Almost don’t want to type anything here, as the photos can do the talking. Gorgeous day today, so wandered over to the Domain which is between my flat and the store in Parnell. The 75 hectare park has been developed around the cone of an extinct volcano. The view on the steps of the War Museum (at the peak) is spectacular.
…TRAINERS BY THE TON
Merchant houses on Princes St built by rich British immigrants during the Victorian period.
The 54-metre clock-tower, and symbol of Auckland University. Referred to by some as the “Wedding Cake”.
This is Albert Park which backs onto my next apartment (soon soon). Best way to describe the park is a southern hemisphere central park. Lined with tall buildings, it’s a little oasis downtown.
The above photo is the view from the entrance to my apartment building. Auckland has a habit of building tall, but not large. There are a lot of lanky and skinny buildings around downtown. Combine that with very steep hills, makes for some interesting architecture, and spectacular views. Almost as if the buildings are trying to catch up with the sky-tower. Many Aucklanders I’ve spoken to are indifferent to the tower, to me the City skyline would be pretty indifferent without it…
So New Zealand is the opposite side of the world to the UK? Not quite. I’d have to fly South a couple of hundred miles over the ocean to get there. The term Antipodal is where two points on Earth are connected by a straight line through the centre of the Earth. Pretty much if you dug a hole straight down, it would be where you came out. Or the furthest you can get away from the UK…
So that saying “down under” isn’t quite accurate. The Antipode of Auckland is infact Gibraltar, the irony being that both are part of the British Commonwealth. Antipode of Wellington – Madrid. Antipode of the UK? The Antipodes Islands (of course), located in the south Pacific, 770 km SE of New Zealand. Inhospitable and uninhabited (except the odd Albatross and Penguin)
Remember the trip down to Wellington that took me past the Tongariro volcanic complex?
Well Mount Ngauruhoe is starting to become restless, as there’s been significant change in the number and magnitude of low frequency earthquakes being recorded around the Mountain. It was one of the most active Volcanoes of the 20th Century in the World, erupting 45 times, the last time in 1977. It’s name means “throwing heated stones”.
If you think you recognise it from somewhere, it starred as Mount Doom in the Lord of the Rings Trilogy. Or rather some scenes were filmed on it’s slopes as it was not permitted to film the summit of Ngauruhoe because of it being sacred to MÄ?ori of the region.
This happened only 10 years ago to it’s larger sister, Mount Ruapehu
That’s Mount Ruapehu as it is today in the happymedium header ^^^
Obligatory long exposure while moving camera night-time shot of Auckland Skyline…