Was a busy day yesterday. In addition to my usual weeding, I also helped to build an inside sauna:

Pretty swank little thing! After my work hours were finished, I went for a bit of a drive – this time to the far east side of Waiheke Island:

Rather than the roads I’d driven on so far, the majority of the roads on the east ring were dirt roads. And completely empty – the west end is barely populated. Still, it was beautiful rolling lands filled with sheep (those are the little white dots).

After I got to the far west end I parked the car at the end of the road, near a place called Stony Batter. During World War 2 New Zealand was concerned of the potential of a Japanese Invasion, so they built massive gun emplacements in various spots. Stony Batter held 3 emplacements (though nothing remains of the guns). Tunnels between the emplacements and nearby bunkers were also built and are now open to the public – but it was closed when I was there (winter time, not many people travelling). Now the area has been given back to the sheep and cows. The sheep are quite free to go where they please in some spots.

I decided to hike up to the top of one of the final hills in the area. I figured this meant I could hike into the pastures. This was a cow pasture, though I had passed the herd about 20 minutes prior. I had the area to myself.

The view of the setting sun from the top of the hill was quite pleasant.

The rocks in front were surprisingly large. They were also a unique part of the island – the rocks were boulders of volcanic rock and are where the area takes it’s name from apparently.

Yay for camera timers! I hadn’t seen a person in over an hour and the sheep unfortunately weren’t too adept at photo taking. As you can see – big rocks! After hiking 30 minutes back to my car, I continued my circuit of the east end of the island. I ended up at the southernmost part of Waiheke Island, with a remarkably calm and quiet bay.

After that, the sun had set and I was getting hungry for dinner so I returned to the house. After dinner I busied myself making a certain specialty:

They were well received. 🙂