Kia Ora

Kia Ora

Interesting facts.

NZ. or Aotearoa In Maori, means 'The Land of the long white cloud'. It is quite a young country, geologically active, with tectonic faults and volcanoes, glaciers and rivers constantly building and eroding land. It consists of many islands, the main ones being the North and South island. It used to be part of one land mass, Gondwana, and split off 80 million years ago, taking with it its unique plants and bird life. The first Eastern Polynesian settlers arrived 750 years ago, and the first Europeans to settle arrived in 1769 after discovery by James Cook.

As it is a long thin country, there are several climates and micro climates within, from sub tropical in the North and temperate (similar to UK) in the South. The total population is around 4.2 million ( UK has nearly 63 million) of which 1 million are based in Auckland. Auckalnd also known as the 'The city of sails' (due to a high proportion of boat ownership) is the biggest city, though not the capital, which is Wellinton. Auckland’s weather is warm/hot long summers with mild and wet winters. (average annual sunshine hours= 2050. Manchester=1200 hrs) and (annual average rain=1240mm. Manchester=810mm!) most rain falling as heavy tropical showers in the winter months of June-July

Thursday 10 June 2010

Coast 2 Coast Walk

On a whim we decided to try out the 16km (10mile) Coast to Coast walk in Auckland. This goes from the Tasman sea at Onehunga (West coast) to the South Pacific at Auckland Harbour (East coast).
Without a map we were relying on the route which according to our Auckland guide book was "well signposted". After a long detour we established that some of the signs were missing and we had to rely on Matt's trusty iPhone to get a online map.
The route takes you up some famous Auckland features such as One Tree Hill (minus the tree), Mt Eden, Auckland University and the Auckland Domain (which had lot's of wild parrots) ending up at the very swanky Auckland Marina.
We managed to get the bus home which saved our feet from the 10 mile return trip. Once back Matt realised that factor 6 suncream on his head was probably not strong enough for even the winter sun here! Time to crack open the factor duffle coat!
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