Travel photos: Back to Auckland

After the wedding, I headed back to Auckland. My heart was both happy and sad at the same time. I loved seeing all my friends, loved catching up with them… but there was a pang of nostalgia when I realised how far away I now was. Somehow seeing everyone else moving on made me feel very left out. Even more so when those who were younger than me were now getting married.

Maybe this is the curse of those who go on to do continued study. You become stuck in one place for four or more years, while your peers go on and get married, have babies, advance in their careers. But enough melodrama and introspection for one day. Back to the beauty of Auckland.

Dad and I went for one more walk up another volcano. This time it was Mt Wellington. The view is perhaps a little less inspiring; the area around Mt Wellington is filled with warehouses and other not so pretty buildings. But it’s easy to forget this once you reach the peak.

You can look out towards the city and, on a clear day, gaze out at Rangitoto Island.

I must say that the beautiful weather, the clear skies, the soft breeze did a lot to break me out of my funk. But more on that another day. I leave you with this last picture from a holiday that was too short. NZ, I will be back!

Travel Photos: From beach to mountain lake

Nowhere in New Zealand is far from the beach. If you’re in the South Island, you are also always near the mountains. We started our morning by the shores of St Clair’s in Dunedin. The weather was beautiful: the sun was shining and the day was calm.

We then drove 4.5 hours to the beautiful mountains of Queenstown. Although the freshwater shores of Lake Wakatipu is in stark contrast to St Clair’s, there is no mistaking the serene peacefulness from both places.

Travel photos: Maraetai beach

One of the many things I love about travelling about New Zealand is the fact that you can always find a beautiful place to chill out less than 30 minutes from any city. Even from a big city like Auckland, you can find these hidden gems like Maraetai beach. I’d never been there before, but I had the car and nothing to do so I thought I’d check it out.

The drive there is like any other road in New Zealand, filled with twists and turns and road works. But when you get there, the sight that greets you is totally worth it.

The beach was almost completely deserted, most likely being a weekday. The weather was perfect, slightly overcast but at 23 degrees C.

Walking along the beach, you will see the beautiful trees that give the coast its name. The pohutukawa are affectionately known as the New Zealand Christmas tree due to its propensity to bloom during Christmas time.

Seabirds are abundant.

I felt like all my stress was draining away as I explored the patch of sand and the remarkable shell beach.

 

Travel photos: Mt Eden

Today was another beautiful 22 degrees C (about 70 F)  and I just had to go on another walk. Luckily dad was keen and he ended up convincing me that we should walk up Mt Eden. This hill, known as Maungawhau (pronounce the “wh-” as an “f-”) in Maori, is another reminder of Auckland’s volcanic heritage. According to Wikipedia, it is also the highest natural point in the whole of Auckland.

The entrance up to Mt Eden

The big attraction of Mt Eden is the gigantic crater left behind when the volcano last erupted.

The crater of Mt Eden

A geological marker stands at the peak of Mt Eden

A view of the crater from the other side

To protect the crater from erosion you’re not allowed to walk down into it, however the view from the walking track around the rim more than makes up for it. From this point, you get stunning 360 degree views of Auckland city. Some places to spot are Eden Park, where some games of the Rugby World Cup were played including the finals, and the Auckland Sky Tower, which is visible in the next picture.

View towards downtown Auckland from the peak

If you look very closely, you can also see the obelisk at the top of the next picture which is where we were in my previous post.

Can you spot where we were?

Tired after our climb, we stopped at the nearby Mt Eden village for a coffee. This is a great time to introduce you to the flat white, which as far as I know is really only obtainable in New Zealand and Australia.

Flat white: my favourite way to have espresso

According to the very knowledgeable Mel, it’s very similar to a latte but with less of the cream and more of the steamed milk. In my mind no other forms of espresso is as tantalising, as satisfying as a flat white but I could be more than a little biased. A good flat white should have a rich texture and very little foam on top, hence the name “flat”. The closest drink I can think of in the US is a cafe au lait, although it is made with espresso rather than drip coffee. We got ours from the Circus Circus cafe in Mt Eden Village. Despite it’s rather pricey food, I highly recommend this place.

Circus Circus cafe in Mt Eden Village

Travel photos: One Tree Hill

The weather was so lovely, I felt that I had to get out of the house. So I took a walk with Dad and tried to take some pictures. It ended up being mainly of the scenery.

Sheep at the base of One Tree Hill, Auckland

We walked around the One Tree Hill domain/Cornwall Park. There used to be a tree here which inspired the name, but it was cut down about 11 years ago by an activist as a protest against the loss of Maori rights. Whether or not this act was justified is yet to be seen although the Auckland city council is currently working on replacing the tree.

The hill itself is the peak of a volcano, about 182 metres high. On a clear day it provides stunning views of Auckland’s skyline and surrounding harbours. Unfortunately my camera does not have a good lens and the pictures I took of these views ended up being too blurry.

Some other views along the hillside:

and the archery range:

Being a volcanic remnant, there are rocks here that were formed by the cooled lava. In one of the craters, some have taken to “creatively” rearrange these rocks.

I love walking up here as it reminds me to take a step back and look at the big picture in life.

A visit home

Sorry I haven’t been posting as regularly lately. I’ve been very busy the last couple of weeks… because right now, I am on vacation! I don’t know why but every time I go away I feel like there’s always so much work to be done. So I’ve been spending very late nights in the office, but I guess it’s totally worth it because now I get to have two weeks off!

I am back in lovely ol’ New Zealand to see two of my best friends get married and also to have a bit of “off-time” with my family. The flights back here took me about 24 hours, a large portion of that included travelling from St Louis to San Francisco and the associated waiting around for flights. But I am one of those weird people who doesn’t mind waiting at airports. Once I’ve checked in and gone through security, I always feel most of the stress fade away as  know that I have that rarest of luxuries: free time. I come prepared to with a book or two and my iPod. This time I spent it reading “Starship Troopers,” which was somewhat entertaining – but more on that on a later post.

The flights themselves were uneventful, just the way I like it. I slept on quite a few of them. The weather was quite clear and since I had ended up with window seats, I had a fantastic view of cities as we flew over them. Denver in particular was striking as a fresh snowfall had coloured the landscape white, broken only by dark lines of roads and squares of houses. San Francisco also offered a view of its hills and beautiful bays and inlets.

Returning to New Zealand, the first thing that strikes me is the air. The breeze here carries with it the aroma of nature: flowers, trees, even grass. Comparatively, the air in America feels flat and a bit sterile (sorry!).  The next thing that strikes me is the casual-ness of most people dressed in shorts and jandals since it is summer here. I had to shed my winter clothes quite early on to avoid being cooked even in the early hour of the morning.

Where is NZ?

OK I don’t normally draw comics so go easy on me! But I thought I would spice things up a little.