The last winter day

6.10.2010 | Day 67 | 29 114 km | Auckland, New Zealand

After our road trip, we had about one and a half day to look what kind of city Auckland is. The first day after our flights from south was just walking a little and I looked the sights from the Sky Tower, which is - if I remember right - the tallest building on southern hemisphere.

Next day however, was all about improvising and it turned out to be just the right choice at this point of the journey. First, I found a scooter rental place and rented one small Suzuki for a day. I guess the road trip wasn’t still enough! Since the weather was sunny and it was really warm in the sun, I decided I’ll drive all the way to west coast and to Waitakere national park. After some once again great scenery along the way I drove my scooter to the final stop, where all the trekking tracks begun. I walked in the forests for more than two hours and found the highlight point of these tracks - Kitekite Falls. I thought I’d miss all the trekking in this country where it’s a must thing to do, but at the last moment I did it and really enjoyed the peaceful environment those tracks offered.

After the treks, I fired up my scooter and took a scenic road back to Auckland, drove here and there and just generally looked what kind of a city Auckland is outside downtown. As Mount Eden was conveniently nearby, I drove the roads up there, looked the city in the horizon and the 360 degree views to the crater the mountain had. Then it was time to drive back to our hostel and enjoy a little nap.

As the sun set, I started my scooter once again and drove to the harbor to see how Auckland Harbor Bridge and the city skyline looked at night. When I just enjoyed the skyline views from the harbor, a harbor security man in his sixties joined me and we talked a long while about New Zealand and Finland, the similarities these countries have and how weird is it that the sun goes from east to west from the other side down under. At some point he wished a good rest of our trip and left to do his work, I watched the views for a little while longer and when it got a bit too cold, I drove back to hostel to read a book and get some sleep.

Auckland skyline on a peaceful evening...

It was a perfect and relaxing day in Auckland and it’s surroundings. Now, back to airport it’s time to catch a flight to Fiji and leave the cold weather behind us.