One Tree Hill and Mt Eden

Well I have a lot of catching up to do! We just got back from our trip this evening, but before I blog about that, I wanted to put up some pictures from a little day trip I took before we left for our trip.

I don't have class on Wednesdays, so last week I went with a few people to the neighborhood of Mt Eden and One Tree Hill. We took a bus there and then walked back. It was an 8 km walk home! The bus dropped us off at the base of One Tree Hill, which is an extinct volcanic cone. It got its name because there used to be a solitary pine tree at the top, but it is no longer there and now has the nickname of "None Tree Hill." There is an obelisk monument at the top of the hill, and we walked up to it. It was a nice walk up because it was such a beautiful day out and we enjoyed seeing all of the sheep playing on the hill. We had amazing views over the whole city because where we had to climb up to was pretty far up!

That's Rangitoto Island off in the distance. Another volcano in the Auckland Harbour. I'm hoping to do a day hike there before I leave.

You can see the Skytower in the way back (towards the right). That's pretty much where we had to walk back to!
I really enjoyed walking around the suburbs because it had such a different feel than center city, where we live. We were all getting pretty hungry and stopped to get kebabs before starting our walk back. The kebabs were very good - one of the best I've had, actually. The walk back was nice, and we went through the neighborhood of Mt Eden. It was getting late at this point, so we didn't really stop - just went through it. There were lots of really cute cafes, bakeries, and shops though, so I want to get back there to visit in the next couple of weeks.

It was a good day and well worth seeing what we did. Being out walking in the beautiful fall weather was much more enjoyable than spending my Wednesday off sitting in my room!