I had the day off yesterday so Daniel Peters and I headed out to hit some of the higher places around Auckland. First we went to Mt. Victoria and North Head. Both are mountains right on the edge of the harbor, right next to one another. They are both at sort of the mouth of the harbor. In colonial days, on up to World War II, they were significant to the defense of the city, and nation. They are now public places. North Head is particularly fascinating, as it was home to a battery of huge guns that were dug into the mountain, along with a maze of tunnel systems and underground bunkers. Most of them are open now, so you can roam through them.
Hugh's tip of the day: If you should venture to roam said tunnels and bunkers, take a flashlight, as they are very dark in places. I do not recommend doing as Daniel and I did, using camera flashes to navigate through them. I did get some very interesting pictures from said camera flashes of the various innards of the fort; but we could only see for a fraction of a second, and then were totally blind in the darkness because of the flash.
These forts were home to some massive guns, placed here in the late 1800's during the "Russian Scare." At this time, New Zealand and Australia were fearful of a Russian attack, and therefore placed these massive guns on North Head, Mt. Victoria, and on a hill across the harbor to provide protection for the harbor inlet from naval encroachments. The guns, however, were never used in defense, and were only fired a hand-full of times in practice. However, even the practice firings were frowned upon because the citizens of nearby Davenport didn't take very kindly to having their windows blown out from the percussive force of the blasts. Yeah. Did I mention they were BIG guns. They were brought back again during World War II, along with additional guns; but again were never used in defense.
Interestingly enough, one of the only times the guns were seriously brought to alert was when Teddy Roosevelt's "Great White Fleet" (Google it) sailed into Auckland Harbour. America, at the time, was in a tussle with Japan and was not an ally of Great Brittan (Who New Zealand was still under). Great Brittan, however, had a treaty with Japan. A bit of drama anyone?
After we left North Head, we ventured into the City to "One Tree Hill." Which is a mountain, close to the middle of the city, that is a giant park. On the top stands a giant obelisk dedicated to a treaty signed between the British settlers, and the Maori (the native inhabitants) of New Zealand. The treaty granted the Maori all the rights, privileges and securities of British citizenship, and made them subjects of the crown.
The memorial is on the highest point of the mountain. Right in front of the memorial, a tree was planted, the only one actually on the highest part of the mountain where the monument is, thus making the name the name "One Tree Hill" a no brainier. Unfortunately several years ago, a protester chopped the tree down. The base of the tree is there, Which begs the question, If we follow the same line of reasoning that coined the original name of the hill, shouldn't it now be called "One Stump Hill?"
For those who see a correlation between the name of this place and the name of a TV show, there is indeed a connection. A full explanation of the association can be found on Wikipedia if you are interested.
Who knows what is next!
Wednesday, December 17, 2008
Sunday, December 14, 2008
The Beach? In December? You Betcha.
So, I know it's been a while since my last post. Give me a break, I was really busy doing... yeah I've got nothing. Actually the last couple of weeks have been quite exciting. I have visited some more places around Auckland whilst searching for a job.
Update: I have found a job. I started in the middle of last week. It's not what I had hoped for, but it is gainful employment and I am grateful to have it.
A couple of weeks ago the Ely's and I went out to Piha Beach. It is a west coast beach. We are much closer to the east cost, and some of the beaches in the harbor, but the west cost beaches, in my opinion are much prettier, and have massive waves. To get to the east coast from here, you have to cross the Waitakere (why-tak-a-re) mountain range. So the last half of the trip is fairly step downhill. And like everywhere else the road is as straight as spaghetti. Despite crossing a mountain range and driving across the nation to another coast, Since we are on an isthmus, from the Ely's house to the beach was only about a 25 minute drive. At this part of the north island, one could easily go from east coast to west coast in 45 minutes or so.
A few kilometers from the beach, there is an overlook that looks down on the beach. Although you are very close you are still way above the beach, it makes for some amazing photos. The beach is long, with a big rock plopped right in the middle of it. It's really quite breathtaking. Once on the beach, perhaps the most noticeable feature is the sand. It's black. The sand on many of the west cost beaches, at least along this region, are black because it is volcanic sand. It is also extremely fine.
We spent a few hours there, walking on the beach, enjoying the sites before we headed back.
Last week, I wanted to go to the beach again, so I headed out to Bethells. It is a west coast beach, just north of Piha, but a bit more remote. Bethells has a huge sea of dunes behind it. The dunes are being preserved, and so parking is behind the dunes. This makes for a very long walk to the beach once parked, my guess is about half a mile or so. But the walk is well worth it. The beach is very long and extremely broad. It is black sand like Piha, but the sand here, when the sun hits it just right is almost purple. The beach itself is really broad, and slopes gradually, so when waves come in they come way up onto the beach. Since the beach is so gradually sloped, when the waves come in, they hang on the the beach, taking their time going back out. This, coupled with the black sand below turns the entire length of the beach into a long mirror.
