April 28th, New Zealand Day 13

I awoke this morning know full well that my time in Aotearoa had drawn to a close. I had seen and done some amazing things but now had come the time to part this land. There were those on the tour who were continuing on to the Bay of Islands further north for another 2 days but sadly, I was not among them.

We left Rotorua and were driven to the hamlet of Waitomo (wahy-TOH-moh) which only exists because of the nearby caves which attract tourists. I did not go spelunking (caving) but I did go horseback riding in the country side. In the nearby town of Matamata (MAH-tah-MAH-tah) is where Hobbiton was filmed and it is the only set from the movie still in place. The Waitomo countryside on the other hand was used for filming the scenes at the Weathertop, the ruins where the Hobbits are attacked by the Nazgul and Aragorn beats them off. The riding was very good and I took some pictures of the interesting limestone formations along the way. I imagine the countryside is very similar to that of Ireland, also underlain by a large slab of limestone.

After leaving Waitomo, we made our way to the city of Auckland, New Zealand's largest city with about 1 million inhabitants. It is known as the City of Sails because it is such an important port. It was the capital of the colony until 1865 when the seat of power was moved to Wellington. Just before we arrived in Auckland, we passed through the town of Ngaruawahia (NGAH-roo-ah-wah-hee-ah), the Maori capital. There is a large mansion there where the Queen of the Maori lives and although she has no official power, she is often consulted on national issues.

Approaching Auckland we saw the Skytower, the tallest building in New Zealand. We also had an appreciable view of 1 Tree Hill, just outside the city. For those U2 fans out there, this is the same 1 Tree Hill as in the song of the same name. A Maori friend of the band's was killed in a road accident and U2 wrote a song in his memory. Although it has no tree on it now, 1 Tree Hill did once have 1 tree on it. It was planted by a Maori chief as a symbol of peace between the Maori and the Europeans. Several years ago, an activist protesting what he claimed was the ignoring of Maori concerns by the government, cut down the tree and it has never been replaced. He later learned that the chief that planted the tree was his ancestor. Atop 1 Tree Hill there is a memorial dedicated to the Maori people by a European who had a great respect for them.

After arriving at Base Auckland, my hostel for the night, I wandered about the city and went to the Skytower, though not up it. They have a casino there as well as a chair bungee site nearby. You can even paraglide from the top of the Skytower if you want to. After celebrating with the group, I settled in for my last night in New Zealand. I also had an early start to the morning as my flight left at 09:00 and I had to be at the airport by 07:00.

Photos are now available at: http://newzealandday13.blogspot.com/