Come Saturday I was exhausted and I hadn't even done a full weeks work. I think it was just down to adjusting to the early starts which required me to set a 6am alarm each morning. It was nice to have a lie in though and after waking up thought I would take the day off to go and visit the Victorian village of Devonport, just a 12 minute boat ride across the harbour from Auckland's CBD. There are ferries every half hour to here and the area is popular with tourists and locals for its beaches and relaxing surroundings away from the city centre.
After catching the ferry across the harbour I admired the impressive view back of the city skyline, walking along the promenade lined with old buildings. I then headed up the high street and up to the summit of Mount Victoria, one of the many dormant volcanoes round the Auckland area. The views were great in all directions seeing many of the islands in Hauraki Gulf, the city skyline, and harbour bridge very clearly with it being a sunny day. When decending from the hill I headed over to North Head, another dormant volcano which was originally used by the military for coastal defence. The area had an array of old bunkers and tunnels which I explored, as well as some coastal walking trails which took me to the secluded and sandy Cheltenham Beach. The views on top of North Head itself were also as equally impressive.
After having lunch up the top, I headed down to the esplanade via the navy base which had a few ships on view. I then caught the ferry back to the city, where I just went back to the hostel and relaxed. Come Sunday I just had a relaxing day, although I moved hostels in the process, moving from the city centre to somewhere more out of town, in close proximity to Newmarket and Karangahape Road. I thought I would try somewhere different as the hostel I was in prior was effectively a party hostel which meant it was noisy.
Monday I was back to work at the university campus. It was a busy week which involved a lot of clearing people's mess up, and a fair bit of lifting and moving things about. A couple of people left the team and we gained a couple throughout the week. It appears the turnover rate is relatively high, although I'm probably going to stay as long as they'll have me as it's pretty easy money.
Come the weekend I decided I would visit Waiheke Island on the Saturday as the forecast was pretty grim on the Sunday. Waiheke Island is located about a 35 minute boat ride from Auckland CBD in the Hauraki Gulf, with a population of about 9000 people, and was last year voted last year by lonely planet as the fifth best region in the world. With sandy beaches, rugged terrain, and a climate warmer than Auckland city itself, the island is particularly famous for its vineyards and wine production. After a small lie in compared to when I have been getting up, I caught the ferry across, buying an all day bus pass as means of getting round the island.
When arriving I caught the bus straight over to Rocky Bay and the Wkakanewha Regional Park. This rugged beach had plenty of hiking opportunities and after following the coastline to a couple of the beaches headed inland and up through the woods to these small waterfalls. It was very humid inside the dense woodland, and after a couple of hours I ended up back on the bus to my next stop in Onetangi Beach, a 1.87km beach which was surprisingly quiet. From here I went to Oneroa Beach by bus which had some interesting rock formations and I followed this round, before walking across the island to the southern shores and inland up this hill where I got great views across the gulf. I then headed through woodland and down to Church Bay where I followed the coastline round, ending up on a cliff top path back to the ferry terminal. I didn't end up leaving the island until sunset!
The bus service on the island only serves the residential western half of the island, so I could potentially return plus a bike to explore the eastern more remote half as there was a lot to see and I only saw a small amount the island. When arriving back to Auckland I was hungry so I ended up getting a pizza before heading back to my hostel in darkness where I relaxed when returning. Come Sunday I once again moved hostels, this time back into the city. I wanted to stay at the hostel I was at but it was fully booked. To pass the time whilst transferring I went and got a few things for lunch at the supermarket and lay down on Auckland Domain for a couple of hours on the grass. It started to rain by afternoon however so I headed into the city to check into the hostel where I just chilled out for the rest of the day.
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