A Weekend in Auckland

My first weekend off in New Zealand was spent in Auckland, the capitol of New Zealand. But before I get there, let's talk about Friday. 

Friday was a cold and rainy day. Not a very good day for learning how to work in the garden or to kayak, as planned. So instead, a guest speaker came to EcoQuest to teach us about New Zealand's Resource Management Act (RMA). 

After lunch, we were given an hour to finish packing up for the weekend. Mary and I were in our cabin, singing and dancing, when we heard a loud pop and a scream. Every bone in my body went cold. We went outside in the rain and saw a black puff of smoke coming from the main house. Looking closer, we realized that the smoke was coming from the electrical box that powered all of EcoQuest. The next thing we know it, the fire alarms were wailing and it was time to meet at the emergency meeting spot near the garden. It was pouring and everyone was barely dressed, but we were all there. A few moments later, an old fashioned fire truck showed up and all students were sent back to their cabins. When Mary and I got back to our cabin, there was no power, no internet connection and there was no running water (EcoQuest is well and pumped based for water supply). 

An hour later, we all met Maree in the wharekai where we learned the main safety rules for kayaking on the Firth. Once the training was over, we were free for the weekend. Maree agreed to drive the Auckland crew (myself, Mary, Lauren, Emily, Zack, Lucian, Kyle, Hannah, Adrian, and Silas) to the city. It was still raining when we got to the city but I still couldn't control my excitement. Walking up Queens street, the 10 of us looked for our hostel (Auckland Central Backpackers - ACB). Once we found the hostel, we checked in, put our bags in our rooms, and immediately hit the streets for some food and entertainment for the night. It was a great night with new friends in a new country!

The following morning, we were up and out of the hostel at 9am, ready to explore the city. We ate breakfast at a local coffee shop and grabbed some coffee at a Dunkin' Donuts across the street from our hostel. Yes, Dunkin' Donuts! It wasn't nearly as good as the ones at home, but it definitely hit the spot. 

By 10:30am, we were on the ferry to Rangitoto, New Zealand's youngest island.  Rangitoto is a volcanic island in the Hauraki Gulf off of Auckland. It is know for its shield volcano cone rising 850 feet over the gulf as well as its young age (only 600 years old). When we got off the ferry, we hiked to the top of the volcanic cone and through the lava caves. The view was spectacular but the caves were incredible! They don't look like much from the outside; when you first get to the caves, there are three rabbit holes. You would never believe how big the caves were from the outside. 

Going through each cave was a different experience. The first cave was fairly short and I could instantly see the exit light as soon as I went in the cave. The second cave was about 100ft in length but did not have an exit. The third cave was the best of them all. The entrance hole was extremely small and at one point, I was on all fours, facing down hill while trying to cross over a river in the cave. But once I got past the river, the cave immediately opened up (at least 20 ft tall). There are no words to describe the inside of this cave. The ceiling looked like it was made from clear crystal with red seed-weed looking moss hanging from the ceiling. The cave walls were ragged but sparkling in the headlamps' light. We continued to explore the cave while droplets of water fell from the ceiling. To get out, I climbed up a small, vertical opening and came out of a mini rabbit hole in the ground. The volcanic caves have been by far my favorite adventure in New Zealand thus far. 

We walked around the island for about 6 hours taking in the views, looking at all the volcanic rock that made up the entire island, and picking up sea glass and shells from the beach. The ferry picked us up at 5pm and on the way back into the city, we got off the ferry in Davenport, where we had dinner. Davenport is a small town, much like my hometown. There are small shops and restaurants on both sides of the road, all having their own unique character. We ate at a restaurant called Mecca. It felt so nice to sit down and have a glass of cold water. We stayed at Mecca as long as possible, taking in the mellow atmosphere and resting our feet. We left Mecca and continued to walk around the island until the next ferry arrived to bring us back to Auckland. 

Once back in Auckland, we stopped at a gelato store on the way back to the hostel. The flavors were outrageous! But tasty! The only familiar flavor was chocolate. Taste testing most of the flavors, I decided with Hockey Pockey, which I later found out is a New Zealand classic. It was delicious. Creamy vanilla with carmel swirl and a carmely-crunch. Yum. 

It was almost 9pm when we arrived back at the hostel. It was safe to say that we were all completely, head-to-toe exhausted. Instead of touring more of the city, we decided to make a plan for the morning, play a few card games, and head to bed. 

Check out was at 10am but we were up and out of the hostel at 9. The hostel employees were kind enough to hold all of our large backpacks for the day so that we didn't have to take them around the city. Trying to see as much of the city as possible before Ria would be picking us up, we mapped out a track. We began up north, walked past a great deal of tourist shops, and headed down towards the water. At the water, there were magnificent boats of all kinds. There were sail boats, yachts, and finishing boats. All large. All expensive. All beautiful!  

Heading back to the center of town, we dispersed to get lunch and then met at Albert Park to eat. The park was gorgeous. We were lucky that it was such a beautiful day and were able to eat lunch on the grass in the park. After lunch, we walked around the park taking pictures of various main features. 

It was getting to that time. The time that we promised Ria our presence at the Ferry Terminal. We went back to the hostel to grab our bags and then headed for the Ferry Terminal. On the way, we stopped at shops to pick up last minute souvenirs and snacks for the car ride back to Kaiaua. At 2:30, Ria was there waiting with EcoQuest's big white van. 

Everyone slept on the car ride home. I don't even remember falling asleep and then all of a sudden, 50 minutes passed and we were pulling into campus. Luckily, campus was back up and running with full power and running water. This was very exciting news! 

What wasn't very exciting news was that we had to finish our papers and associated drawings for tomorrow morning's lecture. Most of us completely forgot about this paper over the weekend and now it was time to cram. During dinner, everyone was sharing stories about their weekend. All of the other trips sounded amazing as well! After dinner, we camped out at Grannie's to try and finish up papers.

Currently, we are all working on our papers/printing/drawing/watching Jurassic Park, excited to be back on campus and anxious for our next adventure on Tuesday when we head east for the week.