Auckland is an immensely varied region full of diverse activities and attractions. One minute you can be standing in the central city surrounded by restaurants, bars and gift shops and a short while later you could find yourself on a boat in the Waitemata harbour heading off for an island escape. It appeared that most Aucklanders did the latter over a holiday weekend; the city resembled a ghost town.
On our travels throughout the North Island, we had missed the Coromandel Peninsula and we had been told that it is "not to be missed" so we thought that we would visit the top two attractions on the Coromandel, namely Cathedral Cove and the Hot Water beach.
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| Cathedral Cove |
Cathedral Cove is accessible only on foot or by boat and to be honest, the Easter weekend was probably the worst time to choose; we spent nearly half an hour just trying to find parking. The walk down to the cove then takes about 35 minutes, the return walk will no doubt take more time. The streams of people all trying to clamber down the narrow pathway was a sight to be seen and eventually, we gave up. We contented ourselves with taking photos of the cove from above. Striking up a conversation with a holidaying British couple, Alan and Liz, we learned that our decision was probably a wise one as they were not even able to take the photos they wanted once they arrived at the cove. The number of people just meant that they took pictures of a crowded beach. We knew that the area is very popular with tourists and receives around 150 000 per year and I am sure that they all arrived on the day that we went.
FYI, the Cathedral cove and beach were used as a tunnel through which the Pervensie children re-entered Narnia in the film The Chronicles of Narnia: Prince Caspian.
We returned to the car and set off for the Hot Water Beach. Within a certain area, hot water bubbles up through the sand and visitors flock to Hot Water Beach for the experience of digging their own natural pool; and flock they did. We have been spoilt throughout our holiday, enjoying the quiet at the end of the holiday season, however, Easter is quite a different story anywhere in the world.
The best time to visit Hot Water Beach is 2 hours either side of the low tide. Because we had cut short our time at Cathedral Cove, we arrived earlier; nearly 3 hours before the low tide. We were very glad that we did because we arrived ahead of most of the flock. I set out our picnic while Ian went off in search of the hot springs. He soon found what he was looking for and I joined him. The idea is to dig a pool in the sand and let it fill naturally with hot water, you can then add cool sea water if the pool is too hot. The tide has to be close to low tide to uncover the hot springs and allow a sand pool to be dug. Initially, the tide wasn't low enough so we paddled in the waves while warming our feet in the hot springs. Before long, more and more people arrived all looking for the right spot and we soon found that we were being crowded out of 'our' little spot by an extended family with many children; all armed with shovels. Still the tide had not receded sufficiently for pool digging and still people arrived, all jostling for position.
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| Hot Water Beach |
Sunday 31st March Easter Sunday
I was surprised by the number of gift shops, take-always and convenience stores that were open on this bank holiday since most restaurants, coffee shops, garages and supermarkets were closed on Good Friday as we drove into Auckland.
Ian and I set out on foot to explore the city and harbour.
With three natural harbours and an abundance of resources , Auckland's landscape boasts the vantage points of nearly 50 volcanic cones and sheltered gulf waters. We were told that the best place to view this beauty is from the iconic 328m Sky Towers so we used that as a starting point. We visited the information centre, made a reservation at the Sky Tower Revolving restaurant for tomorrows lunch and then turned our back on the mad, thrill-seekers who were Base-jumping the 192 meters from the tower's pergola.
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| Auckland Sky Tower |
Monday 1st April
Our last day in New Zealand. Ian had booked a motel just 5 mins from the airport for our final night, so we packed up and checked out of our city centre apartment before spending the day in Auckland.
There is an almost-free, hop-on hop-off bus service that does a circular route of the Auckland inner city area, taking about an hour to complete the circuit. Ian bought our tickets for the princely sum of £1.00 each ($1.90) and we hopped on. About three quarters of the way around, we hopped off at a coffee shop (Mink Cafe) for morning coffee. The Mink Cafe is in the heart of Parnell, Auckland's oldest suburb and just 10 minutes from the end of the circular route that we were on. On the counter of the cafe, I found a map of the Parnell suburb and marked on the map were a number of attractions such as the Auckland War Memorial Museum, the farmers market, the Parnell Rose Garden as well as the Domaine park. As ever we had been blessed with great weather so we decided to walk back to the Sky Tower, cutting across two, quite different parks on the way. The first of these was the Domaine. It was not quite as we expected it to be. Rather than manicured lawns and shrubberies, it was a natural forest area with pathways leading through the glades.
Our walk then took us past the university where we believe that Toni and John' s daughter Kathryn will be studying at the end of the year. Continuing on, we found the second park. This one had manicured lawns, shrubberies and even a bandstand. Hearing the strains of a brass band playing, we followed the sounds till we came across a very English park bandstand filled with oriental students practicing (and they really did need to practice) on their brass instruments.
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| Bandstand in Alfred Park |
Then it was on to the Sky Tower for lunch. Sky tower is one of New Zealand's exhilarating and spectacular tourist attractions so we couldn't miss it. The tallest man-made structure in New Zealand offers breathtaking views for up to 80 km. We had reserved a table for lunch in the 360-degree revolving restaurant just a couple of meters below the base-jump level. The views were spectacular, but I have to say that the ride to the top of the tower left Ian in a slight sweat. The glass fronted lift gave us views over the harbour as it climbed the 192 meters to the restaurant level, and if that was not enough, it had a glass bottom so that you could view the bottom of lift shaft as you went up. Ian didn't know where to look! However, by the time we were settled at our table, he had settled enough to enjoy his lunch.
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| Lunch in the Revolving Resturant |
All too soon, it was time to go. Leaving the Sky Tower behind, we went in search of our motel so that we could repackage our bags and prepare for an early start - our departing flight is due to leave Auckland at 8:00am.
It is once again a strange feeling that we sadly come to the end of our New Zealand adventure and look forward with excitement to our Califirnia adventure.
Onward and upward, here come the Hollidays. Adventure adventure!! With all this food hope you can squeeze into the long boat when you get home:-)
ReplyDeleteNever mind the boat, I am having difficulty squeezing into my clothes and I need them before we get to the boat (I think)
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