Eternity will never be enough for me

One Tree Hill

View from Summit of Rangatoto
Secluded beach
End of lava caves!


Yesterday the Coast to Coast trip was a bust. Met up with Rhondo and Nico around 1pm and we made our way to the start of the walk with the map i had printed off at the library. We started off alright, but then the map had all these unmarked streets, it was very confusing. We got offtrack at the second turn. How embarrassing. An old lady set us back on track and we made it to the first stop...Albert Park. It was pretty cool. But then we got completely lost again. We decided to scrap the walk, it was 16km anyway and frankly I am way too unfit for that these days. We walked back to the strating point to find a bus to take us to One Tree Hill, which was the one attraction that drew me to do the walk in the first place. Obviously, because I love the show One Tree Hill (will be referred to as OTH from now on), and miss watching it with Katie! And I miss you too, Katie! And everyone else. Bases covered.
So, after walking back to the bus station we found out the bus stop we had to go to was back where we had just walked from. Awesome. And you can't get bus transfer tickets so we had to walk to the bus stop. Lame. At this point we had been wandering around for 2 hours. We got on the bus and our driver was literally the biggest douche bag ever. I asked him if it was the bus that goes to OTH and he was like 'Well I go past it". So I asked him if he stopped in front of it and he repeated "I go past it". Okay then... we got on and hoped for the best. Nico got up after 30 minutes and asked if the stop was coming up and he replied 'We'll get there whenever we get there'. Right then. So she asked if he could let us know when we got there and he replied with a jolly 'if I can remember, then maybe'. About 10 minutes later we passed a giant sign that read OTH, so Rhonda quickly hit the stop button and we passed the stop about 2 minutes later. The driver definitely could have stopped in time. Instead we went to the next stop. And I've noticed that here in New Zealand bus stops are quite far apart. But, since we weren't doing the Coast to Coast walk it was ok to walk an extra 15 minutes. We also noticed a PacnSave, which is the cheapest grocery store ever. Its like Costco but you don't need a membership and not really in bulk, so I guess its nothing like Costco, but its cheap. Loved it.
OTH was a nice little walk up the volcano, did I mention OTH is a volcano. Its also covered in grass and sheep (obviously) and has a monument on top. Interesting place for a monument. Its a statue of a guy who put in his will that he wanted a statue of himself there to show his deep respect for the Maori people. So then why is it of himself? I didn't get it. Awesome views of Auckland and wicked park to play in at the bottom! It had a flying fox and various other dangerous looking contraptions. Well fun.
Went back to the YHA with Rhondo and Nico afterward and it was sad to have to say goodbye again, but it was great to see some friendly faces!
Last night supper was fish and chips. It wasn't very exciting, but it was free. I ate with a group of Swedish boys who assured me that New Zealand is amazing, they are just finishing up their trip and it was nice to get some suggestions of where to go and what I have to see. I pretty much watched TV and chilled out in the evening. Again I couldn't sleep because the trucks were so loud and the bar downstairs was insanely loud as well. Got a new room-mate at 2am. Lovely.
This morning I got up early-ish to get the ferry to Rangatoto island. Its the youngest and largest volcano in the Auckland area. It also is known for having heaps of flora and fauna found nowhere else in the world (that is straight out of the brochure, you are so welcome). I walked to the summit via Wilson's track, which I didn't realize was a pretty tough track (steep and covered in lava rock which slips out from under your feet all the time). I shared the track with about 1000 spider webs too. It was really dark from all the rainforesty bits, but it was cool. The summit was amazing, you could even see the crater at the top, but trees were growing in it. I also walked the lava caves, which made me feel a bit claustrophobic, but they were really interesting. Axe murderers delight, i'm sure. Young girl walking alone in a dark cave, but I survived. Yay! I walked to the Mackenzie lighthouse and visited a gorgeous beach that was empty except for me. Most people take the little train-bus around but I decided to walk it. So everywhere I went I was much after everyone else. The maps said it would take me about 4 hours to do the walks I wanted to do and I finished them in 2 and a half. I did a historic beach walk, a Kidney Fern walk and a few others that I forget the names of. It was a long day and I had to wait 2 hours for the next ferry, but I'm really glad I did the walks, it was so good to finally get some exercise!
Tomorrow I am off to Wellington to see/live with Josh and Katie! I can't wait to have a place to live for a while. I also need to sort out my tax number and open a bank account, which apparently takes 10 days. That's fine, its not like I am poor and desperately need a job...
LOVE!