Nan's Walk

Thursday, January 5, 2006

Our last day in Auckland before heading to the South Island. I wanted to see Eden Gardens, which I had read about. Frank found it on the map of Auckland and said "Let's walk--we'll have a chance to see some of the city along the way." I was skeptical--and it turned out I should have been! By the end of the day, we had walked about 10k (Frank's estimate, not mine, which may have been more like ten MILES according to my agonized calf muscles)...but, we did see lots of cool things!


First stop, (after a LONG walk to get there, and then an extremely steep slope climb up) a collapsed volcanic cone atop Mt. Eden--way up Mt. Eden. This site, which is sacred to the local Maori, is pretty impressive, and offers a great view out over Auckland. The amusing part was to look over the very steep edge and find cows grazing unconcernedly, inches from the edge!


So, volcano crater duly viewed and pondered, on to the gardens...but where were they? No-one we asked knew. I couldn't see a way down from the side where I thought they were, according to my map. So, back down the way we had come up--did you know that even going DOWN an extremely steep slope hurts your leg muscles? Then, around, and around, and around the bottom of the mountain, then up again, then down again--where were these darn gardens anyway?? Finally came upon the ornate gates outside Government House, where there was an intercom for inquiries--so I pressed, and asked, and a lovely helpful Kiwi told me exactly where to go--no, really, where to go to find the gardens, which were, by then, only a few blocks away. Having come so far, we pressed on, and finally arrived at the famous gardens...about 40 minutes before closing time.

Nevertheless, we went in and managed to slip inside the cafe doors just as they were being closed, to buy something to cool us down and ease our parched throats--did I mention it was also very hot that day? We opted for a local specialty called 'Lemon and Paeroa' which, I must confess, tastes sort of like weak lemonade laced with cough syrup. But it tasted like ambrosia that day!

These gardens have been created by community members, using all donated funds and volunteer labour, in the confines of an abandoned quarry. So it has, you guessed it, very steep paths up and down and all around! However, it was quite lovely, with lots of beautiful native vegetation such as ferns, and some really nice collections of exotic plants like bromeliads. I think it would be really spectacular in spring, when all the rhododendrons and azaleas would be in bloom. Now it is mostly green and peaceful. An unusual feature, however, is that almost everything is labeled with a donor's name: plants, trails, seats, even rocks--I guess to keep the donations coming, they have to offer some kind of lasting recognition of the donors. So, I had to laugh when one of the trails near the exit was entitled 'Nan's Walk' (info for non-family: as a grandmother, I am called 'Nan')--certainly appropriate to our adventures that day!

As we walked back towards the city centre, I spied a bus shelter--and a bus! For a mere $1.50 each, we rode this blessed chariot all the way back to The Columbard. Hurrah! Next time, we take the car...

Last stop of the day, the pub next door to our apartment, called The Bluestone Room, inside one of Auckland's oldest stone buildings. Frank is becoming quite fond of Kiwi beer (Tui, Speights, Monteiths) and downed a coupla cool ones, accompanied by an order of kumara chips (kumara are very like our sweet potatoes, but not quite as orange or as sweet). Feeling somewhat restored, we tumbled into bed, alarm set for a very early start on our long southward journey.