Middle Earth Tour: Day 25 Auckland is a little rosey

Middle Earth Tour: Day 25 Auckland is a little rosey

This morning was a busy one where I was going to leave for Auckland just before lunch. I was helping Granny and Claude with some stuff as the time ticked down to when I was leaving. I had the night before finished my blog early and did some research for the next couple of days to see what I wanted to do and I found my destinations like spend the day in Devenport looking at the old gun placements and heading to Eden Park. I think I have sorted that out and the day I arrive to Auckland I thought a short walk to Parnell. I did finish packing and had a coffee before leaving for the bus. I wasn’t too sure what the weather was going to do as there were reports there was rain in the future.

The bus was around 10 mins late though it was alright as I was not worried as I was happy to wait. The driver was called Rangi and he was the first Rangi I had ever met outside the movie and comic books, Footrot Flats. For the ride I had my nose in the book, but I don’t remember seeing toll roads any other time I had been between Auckland and Whangarei. There seems to be one and I was wondering about the interesting cemetery in the distance only to find it was a car park for the Albany shopping centre. I knew it was either a cemetery or a huge place where vehicles went to die. I knew when I could see the sky tower that I was very close to the city and would not be long before I had to get off as I was at my final destination. Once I got off the bus I had to remember the walk to the hostel and I was going around the streets and not direct to the hostel as I knew I could not do the steep hill climb even though I found a gentle slope to be better. I was sweating once I got to the hostel and I was able to check in. Once I was up in the room I found that I was the only one at the time in the room and knew that might not change at all.

Once I dropped my stuff off I wanted to walk to Judge Bay where I could see the old Parnell cemetery and St Stephens church or chapel. On the bus I was thinking I could take a quick trip over to Eden Park stadium and then Parnell, but I was over thinking what I was wanting to actually do with the time I had left in the day. The direction I walked was in my view a short cut as it would take me through the domain area where the Auckland Museum was located. I want going to walk from the bottom of Queen street around where Britomart transport centre is. This was a bit too far to walk and could take a couple of hours instead. The area of Parnell is a leafy high en suburb from the looks of it. I think it might be one of the oldest suburbs in Auckland, but I need to do more research into that. After I left the domain I was actually wondering which direction I should be walking until I seen a sign that had a list of places including the cemetery. I may have been wanting to visit one place, but I did instead end up at the Rose garden. The rose garden is a Parnell thing and I think is very permanent with historic or heritage roses planted in the area. It is well known as a tourist trap and maybe for lovers of roses. I did stop to take pictures of the roses and there was a group of some sort that was having an unveiling or something. At that stage I wasn’t sure if I knew where I was supposed to head next until I found.

 A path had my answer as it had a list of places where I could head to though I did end up down near the Parnell Baths until I found some stairs that took me into the cemetery. Nearby was another park that had a good view of the bay along with the loading docks. The cemetery had my interest too much as I was looking for something specific. There was an obelisk that I had read about in the Dargaville Museum that was dedicated to Frederick Dargaville who had died at sea. He was also I think had given his name to the town. According to the sign outside ‘the constitution of the Anglican church had been signed there in 1857’. I never knew there was a constitution for the Anglican church so that was interesting. There was a fort I had read about somewhere the day before that was near the Parnell Baths or above it and since I had found It had something to do with the Russian Scare in the 1800s, but I have extra time on Wednesday so I might find out before then. I am positive this is the area that has it especially since I found a foot bridge that takes me over Tamaki drive and the railway. The weather at this time had been turning and a lady that had been jogging in the area went past me at least 3 times so would have seem me looking t the heritage book on things to see in the area. There was a light drizzle on the way back to the hostel and I was happy with what I had found. I was more worried about the rain as I really didn’t want to get wet, but it never got any harder than a light drizzle that stopped.