AOTEAROA
Land of the Long White Cloud
Day One
Why are New Zealanders so nice?
Every time one arrives in Aoteroa one is struck by how friendly
everyone is. Being a misanthrope and pessimist, I’m compelled to think that,
people being people, New Zealand must have its fair share of nasty folk too;
but I’ve never met one.
For example, Sonya, the fresh-faced border patrol officer we
encountered on arrival at the airport, was only full of smiles and reassuring
comments as she X-rayed our luggage on the lookout for any contraband we might
be carrying.
Then there was Ree Ree. She is a lovely forty-something year old
native woman who must be one of the nicest humans I’ve ever met. As she
executed her massage skill on my flabby and jetlagged body she kindly and
gently explained the native history of Aotearoa.
Amazingly the Maori have an oral tradition of memorizing their
ancestor’s family names. Ree Ree recited for me 30! generations of her family
as she jabbed her elbow into the sore spots of my aching old body.
I’m sad to say I have no such recollection of my family history.
I love New Zealand.
Day Two
We walked through Auckland city, up and up, to climb to the summit
of one of the many volcanic cinder-cones that are dotted about its perimeter. One
of the most prominent ones: Mount Eden offer spectacular views of Auckland city
and its surrounds.
The weather has been warm, but with rain off and on all day. Still
it was worth the wet and windy weather to experience the views of this
spectacular city.
Auckland has many great vegan food options, which surprised Julia
and me. We found one, the Gorilla Kitchen, and ate a delicious lunch there on
our way back down to the noisy and construction filled city.
Day Three
Up early, out for a morning cappuccino, and then onto the ferry for
a short but scenic sail across to Devonport. We have discovered that the
weather is very changeable in Auckland. This morning the skies opened, and a
torrent of rain poured down, then the wind picked up and blew at hurricane
force. Still we took shelter in the sleepy little hamlet of Devonport. It seemed
to defy the onslaught of harsh weather. It is filled with shops and restaurants,
which offered us refuge as the storm blew through.
When things settled down, we continued walking up the street where we
came upon a very friendly old man. He chatted to us about New Zealand and his
home Devonport. The conversation was rather one-sided, but we enjoyed hearing
what he had to say. Continuing, our hike had us climb up another volcanic
cinder-cone as Devonport is dotted with them too.
We hiked up to: Takarunga or Mount Victoria. Here we looked back at
the city of Auckland through the harsh weather, with loving eyes.
We were waylaid by a quick photo shoot of three Chinese women and
then we descended and continued to the second cinder-cone: Maungauika or the North
Head Historic Reserve. Here again the views of Auckland were spectacular.
Day Four
It was so cold and rainy today we sought indoor activities. We
discovered Escape Maters, which is gaming puzzle room where one must try to
escape, within 60 minutes. We’d heard of this fun activity, but this was the
first time we’d experienced it.
Julia and I were locked (not really) into a haunted hotel that was the
final resting place of many a lost soul. We had to discover a way out by
locating clues, interpreting them, and solving many puzzles. We came close to
escaping the room within the given time, but alas we failed. And so, our souls
are lost for eternity to perpetual damnation. But then they were anyway.
