The land of the long white cloud

March 21, 2005

After spending my final few days in Fiji lying on a beach in the sun (made a change) and picking up a few souvenirs in Nadi I headed for Aotearoa, land of the long white cloud, New Zealand.
I flew into North Island and spent my first day in Auckland exploring the city a little. There's nothing like a birds eye view for getting your bearings so I headed up the SkyTower for some fantastic views of the city.
Feeling like I now knew where I was going I wandered through the pretty Alberts Park and Auckland Domain and found my way to the Auckland Museum. With only an hour there it wasn't really enough time but they have some great Maori stuff including a very impressive 25m long war canoe.
The following day I went out to Rangitoto Island, one of the many volcanic cones in the Auckland area and walked up to the summit where the views of the city and surrounding coastline are well worth the walk. On the descent I headed off the main track to walk through the Lava Caves.
Heading out of the city I went into the Waitakere Ranges and out to Piha Beach, a black volcanic sand beach popular with surfers. I also did a short walk out from Piha through the forest to a waterfall.
Tomorrow I'm leaving Auckland to explore the rest of the North Island.