Is this Auckland... or Rockland?

So I'm still alive. I can attribute my lack of blog posting to an increased workload at university. A few nights ago i considered using a new blog post to procrastinate writing my essay but, because I am just so marvelously mature, I produced a beaut seven page paper on the Maori spiritual connection with their land. Anyway now that that's all out of the way, I can write things that I actually know about, ha. 

hiking trail over black sand dunes? yeah that's cool

Warning, I talk about rocks a lot in this post. Can't resist.

Rock-house

First and foremost, I have decided where I am going to live for all of eternity. This weekend, Laura, Steph and I made our way to the Waitakere Ranges west of the city. Because Laura's host family has some good camping equipment, we are planning to camp in this region later on in the semester (when the weather is more predictable)- this was kind of our scouting mission for good trails. From the moment I stepped out of the car, I immediately fell in love with Karekare beach (site where the movie The Piano was shot, fun fact!). Beaches on the west coast of the North Island typically have black sand because they are iron-rich (product of the volcanoes) and thus magnetic. Anyway, I found a giant rock structure and climbed up it until I found the location where I'm going to build my future rock-house. Most hippie people dreaming of living in a tree-house or a forest canopy, but no, I'm going to live in this nook on the face of a giant rock.

We also visited Piha beach, which was equally beautiful and had amazing geological formations carved by the ocean. The cliffs were a mosaic of massive boulders and colorful rocks firmly "glued" into the steep sandstone cliffs. 

  

 

Laura visiting me in my new apartment

left: Dramatic waterfall in the Karekare Bush
right: Sedimentary cliffs, Piha

Tamaki Drive coastal bike route, from downtown Auckland

       Another amazing outing that I had recently was biking the northern shore of Auckland along Tamaki Drive. This route follows the coast line, passing through the popular beach towns of Mission Bay and Saint Helliers Bay, constantly in view of the harbor and Rangitoto, the giant island volcano.
      Early on in the trip I committed to biking barefoot. We stopped at a few beaches to collect shells, we rode out on the docks to get a better view of the boats, and eventually we came to a rocky-cove-like-thing where we played on the cliffs and put our feet in the water. We got a free show of the very talented 
kiwis that were out kite surfing and windsurfing on this incredibly windy day.

limestone and mudstone... YES!

    The cliffs on this beach had very distinct, very cool bedding layers of marine sediments (probably deposited from when this area was submerged underwater). The layers alternated between light colored limestone bands to a darker mudstone. There were thousands of names and messages that people had carved into these soft cliffs over time. Just as I was about to leave my own mark, I found my name already carved by someone (!!!) and now i'm on a mission to meet this other Lara residing in NZ so that we can make a Lara club and throw exclusive Lara parties only for people named Lara. Be jealous. 

Biking along the waterfront, Laura, Kat, and Khuram (our professor!)

                                                              After touring the Auckland Art Gallery with our group,

view from inside the crater

 Kiera and I hopped on an eastbound bus to Mt. Wellington (Maungarei, 'the watchful mountain'). I like, had a map, and kind of knew where I was going but I was definitely outside any suburbs of the city I was familiar with, so that afternoon was as much a game of navigation as it was an awesome hike. And can I just say that I have made so much use of my unlimited bus pass with these random adventures I get into, I love that thing and I think anybody that is studying abroad should be entitled to one. 

scoria and basalt

        Mt. Wellington has a deep crater and, unlike Eden, you can climb down into it. Kiera and I sat in that crater for about a half hour, memorized by how powerfully quiet it was down there. Despite the fact that there were major highways nearby and noisy birds/kids on the outer slopes, that crater was devoid of all sound. Occasionally the silence was broken by our feet shifting in the rocky debris or one of us announcing, “WHOAA MAN THIS SO WEIRD” ...but other than that... nothing. I collected scoria from the crater while Kiera collected flowers. Later we walked 5 km south through the towns of Panmure and Sylvia Park and finally caught a bus home just in time to                                                      watch the sunset. 

'there's our mountain, we are home'

navigation masters!! the slope of Mt. Welly

ripples from lava flow,
Meola Reef

I officially take more pictures
of rocks than people

   Another cool way I spent an afternoon was exploring the Meola Reef Reserve with Laura. 
This location is where the lava flow from the Three Kings eruption flowed into the sea and cooled, forming a long black tidal flat complete with oysters, crabs, and other marine critters. Afterward, I made my way to Western Springs park which is a larger reserve, and I saw all sorts of waterbirds and, most importantly, BUNNIES! REALLY CUTE ONES AHHH!

my sheep herd :) who hated me

Four of us spent an afternoon exploring One Tree Hill, one of the larger members of the Auckland Volcanic field. There’s no 'One Tree', it’s a long story, but there ARE a lot of sheep and, because its springtime, LAMB!!! Really cute, I’m a huge fan. I spent a good deal of time trying to pet one but they really were not into it. So I settled with “joining a herd” which consisted of me following around a flock of sheep until the unamused mother scared me away. No worries, we befriended a Siamese cat named Alfie who liked to chase little children around the mountain and have his ears scratched by Laura.

HWS PUT US IN TWIP ALREADY, HONESTLY!

        I'm teaching four classes this week, so my next post will probably be about that. One lesson is an in depth look at the Auckand volcanic field and a “tour” of the craters using GoogleEarth software. Another lesson is comparing NZ energy sources and energy consumption with those of the USA and other countries- that one is very discussion oriented and I’m excited to hear some more opinions about my ever-so-wasteful American culture. I’ve started booking trips to tour places outside Auckland on the weekends, and this upcoming weekend my entire study abroad group will be traveling to the Bay of Islands. It’s a weird    balance between work and play over here, but I’m cool with it.
     Even though I didn't really write anything it about it, i'm also enjoying the city-life a lot. Yesterday a group of us went down to the harbor to eat fish-n-chips and be harassed by seagulls. The weather was brilliant, everyone was out in the streets and the simple pleasures of that afternoon reminded me how lucky I am to have this experience, even through the tough stuff. I can't believe a month has gone by, does this mean i'm not considered a tourist anymore? Please? 

nope, still a tourist

ps: lawl at my post title, you know you love it!