My final full day here in Waiheke. After this I head back to the North Island and head further north to Whangarei for a couple days. But more on that in another post, more on what I did today. While I was weeding, I came across something interesting.
Biology was my worst subject in the sciences, but that still looks like a bone to me. A vertebrae possibly? Of a previous traveller? Just kidding about that last part – the family just moved into this house…or so they say…;)
After my work had finished for the day I decided to attempt my longest and most difficult hike yet – the Northwest corner of Waiheke. Rugged and hilly, my hip bursitis hadn’t given me any pain in the last few days, so I figured I might as well go and get myself injured again while I still have the chance. Or, give the hip a full workout and see if it can take some of the harder and longer walks I have coming. Today’s hike would be about 6km and take 2 hours.
It was apparent from the sign this would be a bit trickier than your average walk in the park. I figured that hey, I’ve hiked (tramped is the word they use here) plenty, shouldn’t be an issue.
What the map doesn’t show is the elevation change for the trail. It turned out to be something like a SIN wave with an amplitude of 50-100m or so (in normal talk – I walked up and down lots of big hills :)). From the top of the first hill I got up, I was given a splendid view of Matiatia Bay (the fancy passenger ferry docks here) and in the far distance, Auckland City.
Continuing on, the trail moved into the quieter north part of the track, and the deserted Owhanake Bay.
At the bottom of the bay was this odd looking thing. Without an information board to tell me what exactly it was, I can only assume it was a gift from the Trojans.
From my initial view of Owhanake Bay, I couldn’t actually see most of it. I was simply at the side of it, looking towards the ocean. I had to climb another hill to see the rest:
Finally, I got to the bottom of the next set of hills and found a welcoming bench, where I relaxed for a few minutes and simply enjoyed the scenery.
Cutting back across the interior I cut my trip a bit short by sticking to the road instead of heading up more hills – I didn’t want to push myself too much more (hip had started to ache). That, and it was getting dark. All in all though, it was a pleasant 2 hour hike – once I left where I parked my car, I didn’t see another person for about 90 minutes and didn’t hear a car for over 60. Pretty peaceful place here on Waiheke Island.