By the numbers
17,168 steps
11.84kms
I woke up early enough so I would get to the National
Archives with heaps of time as the more time I spent there then the more things
I could find. That was the plan and then I have the afternoon free as I would
be gone by lunch time or so I hoped. I wanted to catch the train as the bus
would be a bit slower or so my reasoning would go and I could have something to
eat before I left. That eating place would be the home of the Big kiwi
breakfast and coffee where I was happy for a short while. I did find out one I
got to Britomart that I had done nearly 2kms walking the entire way from one
end of Queen street to the other. Now we know why I am not enthusiastic about
walking up that way on a slope.
Looking out the window as I headed out to Onehunga, I could
see the trains going into Britomart were chockas with people while I was on the
one with less people and that was the end of the line. I was wondering where
the bus left that I needed to catch and found I had close to half hour to get
the bus, so that meant I could wander. I found information panels that gave
some of the areas history including where there was a volcano crater that no
one really knows about, The Onehunga line was the first railway in New Zealand,
the area was once home to the Fencibles who were the defenders or civilian
army. They were meant to be a sort of militia to help when there was trouble
with the Maori. I found a bookstore that I wanted to have a look in later that
day when I went for a big wander. I had the niggling thought that I had read
about this bookstore and it had been recommended to visit.I wanted wait for the
bus in case that I missed it as I tend to do.
It didn’t take long for the bus to arrive and I reaslised
just how quick it was since every other time I had visited, I had walked from
Mangre shopping centre, which is sort of close to the Archives if you want a 40
min walk. I hopped off at what I thought to be the right bus stop and found I
still had a 15 min walk ahead of me. I found that I could have stopped right
outside the building. Even though I had gotten to the archives with heaps of
time as they had only just opened. I was wanting to look at records relating to
Gum Diggers and I found some for the Williams family too. I ended up taking 484
pictures on my phone after I tried an app that is a document scanner. I scanned
close to 20 pages before it told me it wanted some OR code not that I knew what
it was and wouldn’t go any further. I tried again and the same thing so I ended
up taking photos that I will sort out. It was just after 2pm when I left to
catch the bus and even then I had to wait around half hour. I did have a muesli
bar to chomp on since that was really my lunch.
The bus took me all the way into Onehunga where I jumped off
since it was the end of the line. Someone had lost their passport on one of the
buses and he was freaking a little bit. I wanted the bookshop, but the local Saint
Peters church caught my attention with the headstones. They included someone
who had died on the ship Opheus in 1863. This was one of the worst maritime
disasters in New Zealand. The bookshop I
wanted was called Hard To Find Bookshop and what I found, I was not expecting.
The shop was bigger on the inside and covered the upstairs too. I did actually
find several books that I was looking for, which I thought would be of
interest. They even let me use the staff loo when I needed it and I knew they
had great service. I had to leave my bag at the front and you could see why as
you could never get through the store with one on your back.
I did have other plans like head towards One Tree Hill, but
at that time of day I couldn’t do it as I wanted to get back, although I took a
wander to the cemetery on Onehunga. The Waikaraka Cemetery had my interest even
though I was wondering who was in it. The cemetery was on my Auckland map and I
walked that way. I found I had to cross at traffic lights as the traffic was
bumper to bumper and I was thinking it would become heavier. A half hour later
the traffic would be lighter not that I would know that. I got stuck trying to
walk through the Waikaraka sports field carpark until I got to a fence with the
cemetery on the other side. I had to wander around the outer edges of people
playing games on the field and apparently the stone wall was historic and being
repaired. The cemetery was interesting, although I did find the services
memorial and wandered around the closely packed graves. I was by this time getting hungry and knew I
should head back to the city before it became too late. Once at the train
station I learnt from some ladies with bikes who were going to the opening of a
new cycle trail that was once an off ramp for the city and now called the light
trail. I will have to check this out soon as it is meant to be pink.
Tomorrow I am meant to head to Pokeno where I will spend
they day exploring, although I probably wont need the whole day, but you never
know. I will find plenty to keep myself busy. I will have to come back to Onehunga when I have a full day
No comments:
Post a Comment