Don't Fall Into the Crater... or Out of the Tower: Day 3 in Auckland

Day 3 in Auckland was nothing like the others, except that we took the bus... and climbed a volcano.


The crater of Mount Eden with the Auckland Skyline beyond
Photo by Erin Grigson

10. Mount Eden

 

Me trying not to fall in the crater.
The sign reads:
Do not enter crater. This fragile and sacred area is easily damaged.
Photo by Josh

So many people recommended it that Mount Eden was one of the top things I wanted to do in Auckland. And it did not disappoint.

We hiked through the Tahaki Reserve and Eden Garden to get to the summit.

The difference between Mount Eden and the other volcanic peaks we climbed is that Eden has a crater. A very large crater. A very large, deep crater.

And once again, there were amazing views. The perk of this peak was that, like at One Tree Hill, you had 360 degree views of the Auckland Skyline, the sea and Hauraki Gulf Islands beyond.

We walked around the rim of the volcano before we headed back down to our last stop on the list (at least for this trip).

The horizon from the rim of Mount Eden
Photo by Erin Grigson



Sky Tower in Auckland
Photo by Erin Grigson

11. Sky Tower

We took the bus to downtown so we could go to the top of one of the tallest towers in the world.

The Sky Tower in Auckland is the 25th tallest tower in the world at 328 metres and THE tallest tower in the Southern Hemisphere. Finishede in 1997, it weighs 21 million kilograms, or roughly the equivalent of 6,000 elephants. The elevator (or lift) travels 18 kilometres per hour, which means that when we went from the basement to the 51st floor, it tookabout 40 seconds.

The 51st floor is the main observation level at 186 metres from the ground. The Sky Deck is on the 60th floor, which is 220 metres (or 722 feet) off the ground.

On the 52nd floor, there is a restaurant called Orbit 360 Dining, which rotates once every hour. Princess Anne, Prince William, and President Clinton have all dined there.

The tower lights up most of the year and each color means something different:

• Yellow & Orange - celebrating Matariki
• Pink - Mother's Day & New Zealand Breast Cancer Foundation
• Rainbow - Pride Festival & New Zealand's Rainbow Community
• Red - ANZAC Day & Poppy Appeal and Valentine's Day
• Blue - SKYCITY Breakers
• Red & Green - Christmas
• Green - St. Patrick's Day
• Red & Gold - Chinese New Year
• Dark/No Lights - Earth Hour

 

This is a little piece I like to call "51 Floors in 22 Seconds."

Talk about a view. If you've ever thought you've been "in the view," you're not until you're up that high and looking out across the city, the water, and beyond.

Harbour Bridge from Sky Tower
Photo by Erin Grigson

Rangitoto Island, Devonport and Auckland from the Sky Tower
Photo by Erin Grigson

Mount Eden and One Tree Hill in the distance from Sky Tower
Photo by Erin Grigson

SkyJump: top left, from the 51st floor; top right, the bullseye that jumpers land on;
bottom left and right, from the ground, jumpers coming at the bullseye
Photos by Erin Grigson 

The things I just couldn't bring myself to do, but looked really cool on camera, were the SkyJump and SkyWalk.

Both are things I definitely wish I could do, but am just not brave enough to. The SkyWalk offers a 360 walk on the OUTSIDE of the Tower, literally walking (while wearing a safety wire) the circumference of the tower on the 53rd floor, 194 metres off the ground. The SkyJump is like a mix between bungee jumping and ziplining. Jumpers free fall 192 metres straight down and land on a bullseye on the ground.

We got to see them jumping from the observation level and from the ground. They all looked elated, flying through the air.

After Sky Tower, we grabbed lunch and then walked back down to Viaduct Harbour to finish our trip.

After that, we headed back to the house to see Matt's family before our flight home.

Total steps today: 16,043.

We ticked off 11 big things and then some off my list. We definitely made a dent, but there's still lots to do in Auckland. I guess we need to start planning our next trip!

