Day 2 of actually being in Auckland dawned with a beautiful sunrise and about 9 hours of sleep , which isn't bad all things considered. Rather than eat at the hotel , we headed out into the city in search of : you guessed correctly! Local , fair trade , home grown coffee!! As we found out later , there are coffee shops on every corner , but not knowing this we grabbed the first one we saw and fed our bodies the life giving fluid. Wandering around the city started with a trek to the Sky Tower to go WAY WAY above the city. We actually bought the all day tickets and will go back and look at the city and harbor at night. I am not a big fan of heights , but the view really was awe inspiring and I saw so many volcanoes....... Auckland is sitting in a volcano field of about 42 volcanoes. Most are really old and so really weathered. The Mount Eden near the All Black's stadium Eden Park , hasn't erupted in about 1500 years . However, the rather large volcano , Rangitoto (Maori for bloody sky ) has erupted within the past 600 years. They are anticipating eruptions from Rangitoto will continue since it is only dormant! That is what we will be climbing on Saturday and I am pretty excited. the name came from the fact that the last time it erupted, the sky turned red with ash that was spewed and the people all had to flee or die.
How do I know all this you ask? Well a great and kind man named Vincent was the guide on the 51st floor of the tower and he is part Maori. When I told him that my goal was to gather stories to put with the science , he was very excited to share. He said that most people don't care about that type of thing anymore. Well, I do!!
From the sky tower, we went in search of local theatrical culture and found an underground theater group performing , The Good Soul of Szechuan. We are theater goers on Sunday evening!!!
Picture taking, tooth brush hunting and walking about makes people thirsty and so of course we hunted up coffee.........Baa Baa Black Sheep espresso met our needs. As we ducked in and out of rain showers ( like they literally last two minutes but pop up about every 30 mins or so) , we determined that we would go to Devonport and off we went to get ferry tickets. Not too shabby - round trip for $11.00................. beautiful ride around the harbor and off we go into town. But, umm on the way we pass the beach. Now most of you know that I cannot resist sand and adding sand to my collection . This had the added benefit of wee pieces of volcanic material , so I had to stop and gather. You knew I could not resist. Steve and Nathan were very patient and that was nice of them and I was most appreciative. Devonport is a very small place and then add to it the fact that we are in late winter/early spring and it was rather quiet. As we wandered around the streets, we got closer and closer to the island's volcano ...... yes they are everywhere!! Headed up the hill , Nathan spots a theater advertising the Rocky Horror Picture Show and we go in to inquire about it............ so now we will go to the show on Friday night.............A Kiwi presentation and I am looking forward to it! Nathan has never been and apparently Steve likes it......
The theater manager was very gracious in giving us directions to Mount Victoria................. she told us how to climb the way the locals do and although we considered it , it was a bit muddy and so we elected to take the road. I have never roamed about in an extinct ( at least that is what we were told ) volcano's caldera or looked over the edge to the valley below. I must say that it was rather unnerving , basically just dropped off to nothing. We " toured " around the crater and then headed down because we could see off in the distance a wall of rain headed our way......sorry to say we didn't make it and the rain , rain , rain came down, down . down and we got wet. So what do you do when you get wet? Stop into the theater and buy tickets for Friday night for the Rocky Horror Picture Show..........
So what is available to do at 3am? Finish the blog you started the night before. We have events scheduled for our days , or at least tentatively scheduled and now for some of our nights. It makes for long days but that is quite all right with me. After getting back to the hotel and experiencing a little down and recharging time ( not only me but all our electronics ) we elect to have supper at the Shakespeare . I honestly have never had a plate of food as enormous as I was served here. A lamb burger that was the size of my head, but it was so flavorful! Good thing we walked over the city today and are headed back to the tower to see the city in the night. It is beautiful , but somehow the night enhances my dislike for heights and I am super uncomfortable. Felt ever so much better after my feet hit the ground. A pleasant rain-free stroll back to the hotel and we are ready for Rugby game highlights and falling asleep................
I have found a small wool shop just down the road from me that sells possum fur ( yes that is the appropriate spelling in NZ and the fur on the critter here feels like mink!!! ) Guess I will bring some home.... a wee reminder of NZ...
How do I know all this you ask? Well a great and kind man named Vincent was the guide on the 51st floor of the tower and he is part Maori. When I told him that my goal was to gather stories to put with the science , he was very excited to share. He said that most people don't care about that type of thing anymore. Well, I do!!
From the sky tower, we went in search of local theatrical culture and found an underground theater group performing , The Good Soul of Szechuan. We are theater goers on Sunday evening!!!
Picture taking, tooth brush hunting and walking about makes people thirsty and so of course we hunted up coffee.........Baa Baa Black Sheep espresso met our needs. As we ducked in and out of rain showers ( like they literally last two minutes but pop up about every 30 mins or so) , we determined that we would go to Devonport and off we went to get ferry tickets. Not too shabby - round trip for $11.00................. beautiful ride around the harbor and off we go into town. But, umm on the way we pass the beach. Now most of you know that I cannot resist sand and adding sand to my collection . This had the added benefit of wee pieces of volcanic material , so I had to stop and gather. You knew I could not resist. Steve and Nathan were very patient and that was nice of them and I was most appreciative. Devonport is a very small place and then add to it the fact that we are in late winter/early spring and it was rather quiet. As we wandered around the streets, we got closer and closer to the island's volcano ...... yes they are everywhere!! Headed up the hill , Nathan spots a theater advertising the Rocky Horror Picture Show and we go in to inquire about it............ so now we will go to the show on Friday night.............A Kiwi presentation and I am looking forward to it! Nathan has never been and apparently Steve likes it......
The theater manager was very gracious in giving us directions to Mount Victoria................. she told us how to climb the way the locals do and although we considered it , it was a bit muddy and so we elected to take the road. I have never roamed about in an extinct ( at least that is what we were told ) volcano's caldera or looked over the edge to the valley below. I must say that it was rather unnerving , basically just dropped off to nothing. We " toured " around the crater and then headed down because we could see off in the distance a wall of rain headed our way......sorry to say we didn't make it and the rain , rain , rain came down, down . down and we got wet. So what do you do when you get wet? Stop into the theater and buy tickets for Friday night for the Rocky Horror Picture Show..........
So what is available to do at 3am? Finish the blog you started the night before. We have events scheduled for our days , or at least tentatively scheduled and now for some of our nights. It makes for long days but that is quite all right with me. After getting back to the hotel and experiencing a little down and recharging time ( not only me but all our electronics ) we elect to have supper at the Shakespeare . I honestly have never had a plate of food as enormous as I was served here. A lamb burger that was the size of my head, but it was so flavorful! Good thing we walked over the city today and are headed back to the tower to see the city in the night. It is beautiful , but somehow the night enhances my dislike for heights and I am super uncomfortable. Felt ever so much better after my feet hit the ground. A pleasant rain-free stroll back to the hotel and we are ready for Rugby game highlights and falling asleep................
I have found a small wool shop just down the road from me that sells possum fur ( yes that is the appropriate spelling in NZ and the fur on the critter here feels like mink!!! ) Guess I will bring some home.... a wee reminder of NZ...
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