By the numbers
12.30kms
17,841 steps
I was going to Pokeno today and had to be on the bus by 8am
so was on a tight schedule to get there in time. I wanted to get some food
before I ended up that way and knew of the one place I wanted to go. Right next
to Sky City in Auckland there is a 24 hour restaurant called Dennys and I had
always wanted to go there. Usually I had a big bag on my back, but today I did
not. I ordered a nice filling meal with a coffee so that I could stay alert all
day hopefully. At the time I was wondering which bus I would catch that is
leaving at 8am as they were at the time all leaving well before that time. On
my return I found the bus to be leaving correctly as it was going to Rotorua
and the driver was happy that I had no bags.
The drive by bus took me through several towns where I was
looking in my New Zealand Wars guide book by David Green and using my phone to
see if things were possible to find. I found its possible to reach the town of
Drury by regular bus and a train on a regular basis. My hunt for New Zealand
Wars locations were becoming extremely doable in locating. The bus didn’t really
take that long to get to Pokeno and I was happy to get off on such a short trip
that was around an hour or so. I wanted to wander to the first location that I
want wanting and since my Auckland map book had no maps of the area I had
written the streets down that I needed. The idea worked really well as I was
able to follow them and found the first cemetery, which was the Pokeno
cemetery, which in the guide called it a military cemetery. The whole area was
pretty built up and it made me think that it could be an Auckland suburb as I
had counted at least 8 houses being built. The grave I was after was a
dedication to the soldiers who fell in the Maori war or the Waikato wars in the
1860s the Queens Redoubt that I would visit later was a staging post to send
soldiers.
After wandering around that cemetery, I headed back the way
I came to the Fraser street cemetery also known as Pokeno cemetery. I had to
walk under the expressway and I had wondered if I could do that. There was a footpath
and I wandered my way on knowing the local police wont bother me. What I was
looking for in this cemetery was an idol of mum’s that I had found by accident and
that was the grave of Possum Bourne, his first name is Peter and he was buried
next to his father. It was the easiest grave to find as you could see it when
you enter the cemetery. They were fixing some of the other older headstones in
the cemetery too as a few of them were on wood rails. I thought it was going to
rain and I hoped it wasn’t.
It wasn’t yet lunch time by the time I had returned to town
and I was beginning to think that I had made a small blunder with giving myself
nearly all day in the town. I headed to the shop where I knew I could get a 20
scoop ice cream and ended up with a 12 scoop instead. We don’t want me getting
sick while wandering around town. The girl at the counter made sure that was
what I wanted and I said sure. I found they have over 40 flavours and I got 12
of them. I realised I needed a plate too, but not before I got a picture. The
monstrosity lasted several licks before I had to rest it on the plate and eat
it like that with a spoon. People were watching me eat it and I had been told
by the shop girl that she had been sick when eating the 20 scooper. It took a
little while, but I finished it.
The next destination was to visit the Queen redoubt and
other than a sign there wasn’t muh more that I could tell you about the
earthworks. I did find an unlocked gate on the grounds, but I knew better than
touch it and trespass in the middle of the day. I thought there was going to be
more like information panels or a display, but I have no idea. With nothing
much to do until my bus came, I found a shady tree and read a book for the next
several hours. A random person walked by and dipped to look at my book and came
back later to have a chat. It was getting closer to the time I wanted to get
the bus and I had thought Pokeno was a good book reading town especially
watching the amount of people stop to buy ice cream.. Before the time the bus
was meant to come I bought myself some food as I was getting hungry and thought
I may as well. Turns out the bus was nearly 40 mins late and I was starting to
panic a little bit as I had thought the bus had gone past without stopping. I
wondered how I would get back to the city without the bus.
Traffic on the way back to Auckland had really built up so I
was back in the city nearly an hour later than I was supposed to be. I was lucky
to have gotten food before leaving. On the way back to the hostel I helped show
a pretty lady how to get to Queen street as I was going there. I told her to
follow me as she was walking to Hobson street going in the wrong direction. I
ended up in a music store with a song playing that had me wondering if there
was a problem with the CD, but it was actually the song.
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