To the south, the beach stretches off to cliffs in the distance. To the north, similar to Piha, there is a huge rock that forms a small bay with some gigantic waves with massive currents. I waded into the water, only to about knee deep to take pictures of the waves crashing on the rocks, and the current nearly took me off my feet.
While I was on the beach there was a film crew there as well. I don't know what they were filming. A local told me that this is a very popular beach for filming. It's easy to see why. With the length and breadth of the beach, its sheer beauty, and its isolation due to the sea of dunes; if I was filming a beach scene, I would do it here.
On my way out I ate at a small cafe behind the dunes. There were no open tables, so I sat with a couple, originally from Holland. They have lived in New Zealand for 45 years, so they were very articulate in letting me know that despite their heritage they consider themselves Kiwis. They were so very interesting. At this couples advice I ordered a burger. They said that the burgers at this place were really good, and they weren't kidding. This bit may be hard to take in for Texans, but I might have to say that the best burger I have ever had was at Bethells beach in New Zealand.
The beach was so beautiful that I took the Ely's back with me the next day. We played baseball on the beach. When we got bored with that, we played Bachi ball (I hope I am spelling that right). I had never even heard of Bachi ball, but the Elys had a set, so we played it. While we were playing some Korean guys walked up and asked if they could play, so we paired off into teams and played. It was really a lot of fun. I know I say this a lot, but this place is absolutely amazing. Each place you go is seemingly more beautiful and grandiose than the one before.
Update: I have found a job. I started in the middle of last week. It's not what I had hoped for, but it is gainful employment and I am grateful to have it.
A couple of weeks ago the Ely's and I went out to Piha Beach. It is a west coast beach. We are much closer to the east cost, and some of the beaches in the harbor, but the west cost beaches, in my opinion are much prettier, and have massive waves. To get to the east coast from here, you have to cross the Waitakere (why-tak-a-re) mountain range. So the last half of the trip is fairly step downhill. And like everywhere else the road is as straight as spaghetti. Despite crossing a mountain range and driving across the nation to another coast, Since we are on an isthmus, from the Ely's house to the beach was only about a 25 minute drive. At this part of the north island, one could easily go from east coast to west coast in 45 minutes or so.
A few kilometers from the beach, there is an overlook that looks down on the beach. Although you are very close you are still way above the beach, it makes for some amazing photos. The beach is long, with a big rock plopped right in the middle of it. It's really quite breathtaking. Once on the beach, perhaps the most noticeable feature is the sand. It's black. The sand on many of the west cost beaches, at least along this region, are black because it is volcanic sand. It is also extremely fine.
We spent a few hours there, walking on the beach, enjoying the sites before we headed back.
Last week, I wanted to go to the beach again, so I headed out to Bethells. It is a west coast beach, just north of Piha, but a bit more remote. Bethells has a huge sea of dunes behind it. The dunes are being preserved, and so parking is behind the dunes. This makes for a very long walk to the beach once parked, my guess is about half a mile or so. But the walk is well worth it. The beach is very long and extremely broad. It is black sand like Piha, but the sand here, when the sun hits it just right is almost purple. The beach itself is really broad, and slopes gradually, so when waves come in they come way up onto the beach. Since the beach is so gradually sloped, when the waves come in, they hang on the the beach, taking their time going back out. This, coupled with the black sand below turns the entire length of the beach into a long mirror.
To the south, the beach stretches off to cliffs in the distance. To the north, similar to Piha, there is a huge rock that forms a small bay with some gigantic waves with massive currents. I waded into the water, only to about knee deep to take pictures of the waves crashing on the rocks, and the current nearly took me off my feet.
While I was on the beach there was a film crew there as well. I don't know what they were filming. A local told me that this is a very popular beach for filming. It's easy to see why. With the length and breadth of the beach, its sheer beauty, and its isolation due to the sea of dunes; if I was filming a beach scene, I would do it here.
On my way out I ate at a small cafe behind the dunes. There were no open tables, so I sat with a couple, originally from Holland. They have lived in New Zealand for 45 years, so they were very articulate in letting me know that despite their heritage they consider themselves Kiwis. They were so very interesting. At this couples advice I ordered a burger. They said that the burgers at this place were really good, and they weren't kidding. This bit may be hard to take in for Texans, but I might have to say that the best burger I have ever had was at Bethells beach in New Zealand.
The beach was so beautiful that I took the Ely's back with me the next day. We played baseball on the beach. When we got bored with that, we played Bachi ball (I hope I am spelling that right). I had never even heard of Bachi ball, but the Elys had a set, so we played it. While we were playing some Korean guys walked up and asked if they could play, so we paired off into teams and played. It was really a lot of fun. I know I say this a lot, but this place is absolutely amazing. Each place you go is seemingly more beautiful and grandiose than the one before.
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