Nobody bothered us parked just outside the park. We woke up to the sounds of all kinds of unfamiliar birds, cicadas, and the occasional bleat from a sheep in the adjacent field. We drove into the (small) park, strapped the Captain into his carrier, and set out for a two hour hike up to the top of a cliff. Wenderholm is an example of a nature reserve that New Zealand is trying to create more of, where they exterminate mammalian pests and return the ecosystem to be much closer to how it was before colonization. So there are signs everywhere about poison and dogs are not allowed, because they might eat the poisoned bait. The park includes what used to be a farm and sits at the mouth of a river. The river ends in a final oxbow that leaves a large, beautiful sandy beach at its end.
Departing on the hike took a while because the Captain wanted to watch the families of ducks that wandered through the campgrounds. We climbed up to the cliff through jungle, surrounded by a loud chorus of cicadas. Steep portions of the climb had wooden steps or walkways with grippy plastic mesh. Before you start the hike, there are stations to wash and disinfect your shoes. The Captain learned a new word: “jungle!”
On top of the cliff, we could see the Pacific, with a few sharp islands in the distance and one yacht anchored about a mile away. There was one person on the beach. What struck us again was how such a beautiful location, in places we have visited before, would be developed or developing, with hundreds of people. We saw a few other hikers, most of whom were in their fifties or sixties.
Hike complete, we headed back to Auckland for our evening entertainment: the Auckland Blues were playing the Highlanders in the first match of the Super Rugby series. We drove to nearby the stadium for lunch, finding a small organic grocery store where we could get some cooking staples. The Captain’s been only enthusiastic about eating pasta, so we bought ingredients for a few pasta like dishes we know he likes a lot (homdros, lentils with rice, etc). And wow is meat cheap, so we picked up two steaks.
We then headed to a camping park within Auckland, parked, showered, and visited the pool before heading on the bus to the match. The park had a small room with a TV and some books. The Captain was so happy to run around on carpet, sit down, and read.
Getting to the match was a bit of an adventure. We took a bus to Britamart, the central transit hub, then took a train to the stadium. The train was packed with Blues fans, hooting and hollering and cheering. A woman sitting next to the Private Eye commented that it was an embarrassment that rugby is the national sport and these hooligans represent the country. There was a bit of the bullying, brash, and bellicose English punter, but as the Private Eye pointed out, the first time the Giants won the World Series fans did set a MUNI bus on fire.
It turns out we had awesome seats! We were in the family section (no alcohol), so there were lots of other families there. We were in the front row, right up on the pitch, in the corner. This meant that when play came close to our corner, the players were only 100 or so feet away. We were facing west, so could see the sun set as the match began. We left with the he score close (22-24, Highlanders ahead) so we could miss the crush on the train home.
The Professor and the Private Eye: Adventures Abroad 