Auckland - City of the Mounts!

I touched down on Thursday morning and felt a sense of calm, happiness and slightly emotionally overwhelmed by the beauty of the land.

I spent 3 hours making my way by public transport to Massey where my home was for 5 days. Auckland is a city with a CBD and suburbs, it felt like home but not in a great way, in a slightly odd sad way, it felt like I wasn't in a different country. I think after the last 7 months, it was a shock!

After a few days I got the hang of Auckland. It's a lovely clean city with the same issues as other large towns and cities but it's got the ocean and that makes everything better. It is also built around volcanic craters which are Maori sacred grounds which are amazing. There appears to be not much flat here, so they had to build Auckland around the Mounts (quite rightly) which adds a beauty to the city.

During my time in Auckland I walked round the CBD and Britomart areas, round the harbour and the newly regenerated silo park. I wanted to go to the museum but it was shut so i went to the art gallery (original Dali, Monet, Picasso and Cezannes on display) which was very cool and surprisingly enjoyable.

I walked up two of the Mounts, Mount Maungawhau Eden and Mount Maungakiekie. The views were incredible, my pictures really don't do any of them justice.

I caught up with lovely Sandra and Hamish, you may remember them from the Annapurna trek posts. Spent time with them and Hamish's lovely family which was great fun and I had my first taste of NZ lamb, thanks Cathy for the first roast I had eaten in 7 months!

Sandra and I spent a day walking around Rangitoto which is a volcanic island in the Hauraki gulf just near Auckland. The weather held up for us and it was a beautiful place. Quite remarkable to be walking on lava rock that was 600 years old.

I can't wait to see the countryside, the Mounts have given me a taste of how lovely the rest of the country may be.

Auckland has been good to me, easy to get around and although the weather very unpredictable, I've had a nice introduction to Aotearoa.Read more