So I said goodbye to Tom and headed out at 8:30 a.m. to meet “Eddie”, the owner of Power to the Pedal for a 3 hour bike ride around Auckland. Now, unfortunately, it was pouring rain, but my attitude was screw it. I put on my raincoat and waterproof pants and cabbed it over to the Park Hyatt where I met Eddie and three other guys who would be riding with me today. (Two folks cancelled because of the rain.)
Anyway, Eddie outfitted us with additional rain gear, helmets and earphones so we could hear his commentary as we road. Now the bikes we were using were electric bikes, meaning we could power the bikes using our own power or switch on the motor and obtain a boost. Given the numerous hills in the area, Eddie advised we would all want to be switching on the electric gears.
So after a brief introduction to the bikes and a bit of practice, we set out on the waterfront bike path to Westhaven/St. Mary’s Bay (they were filming a movie there) and past the myriad of yachts to a lookout point where we could make out the Auckland Harbor Bridge through the mist and clouds.
After a brief stop here, we got back on our bikes and reversed course through Westhaven and then the Wynward quarter. This path took us along a freeway and then to an elevator which we loaded our bikes in and went up two levels to a bridge overpass where we cycled across the freeway and back onto a bike path that took us under the freeway and along some narrow streets before reaching Victoria Park.
We stopped briefly at Victoria Park and then continued on to Freeman’s Bay (where the dude riding in front of me up a hill suddenly stopped forcing me to stop and that made it exceedingly difficult to get going on the hill again so I ended up pushing my bike about an eighth of a mile up hill … thanks jackass ….)
Anyway, once I caught up to the group, we crossed the street began our trip along the Nelson Street Cycleway crossing a number of streets before joining up with the Te Aar I Whiti aka the LIghtpath aka Pink Street and yes, the path is pink. But the really cool feature about the path is that there are LED lights imbedded into the safety barriers so when cyclists pass in the evening the path lights up. Not really sure why the path is pink, but the idea of the path is to celebrate being active.
So from here we passed through some suburbs before turning up a hill to climb to the Mt. Eden Summit, a former volcano that features the best views in Auckland. And thank God for the electric bikes, because I am certain I would still be pushing the bike up hill.
Now the good news is that the rain had stopped so by the time we reached the top of Mt. Eden, the clouds were lifting and we actually had a pretty good view to the city, including Eden Park, home of the famous All Blacks New Zealand rugby team. In addition, the Auckland Harbor Bridge was now clearly visible and we even had a decent view of the Auckland Sky Tower. And all around us we saw little mounds, which were a reminder that this city is built on ancient volcanoes.
So after taking in the views, we turned our attention to the nearby enormous 50 meter deep crater that was caused by a massive volcanic eruption some 15,000 years ago. However, no one is permitted to walk in the crater. The Māori believe this is sacred ground and as a result, the crater is off limits.
After walking around for a bit, we got back on our bikes and headed down hill and onto the Grafton Gully Cycleway where we made our way to the Auckland domain park and winter gardens, home to New Zealand’s war museum and cenotaph.
We paused briefly here, before riding through more suburbs towards the waterfront where we stopped in Myers Park to admire the enormous pohutukawa tree, which flowers in the winter and is called New Zealand’s Christmas tree.
From here, we picked up the Quay Street Cycleway along the Auckland waterfront passing the shipping terminals along Waitemata Harbour and Princes Wharf before reaching the area of the waterfront known as the Viaduct, where New Zealand famously hosted the America’s Cup.
We made a brief stop here, before continuing the ride along the waterfront, only to be forced off our bikes again by one of the many area bridges going up to let a sailboat through. We ended up walking our bikes across the bridge once the bridge was down because there were so many people in the area. And once on the other side, we road the two short blocks back to our starting point.
Once back at my hotel, I grabbed the luggage I was taking with me and caught a cab to the Auckland airport for my short 40 minute flight to Rotorua. (I will be back to Auckland on Thursday for a more extended visit). And what I did not know is that with regional flights in New Zealand, you only need to arrive about 20 minutes before the flight so I ended up hanging out for over two hours.
Now when our boarding time came and went, I started to get worried. There was a lot of unsettled weather in the area, and I was afraid my flight might be cancelled (as had been the case with a number of flights while I was sitting there). Fortunately, we ended up boarding about a half hour late, but were told there was a chance we would not be able to land because of bad weather in Rotorua, which would mean returning back to Auckland. ACK.
However, after travelling most of the flight in thick white clouds, we got lucky just as we approached Rotorua with break in the pea soup and the pilot landed the plane (to applause) like a champ. Thanks Captain!
Anyway, I made my way to my hotel, checked in, grabbed a quick dinner and then took an Uber about 20 minutes out of town to the Redwoods Treewalk, which turned out to be enjoyable, but not something I think I would do again.
The redwoods are bathed in lanterns and various lights and you walk on a series of catwalks between the trees. The experience was OK, but quite frankly, I think I would have enjoyed it more if I had done the walk during the day. I am not sure I understand why it is billed as a can’t miss Rotorua experience. (Sorry TripAdvisor, I disagree on this one.). I found it hard to see crossing the catwalks, and I missed the sensation of being surrounded by the mammoth trees as I walked across the catwalks. Walking in the dark with lanterns and a few lights obscured the trees and limited the experience IMHO.
So tomorrow, I have a full day of touring the Waimangu Volcanic Valley and surrounds. Geysers and mud pools will be the order of the day.