Category: Move

Discovering Half Moon Bay

​We scoured the map for a place we had yet to visit, somewhere reachable by ferry that offered a scenic walk and a good lunch. When Dwight spotted a restaurant called Hello Sailor, our trip to Half Moon Bay was settled. We took a bus toward the end of a peninsula, then walked along the coastline to the bay for a fresh fish lunch at the restaurant, which sits directly opposite this enormous marina. Afterward, a ferry carried us back to Auckland.

A walk across New Zealand

Walked across New Zealand from coast to coast today. It was at a narrow point: starting at Auckland Harbor and heading southeast to a harbor on the other side. ​I took these photos from Maungawhau / Mount Eden, the highest point in the city. The top photo looks back toward where we started this morning, while the bottom photo looks ahead toward this afternoon’s hike. Along the way, we wound through several parks, past Aucklanders out enjoying their Sunday.

One of Auckland’s peninsulas

The greater Auckland area is full of peninsulas, sometimes featuring scenic trails, a ferry port, and great lunch spots. Today was one of those days. We took a fast bus to the start of the trail at Takapuna then walked to Devonport through parks and residential areas. After a late lunch in Devonport, we caught the ferry back to Auckland. In this photo, we’re crossing a mangrove swamp.

Exploring our neighborhood: “The Point”

We’ve been in Auckland for ten days, and we finally walked onto the beach directly in front of our rental. Normally the tide has been in when we wanted to go exploring. Today we stuck to our Point Chevalier neighborhood rather than exploring further. Wandering along the peninsula, we found sandy stretches, parks, a great view of downtown, and yet another decent hole-in-the-wall cafe.

The long way to lunch

Ferry to Waiheke Island, followed by a coastal trek: steep up, steep down, repeat. Revived by a fine mid-afternoon lunch of grilled fish overlooking the water. Waiheke’s own Passage Rock Pinot Gris made the revival complete.

Saturday in Auckland

A goal of our month in Auckland is to live like the locals do. Today, we walked a large loop that took us past a lively community center. In one room, there was a flower show; in another, a cake social. A cake social! ​We opted for a long black and a flat white served from a coffee truck. Later, at our neighborhood French cafe, the server asked if we had moved into the area. Their food is so good, we keep going back.

A landscape reframed

A massive cruise ship dwarfed the Island Direct Waiheke Island ferry. With 5,000 passengers suddenly in town for the day and a long holiday weekend approaching, the ferry lines were daunting. We quickly abandoned our plan to hike on Waiheke and instead trekked several miles back home, following the coastline for much of the way. Next week will be much quieter for our Waiheke hike.

Where the road ends

Our dead-end road leads to a coastal path, but high tide had other plans for us. We detoured a few blocks over to pick up the trail through parks and urban stretches. A few miles later, we looped back to the start via train and bus.

The final stretch

The Cougar Line boat arrived to collect us for our return to Picton after the final section of our hike. It was another day of lovely wooded trails that sheltered us from the sun, offering views of coves, mossy rocks, and vegetation indigenous to New Zealand. Whenever we encountered other hikers, they were invariably in a good mood, and so were we.