Auckland Art Gallery. The collection at the museum includes some of the great early portraits of Maori around New Zealand.



After our tour of the Auckland Art Gallery, we bussed on over to Kelly Tarlton's Antarctic Encounter and Underwater World.



The acquarium stands as a testimont to Kelly Tarlton's devotion to the sea, and includes what was the first underwater viewing tunnel ever built into an aquarium. On display was a preserved giant squid, a huge animal, which pales in comparison to the recently recovered complete collosal squid now at Te Papa museum in Wellington, waiting to be thawed out.



Gaby and I enjoyed just walking around Downtown Auckland, especially at the harbour, watching the ferries come and go.



Our last stop was a brief visit to Mt. Eden (also a volcano). It was interesting to note the Maori believe the summit crater to be sacred. As such, people are asked not to defile the crater by walking into it. Ironically, cows are allowed to tramp around the crater at will.



We had a great time in Auckland! On our next visit we hope to explore some of the not so touristy areas of the city.

This parting shot is for all the Italians out there. We were walking around downtown Auckland and passed by this restaurant. I just had to take a picture of it! We suspect the owners are Italians with a sense of humour :-)

Nelda Goes to Hokitika

Gaby and I wanted to take Nelda to the West Coast before she left for home at the end of January, so, on the third weekend of January we packed our bags and traveled west over Arthur's Pass to Hokitika. Of course the weather forecast was for rain - lots of rain, but we didn't let the weather dampen our spirits!

As we headed west on State Highway 73 out of Christchurch, we stopped before heading into the mountains to enjoy the scenery.



I gained an audience gathered from a nearby paddock. Cows always seem to be quite curious. I have to admit, it's sometimes a bit nerve wracking to have all these critters just looking at you, as though they can read your mind... Or, they may just think that you might feed them.



From Hokitika we took a drive around nearby Lake Kaniere and stopped to see the picturesque Dorothy Falls, just off the road. The waters which drain off the valleys acquire a reddish tint from the plant material.



Just opposite the road from the short walking track to Dorothy Falls is a track which leads to the shore of Lake Kaniere. We decided to take Nelda to the lakeshore for a look. The bush was thick and shady along the track.



Large tree ferns made me think of remnant forest of a distant past. I half expected to see therapods wandering through the bush.



After about half a kilometer of easy walking track we reached the scenic shore of Lake Kaniere.



Nelda took her colorful purse with her wherever we went. She was seldom seen without it. She made up for the dull and dreary West Coast weather.



One last destination on our wee driving tour was to see the Hokitika Gorge and Swingbridge. The waters which course through the gorge have a wonderful greenish blue cast.



We enjoyed the swingbridge for a while, then continued on down to the river to take a look.



The scenery is great. We would have spent more time there except the biting flies found us.



We had to do a bit of scrambling to reach the scenic spots.



We stayed overnight in Hokitika and the next day drove north along the West Coast to Charleston and back over Arthur's Pass. It rained just about the entire time, but we had heaps of fun.



The constant rain made it a bit difficult to get out and walk, but we did manage a cook's driving tour along a fair bit of the West Coast. We enjoy visiting the West Coast and look forward to our next trip there.

Scotts Valley Track

On slopes of the ridges surrounding Heathcote Valley there is a walking track called the Scotts Valley Track, which meanders across the valley slopes around our house. In late Septemper, 2006 we decided to check out the track.

The carpark for the track is just a few blocks down Bridle Path Road.



The start of the track is rather steep, but the views are worth it! Along the ridgeline, Mt. Cavendish is on the left and Castle Rock is on the right.



The trail passes through an old abandoned stone quarry.



The floor of the valley is where Heathcote is, and the top of the ridge runs along Mt. Pleasant. It's the area between the valley floor and the ridgeline which constitutes the reserve.



There were groups of these small, colourful flowers along the track.



The yellow flowers seemed to be abundant along the slopes.



These are our neighbors. They have a voracious appetite. We can often hear their occasional bleating from the house.



A view of Heathcote Valley from the Scotts Valley track. The large building in the center is the old maltworks.



The track mostly traverses the slope as it heads towards the Bridle Path.



To the north Heathcote Valley opens up to an estuary.



Near the juncion with the Bridle Path, the Christchurch Gondola heads to the summit of Mt. Cavendish.



The Scotts Valley track ends at the Bridle Path, and a short walk back down to our house. The Bridle Path is the original route over the Port Hills to Lyttelton Harbour. The Bridle path is also a nice track.

Nelda Goes Tramping

Gaby's mother Nelda stayed with us for a couple of months and we decided it would be nice to show her around a bit. Over the first weekend in January we decided to lend a pair of hiking poles to Nelda and take her into Arthur's Pass for a short hike along one of the many walking tracks. We chose to drive into the community of Arthur's Pass and take Nelda along the Devil's Punchbowl Falls track. We had perfect weather for our hike.



I asked Nelda if she had ever hiked any sort of track like this, to which she replied that she had never hiked in her life. What a great opportunity. I am glad we had the opportunity to take Nelda with us and show her the outdoors up close and personal. We had a great leisurely walk along the trail which gave me the opportunity to snap a few images.



The Devil's Punchbowl Falls track leads through the beach forest along the valley sides.



It was great to see Gaby and Nelda together enjoying a bit of nature.



I find the plants here to be very interesting. Around every corner there is something new to investigate.



There was still a bit of snow in the mountains.



We noticed these interesting tracks on the leaves of this plant.



I love ferns, and there are many, many here.



When we looked at our walking track options I voted for this track because I thought we would have the opportunity to walk very near the falls. I was a bit disappointed when I realized this stream was about as close as I would get to the falls, which were much higher up the slope. Still, the track was great and Nelda enjoyed it.



There were loads of other things to see aside from the waterfall. Besides, it was a perfect day to be outside.



The track continues over the river and eventually leads back to the main road, but we decided to turn back towards the carpark and weigh our options.



I really wanted to see a waterfall, and the nearby track to Bridle Veil Falls is best described as walking up and down a very long staircase. Nelda decided she had had enough tramping and opted to enjoy a rest on a comfortable rock while Gaby and I hiked up to see the falls.



The route description to Bridle Veil Falls is aptly described, as there are newly built stairs which climb the steep slope. However, the track is short and the view is awesome: just the sort of waterfall I was after!