Walking on Beaches & Hiking Up Volcanoes is a Great Workout: Day 2 in Auckland

Day 2 in Auckland was very different than the first. The biggest difference? We had a car. No buses today.

 

Lava rock beaches in Devonport
Photo by Erin Grigson

4. Devonport

A small sandy beach with some lava rocks in Devonport
Photo by Erin Grigson

Next stop on our list was Devonport. I would describe it as a suburb of Auckland. We drove over the Harbour Bridge to get there, but you can also take the ferry. The day before, when we were going to Waiheke, the ferry made a stop in Devonport. If you're carless in Auckland, there are still plenty of options to get around. (You can take the bus, too.) Devonport is a 12-minute ferry ride or 15-20 minute car ride from downtown Auckland.

We parked and walked along the water. It reminded me a lot of walking in Charleston by the Battery. The biggest difference, though, was on the water's edge. While there is a stretch of sandy beach, after that, there's lava rocks on the shore. Josh and I walked down on those rocks and it was pretty cool, thinking that it was once molten lava.


Auckland Skyline past the lava beaches of Devonport
Photo by Erin Grigson

From Devonport, you have a gorgeous view of my new love, the Auckland Skyline.

Rangitoto Island from the top of Mount Victoria
Photo by Erin Grigson

5. Mount Victoria

After we finished walking around Devonport, we drove to the bottom edge of Mount Victoria.

The hike up to the top was only about 500 metres, but was at at least a 45 degree angle, if not steeper.

Takarunga (the Maori name for Mount Victoria) is one of the many dormant volcanoes all over Auckland. Its lava flow is what we had walked on in Devonport. Takarunga means "the hill standing above," which is perfect considering the breathtaking 360 degree views we had of Devonport, Auckland, Rangitoto Island and the other islands in the Hauraki Gulf.

Along with the incredible views, Mount Victoria also houses on army bunker and a signal station.

We stayed up there for a bit, just trying to soak up and capture the incredible view. Unfortunately, no photo will do that justice.



Auckland Skyline from the top of Mount Victoria
Photo by Erin Grigson

Rangitoto Island from Takapuna Beach
(I always felt like we had a view of Rangitoto and
I definitely wasn't complaining.)
Photo by Erin Grigson

6. Takapuna Beach

Matt and his family were at a playground in Takapuna, so we headed that direction to grab lunch.

Compared to Onetangi Beach the day before, this beach was packed. But it was still an early Spring day, so most people were walking along the sand, not laying out.

It seemed like almost everyone but us had their dog with them, but they were so cute. After lunch, Josh and I walked up the beach to this really great rock wall. The whole beach had a view of Rangitoto Island, which is a scenic reserve, so you're basically staring at paradise.

(Rangitoto Island was on my list, we just didn't have time to go. I guess we'll have to go back to Auckland!)

Sails galore from Takapuna Beach
Photo by Erin Grigson

Cool rock wall at the end of Takapuna Beach made for some fun framing opportunities around the distant Rangitoto
Photo by Erin Grigson

How did I end up with a guy who looks like a model, but won't let me take photos of him??
That just means I have to sneak and do it.
Photo by Erin Grigson

7. Mission Bay

Beach view of Mission Bay, once again looking out on Rangitoto
Photo by Erin Grigson

Since we had the car, we were trying to cover all the farther away places outside of town. We headed to Mission Bay, which meant a drive back across the Harbour Bridge, past downtown and around the bay.



The "City of Sails" was never a more perfect name than the
Saturday we were there.
Photo by Erin Grigson

Here it was apparent why Auckland is called the "City of Sails." It was a busy Saturday out on the water. I saw so many sails in all sorts of colors: red, yellow, pink, purple, blue, you name it.

On Mission Bay's beach, you once again had a beautiful view of Rangitoto along with the rainbow of sails going by. This beach was not quite as crowded as Takapuna, but still busy. Some people were actually swimming, which is crazy in this still chilly weather.

According to Josh, in summer, Mission Bay is where you go for the beach and then to grab some fish'n'chips.

