Back to the Waitakeres - Fairy Falls

After a good day of walking on Friday, we decided to head back to the Waitakere Ranges today to do another walk. This time we did a 6km bush walk just off the aptly name Scenic Drive which led to the Fairy Falls.





We then climbed up the rocks and purpose made steps past the several levels of the waterfall.

Waitakeres - Arataki Visitors Centre

After our walk we headed to the Arataki Visitors Centre in the heart of the Waitakere Ranges. As per all the other regional parks they have the picture frame!





The view from the visitors centre over to the city shows how much "green" there is here. You can just see the city and Sky Tower in the distance.





We did another shorter loop walk (but still hilly!) from the visitors centre through the forest. At the furthest point we ended up in a grove of Kauri trees.

Walking in the Waitakeres - Bethells Beach

As today is Good Friday and everything here is shut, we headed out west to the Waitakere Ranges to do some walking. Our first stop was Bethells Beach, a typical west coast beach with its black sand and big waves.





We set off on a walk which took us along the cliffs heading north. On the way we were rewarded with some lovely views down to Bethells Beach.







As we continued along the coast line we reached O'Neills Bay which can only be reached on foot with no road access.







The walk provided to be very strenuous in parts, we both didn't expect it to be quite so hilly!! Eventually we reached the turn around point and had a stunning view down to the south to O'Neills Bay and Bethells Beach in the distance.




Whilst the view up to the north shows Muriwai beach and Regional Park.

Mahurangi Regional Park

Today we headed about 30 minutes north to another Auckland Regional Park - Mahurangi. It was a lot quieter than most of the other parks, probably as it is a little out of the way. We scrambled up a very steep hill to get the most amazing views.



This is the view down over the campsite (where we will stay in the future) and Sullivan's Bay.







Whilst this is the view in the other direction looking over Mita Bay.

6 Months!!!

Well we've been here 6 months now, seems like much longer! So we celebrated with a bottle of NZ fizz followed by some green lipped mussels, clams and scallops. Now we are looking forward to our next 6 months here.

Goat Island

This weekend we headed off camping to make the most of the good weather. We went up north to Goat Island campsite, a bit basic but spectacular views from the tent.





Goat Island is a marine reserve where all the fish, crustaceans and plant life are protected. It is very popular with people snorkeling and diving to see the fish - the sea is so clear.





Although we didn't go snorkeling, you could see the fish quite clearly from the rocks. Snapper are the predominant fish here, along with the Blue Maumau.





We decided to take a trip on the glass bottomed boat, which can be seen in the picture above. This stops at the main reefs (rock not coral - too cold for that) where the fish gather and also a tour around Goat Island. There are many caves in the island which are apparently interlocking so you can swim through the island if you have a torch with you.




The highlight of the trip was the sighting of about 8 bottle nosed dolphins who were very playful, and seemed to enjoy showing off to us on the boat.







The evening back at the campsite was very relaxing with fabulous clear skies and a full moon to sit out to.

Black Caps v Aussies

Today we experienced our first sporting event since we arrived, and headed over to Eden Park to watch the Black Caps vs the Aussies in the second one dayer in the annual Chappell-Hadlee Trophy. The ground filled up during the match and the terraces to our right (pictured) was the rowdy stand.



Australia set a record high score of 336 for a one day international at Eden Park in red hot conditions - the sun didn't stop shining all day. Everyone, even the most hardened drinking lads, were constantly applying sun block, sunglasses and hats - very different to the UK!



Even the most ardent NZ fan didn't think that they could match that score and win, but some hard hitting and quick running between the wickets meant that they beat the record score with 8 balls to spare. Following their victory last Friday this meant that NZ won the three match series for the first time, and resulted in Australia dropping to number 2 in the world - a very sad day...