By the numbers
17.44kms
25,319 steps
I became worried first thing this morning when I realised my
charger was no longer working and I became worried my charger was now cactus
especially once I woke up and tried it on the power in my locker. It was dead
there too. I had thought about going out to Howick and Mission Bay on my last
day, but then thought that I should at least do some packing after I post some
more books off. While I tried to charge my phone upstairs, which actually
worked. I didn’t want my phone at 80% as I knew the charge would go down
quickly. I heard several sirens. Then I heard quite a few more and wondered
what was going on. I was going out for breakfast and to get a new charger so
planned to spend an easy morning that included packing as I didn’t want to
disturb the others in the room.
When I walked into the reception area of the hostel I seen
the flashing lights of a police van who was directing people away from Queen
street. Going down Queen, I found there were firies, ambos and police all
around blocking traffic off. Right across the street from the other YHA there
was a fire and they were sorting it out towards the end as I had not been there
from the start. It was apparently someones cooking. I had breakfast and headed
to JBHIFI to get a new cable, which I soon found with help. I got myself a new
belt as my old one is getting worn out and posted two books while I was in town.
I headed back to the hostel and the fire brigade by this time had finished up
and had two vehicles with lights, but traffic was running again on the street.
I was hoping this wouldn’t happen when I was due to head home as I would have
to walk a bit far with what I think to be a heavy bag.
I sorted out my bag and wander up the road to see if there
was a book shop that had my interest and found that it no longer existed as
there was a new building being built. I had to make sure as you never know what
source I could miss out on. I found something even better than a bookshop and
that was Hell Pizza. I plan to head there later for dinner. I walked back to K’
Road where I caught the bus down to Britomart. That was then when I got
confused as to where I had to catch the bus let alone the bus number to Mission
Bay. I found the right street and I couldn’t figure out where to go until I
looked at the time table, which said its middle stop was Mission Bay and then I
realised I shouldn’t be too worried. I jumped onto the first bus that takes me
out that way. I knew where I wanted to go as I wanted to walk up to Bastion
Point, which had the Michael Joseph Savage Memorial and being New Zealand’s
first Labour government. Bastion Point has an interesting history as it was a
Russian Scare fort and that was destroyed to make way for Tamaki drive,
although there were fortifications for WWII and then a point in time with Maori
land issue where there were arrests and all that there.
After doing my thing at the memorial and being buzzed by an
annoying drone that I was thinking of throwing my camera at as it was going
buzzzzzzzz. I was just thinking it was a lazy way of going through travel as
then you don’t get to walk around a location and experience the beautiful
views. Today was stunning and it was also really warm. I had water on me so all
was good there. I headed down to Mission Bay, which had something to do with
the Anglican Missions who would train Melanesian kids who would return to the
islands after their training. I wasn’t going to walk far, but being a nice day
I decided I would walk as far as St Heliers Bay and return. I didn’t realise
that it would be a decent walk and I was wandering along a nice footpath, while
people were sunbaking at the beach. I had music to listen to and kept on
walking. I turned around once I ended up at the Glen and the historic fig trees
that were growing out of the footpath. I could have caught a bus back to
Mission Bay, but I just walked back instead. Part of the reason for visiting
was I was looking for a retirement home for the Sisters of St Joseph of the
Sacred Heart located on Selwyn Avenue. I remembered the address, but not how
far up it was. I wandered up the hill and came across the address alright and I
wasn’t expecting it to be an actual retirement village. I wandered in and the
location commanded some really stunning views of the area. I didn’t want to
walk around the whole place as it would give me the risk of getting caught and
into trouble.
I walked back down the hill and planned to catch the bus
back as I was actually hot and bothered. I think I had enough sun for the day.
I headed towards the bus, but got distracted by a little memorial dedicated to
several Melanesian people who died at the mission. I never knew there was
anything like that and I was happy, so headed to the bus stop. Several went by,
but they were either not in service or were School buses. I had four others
waiting when I seen a bus approach, but I never flagged it down to see if
anyone else noticed. They noticed as it went past and I just smiled. Another bus
did come and it took us into the Britomart area where I went to buy something
for my sister who asked nicely. Now I was worried by how heavy my bag will be
this time around, although we have to see don’t we. I didn’t end up with pizza,
but I made sure I had something to eat before heading back satisfied with my
last day in Auckland. I was lucky to have dropped my jumper off as I really did
not need it.
No comments:
Post a Comment