There was a large grassy park separating the beach from the commercial street full of shops. That reminded me of Waterfront Park in Beaufort.

I loved all the different colors of the sails.
Photo by Erin Grigson

That red sail was making me a bit nervous for the sunny yellow-sailed boat... Just saying just because you don't hear about pirates in Auckland doesn't mean it doesn't happen.
Photo by Erin Grigson

There was lots within walking distance. I can definitely see Mission Bay as a good place to take a large group of people because there's bound to be something for everyone.

8. Cornwall Park

Caption this in the comments!
Photo by Erin Grigson

Cornwall Park is this huge park close to downtown Auckland (and really close to Matt's house). It's also where you can find One Tree Hill, but we'll get to that in a minute.

All throughout the park, which is about 670 acres, you can see sheep, some roaming free.

We walked through a large amount of the park, which is so full of life with the sheep, large sections of green farmland, and huge, old trees.

I definitely got up close, but not too personal with some sheep since they're very shy, scared animals. But those lambs are so darn cute!

Sheep are everywhere in New Zealand, but they were REALLY everywhere at Cornwall Park:
in fences, roaming free, climbing the volcano cliffs, etc.
Photos by Erin Grigson

9. One Tree Hill

One Tree Hill (now technically 9-tree hill)
Photo by Erin Grigson

One Tree Hill on a gloomy day
Photo by Erin Grigson

Maungakiekie, better known as One Tree Hill, is one of the most well-known landmarks in Auckland. As I've said a few times, the city is made up of multiple dormant volcanoes and One Tree Hill is the peak of one of them. Also, it's more than 28,500 years old.

Both ironically and unfortunately, the "One Tree" is no longer there. It was removed after multiple attacks were made against it in protest. However, in 2016, 9 young, native trees were planted in its place. (They are currently guarded by a metal fence to give them a chance to grow.)

At the top of the summit, which seemed to take forever to reach (probably because the climb wasn't as steep as some of the others we've done), stands a really large monument. The obelisk was erected at the behest of Sir John Logan Campbell Kt who, according to the monument "VISUALISED AND DESIRED THAT A TOWERING OBELISK SHOULD BE ERECTED ON THIS SITE, THE SUMMIT OF MAUNGAKIEKIE, AS A PERMANENT RECORD OF HIS ADMIRATION FOR THE ACHIEVEMENTS AND CHARACTER OF THE GREAT MAORI PEOPLE."

Sir John is buried at the foot of the monument.

The other side of the monument reads: "THE FIRST MAORI PEOPLE TO VISIT THESE SHORES WAS KUPE, A POLYNESIAN NAVIGATOR, IN THE YEAR 925. THE FIRST SETTLEMENT UNDER TOI TOOK PLACE IN 1150. THE FIRST ORGANIZED EMIGRATION FROM HAWAIKI TOOK PLACE IN 1350 WHEN THE ANCESTORS OF THE PRESENT MAORI RACE ARRIVED AT VARIOUS POINTS ON THESE COASTS IN THE NOW HISTORIC CANOES TAINUI, ARAWA, MATA-ATUA, AOTEA, TAKITUMU, HOROUTA, TOKOMARU, AND OTHERS. IN 1840, THE TREATY OF WAITANGI WAS SIGNED WHEREBY THE MAORIS ACCEPTED THE SOVEREIGNTY OF THE BRITISH CROWN AND WERE THEREBY SECURED IN ALL THEIR RIGHTS AND PRIVILEGES AS BRITISH SUBJECTS."

The other two sides are the above two messages translated into Maori.

Like most of the hikes we took on this trip, it was absolutely worth the trek. There were gorgeous views of Auckland in every direction.

After that "walk," we were done with sightseeing for the day. We headed back to Matt's house for the night.

Some people apparently use One Tree Hill as a creative place to propose.
This photo was taken in one of the craters next to the monument. There were 2 proposals written there when we visited.
(The two people down there were just making their own mark.)
Photos by Erin Grigson

Total steps after today: 19,502.

Stay tuned for Day 3, our final adventures in Auckland this trip.