Getting settled in

The combination of me pushing my self to experience as much as possible before leaving Sydney, and getting sick, left me quite worn out. As such my first week in Auckland was very quite. I dealt with a quite a few administrative things like getting my student card (which they lost somehow), a New Zealand phone number, a public transport card, taking photos of everything not in tip top shape in the flat etc. As well as just establishing a new household from scratch, it is a real surprise how many things you just take for granted in a kitchen, be it salt and pepper, stock cubes or vinegar.

But in parallel with all these boring tasks, I also started exploring the city. I went down to the harbour and where I reminisced about last time we were in Auckland 11 years ago. Also down in the harbour is the Maritime museum (free for Auckland residents 😄) which was really interesting and where I “lost” half of 16th of February. In the same walk I also went over to one of the yacht clubs where the “small” boats where moored. Like the maybe 100 meter long monstrosity bellow.

I’ve also been exploring the various volcanoes around the city, which look very strange to my eye. Apart from them the city is relatively flat but then every so often there is a very sharp lump in the landscape where the mother nature decided she wanted a hill, for example under the university which adds a bit of extra exercise going to school. Basically all of the volcano tops are now parks and the best one I’d say is the Auckland Domain, which incidentally is right behind our accommodation. It is a little rainforest in the middle of a city with more than a million inhabitants, and thanks to the deafening amounts of cicadas in it you can actually forget that there is a highway next door while in it. And while on the subject of the size of Auckland, it is very strange when viewed through an European lens. The greater Auckland area has about as many inhabitants as Storstockholm, but very differently distributed. Auckland Central Business District is filled with skyscrapers way outstripping anything Stockholm can boast, but almost no one lives there, and as soon as you leave it the density goes way down giving way to enormous areas of continuous low density suburban neighbourhoods. Which does mean that Auckland is quite a lot more difficult to get around in without a car compared to Stockholm, which gets even worse when you want to travel across the country.

Another very impressive volcano is Mt Eden, the tallest volcano inside the city with a clearly visible though grass covered crater. I went to Mt Eden on the 19th of February, and was generally amazed about the grass. I don’t know if it’s natural, and if not whether it is a Maori or Kiwi design, but basically all the volcanoes here are covered in lush grass fields with the occasional tree thrown into the mix. Something like the quintessential English rolling grass hills except it’s just one very steep hill with a hole in the middle.

From the top of Mt Eden you can clearly see Rangitoto rising out of the bay. A volcanic island just 600 years old it towers over Auckland when not hidden behind the smaller volcanoes of Devonport. And that is where my adventures would take me next, but that is a story for another day.