Auckland New Zealand

Arrived in the PM. Nice travel day. Next leg of our route home. We will be in the city for a couple of days then hitting the country in a rented RV. Having not driven much in the last year, and they drive on the wrong side of the road. What could go wrong?

So the weather forecast was not looking to swell, and our first day might be the only nice day for about a week, so we decide to get in some walking.  Near where we are staying is the start of a hike called Coast to Coast. It takes you from New Zealand’s east coast and the South Pacific to its west coast and the Tasman Sea. 16K. But not very well marked. Did numerous backtracks. Probably did 20K all in all. Then spent a while on a bus getting back. On the walk you start at the town Quay where the ferry’s run from and go through town. And two campuses, residential neighborhoods, up and across two volcanoes, up, down, up, down, and me dogs are barkin! 5 hours. Pretty cool though. Saw Auckland from one end to the other. Then the rain started. It’s forecast to rain for the next week. I guess we brought it with us from the Blue Mountains. I’m surprised they didn’t find it at the quarantine inspection. Checked our boots for dirt and thistles but missed the rain we flew in. Had some Goo Balls in our pack that they saw on the X-Ray and that got some discussion going. Kind of funny.

But…..    didn’t break anything on the boat today!        Well, that I know of anyway.

This is the caldera of an inactive volcano. Auckland in the background. A car on the left side for scale. If they spent any time at the Volcano on Tanna I don't think they would build a city on top of this. And there are five of them in and around the city.

This is also a volcano. The historically significant and rather famous One Tree Hill. A song on the 1988 U2 release The Joshua Tree. And a really lousy TV series. So when this one blows its going to put this obelisk into orbit.

And is it just me or are there several trees on One Tree Hill?

Both of these sites were part of the Coast to Coast walk. Oh, and sheep. Lots and lots of sheep.

peace

M