So I'm on the road again. I had a great time at home seeing friends and family. Most people who read this I probably saw, so I'm doing to say again that it was good to see you.
I'm on my way back to Sydney and designed a two day layover in Auckland. The flight over the US and to NZ were a bit dodgy; it was windy in LA so our landing left a few people scared and then on takeoff we kind of bounced off the runway. But nevertheless, I arrived in one piece in what has to be the most beautiful country in the world. Our approach flight took my breath away, as the green mountains of the north island danced before me. It was quite cool.
Upon landing in Auckland, I had little to no specific plans. I simply wanted to walk around and explore the city. First impressions, at 9 AM, was that it was a ghost city. Compared to Sydney, no one was here! There were no weird people walking the streets, despite the early hour. A lot of Auckland reminded me of Sydney: it's a harbour, a large tower, and a small and simple layout. I went to the Ferry terminal thinking that it would be a good idea to see where the ferries went. I spoke with a lady that told me about the newest 600 year old volcano on Rangitoto, or the walks that one can do around Waiheke Island. I chose Waiheke, with the desire to see beaches in the back of my mind. So I jumped on the ferry and headed over.
What I saw next was sheer beauty. The islands dotting the harbour were all a lush green, and I just imagined how great it would be to explore them. I kept taking picture after picture, a theme that would be common for the day. As I drew near the island, I studied the map of Waiheke and plotted out the course I took. I studied the beautiful landscape and was excited for this little journey.
I started out and enjoyed the twisting trail that ran along the coast of the island. It was a gorgeous scene every time I glanced into the water. Couldn't have been better! The trail wasn't that hard, but the sun was vicious. I had no sun screen. Whoops. Houses were dotted along the trail. I tried to imagine myself living there. What a dream. An interesting event happened during the beginning of my walk. A seagull was flying around one spot of the trail, and as I approached it, the bird started to dive at me. It did this three or four times, as it would come in from behind. I ducked down, not sure what it would feel like to take a bird's beak to the head and had little desire to find out. I imagine that it was a mother protecting her eggs, because as I got further away, it didn't follow.
The rest of the first leg went smoothly, although I didn't have any water either. Again, whoops. So by the time I made it to Onorea Village, I was parched. I bought a water and had the best orange I've ever eaten. The juice was delicious. At this point I noticed I was already burnt. Oh well.
My second leg of the journey was to walk from Onorea back to the wharf where I had gotten on the ferry. This proved to be a difficult and arduous walk, but about two hours of struggling up and down the sides of cliffs, I made it all the way back. It got a bit scary at times, mostly because I was hungry, tired, dehydrated, and not to mention jet lagged. It was a truly remarkable experience, and one I would be glad to repeat--perhaps with a bit more food and water. Til next time.
