THE KIWI KRONICLES

Day 172 & 173 Takapuna, Red Beach

It rained pretty hard last night and was still raining this morning. However things cleared up a little later and we were able to get out and enjoy the area. We are in Takapuna right on the water. The beach right in front of us was pretty rugged as there were a lot of old lava remains. I noticed that some of the rocks actually looked like old tires lying in the sand. On exploration I discovered that this area was once a Kauri Forest until 200,000 years ago when the volcano which is now Lake Pupuke erupted. The lava flowed into the forest setting it on fire. Lava flowing around the lower part of each trunk cooled and solidified as a thick crust. The remaining lava flowed on leaving meter high cylindrical moulds of hundreds of tree trunks. The moulds have hollow centers created when the original wood slowly burned away. It was pretty interesting.

I was waiting for Kathy prior to us heading downtown and I was standing outside our camper watching the seagulls. I never realized before how vicious and territorial they can be with each other. They actually fight, it was pretty funny.

We headed out for our walk starting with the coastal area and the beach. It was nice but we had seen much nicer beaches in our travels here.

So we headed downtown to have a look. Takapuna being on the north shore has become a bedroom community with a lot of people travelling to and from Auckland via ferry. We just strolled along doing a little window shopping and a little people watching.

We returned to the park via the beach but this time from the other direction. The wind was blowing pretty good which made it perfect for surfing and parasailing. We stopped and watched for awhile before heading home. It was a good afternoon.

Day 173 which was Tuesday, March 22. We left Takapuna and headed a little further north to Red Beach. We were taking the ferry over to Tiritiri Matangi on Wednesday and Red Beach was the closest camping site to the ferry terminal. On the way we stopped at a large mall in Albany for a little shopping and to have lunch. Once we completed our shopping we headed Gulf Harbor which is where we would catch the ferry. We wanted to do a little scouting to make sure we wouldn’t be held up in the morning. The area is quite nice so we also took a bit of time to take a few pictures.

There is an island just off shore from the marina. The islands Maori name is Kotanui Island and the English name is Frenchman’s Cap. We were able to get shots of it from two different angles. We also got a shot when the tide was in. The difference was quite significant.

Frenchman’s Cap

Once we had our bearings we headed over to the campground and checked it. This campsite is the very first one we stayed in when we first got here back in October. Tomorrow we take the ferry over to Tiritiri to do a little hiking and bird watching.

Day 171 Auckland

We are back where it all started, downtown Auckland.

We decided to come down to the Wharf area to check with I Site and to have a look around. We stopped in at the I Site to see about visiting a couple of the islands and if there was anything else we had to do or

We spent the first part of our day just walking around the marina. You can tell it is a sailing city as there were very few power boats in the marina, mostly sailing vessels. There were some very large and impressive lady’s of the sea.

We also spent some time along the waterfront besides the marina. We just walked around, stopped for a coffee and enjoyed the sites. We were impressed with the way they built the Hilton Hotel, it looks like and is meant to represent a ship. They did a good job.

Hilton Hotel

We also walked up to the Sky Tower area for a late lunch. There is a free fall jump at the tower which is Aucklands highest building. The free fall jump is similar to a bungy jump except that you do not bounce back up. They slow your fall right at the very end and you land quite softly. We watched them for a short period before heading back down to the van.

Once we got back to the van we decided that we were going to spent the next couple of nights at the Takakpuna Holiday Park on Takapuna Beach. The beach is on the north shore but is still part of Auckland. When we got to the camp we settled before starting to go for a walk. We had ice cream in mind. Those plans were foiled ( thankfully ) as we met our neighbors in the next site. Roy and Jan are a nice couple from the north of Wales who are here visiting their son, daughter and grandchildren. We spent the rest of the evening just chatting and enjoying the pleasant company. Well, at least until the rain chased us back to our respective campers. They have about a month left before they go home and we wish them well.

Kathy with Jan and Roy Whittington from Wales

Day 170 Orere Point, Kawakawa Bay, Manukau

We left the campsite but before carrying on any further we had to go to the end of the road, to Orere Point. The road stopped at the water which was the mouth of the Firth of Thames.

We got back on the road and shortly after turning onto the main highway we started seeing a lot of cyclists. They were numbered and obviously in a race. It wasn’t that far down the road that we came to a small community called Kawakawa Bay where there was a lot of activity. We pulled over and walked over to where there were a bunch of people gathered. It turns out that the cyclists we passed were competing in a half Ironman race. A half ironman starts with a 2 kilometer swim, 90 kilometer bike ride and then a 21 kilometer run. The people gathered were watching the race and we joined them.

Kawakawa Bay was a very small community but had a terrific view of the bay of the same name.

While we were watching the race we met a gentleman by the name of Kim Cragg. Kim was very knowledgeable about the race and the goings on. He was able to answer all our questions and then I found out why that was so. Kim is a full Ironman Competitor and he had just finished a race a short time previous that was run in Taupo. A full ironman is a 3.8 kilometer swim, 180 kilometer bike ride and a 42 kilometer run. Kim completed the course in 11 hours and 41 minutes which was really good considering Kim is 52 years old. He took over 2 hours off his previous year results. Good for you Kim.

While we were there, Kim introduced us to Megan Blackett who one of New Zealand’s up and coming female ironman competitors. Kim told us to watch for her in an upcoming Olympics.

Kim Cragg & Megan Blackett

The Front Runner

I could have taken a better picture of Kim and Megan. My apologies to both of you. The second picture is the leader and I am assuming the winner of the race. We left before it was finished but a 6 minute lead with 7 kilometers left I would think would be insurmountable.

It was a fun couple of hours but we finally had to push on.

The rest of the day started with lunch in Clevedon before turning onto north road and following the coast to Omana Beach. It was then back along the Maraetai Coast Road that would take us to Whitford and then into Manukau. Manukau is a suburb of Auckland and pretty close to the airport. It was a very nice day and the drive gave us quite a few photo opportunities.

We also spotted this on our travels. You think there might have been a little alcohol involved here.

Look up, look way up.

We arrived at the holiday park, checked in and just enjoyed a quiet evening. We are not sure what we are doing tomorrow. I think a little planning is in order.