One of Auckland's volcanic cones, and the war cemeteryYesterday (the 19th according to New Zealand), we woke up early (7:30am) and had a quick breakfast on the Marco Polo. We left the ship on busses around 9:30am, and they took us to the airport, where we waited for the Air New Zealand flight to Auckland. The flight was very brief, only about an hour. I sat next to a gentleman from the Marco Polo and a young New Zealand woman backpacker on her way back to her home at the Bay of Isles from a trip to Queensland, where she had done the "Awesome Foursome": bunge jumping, white water rafting, and a couple other dangerous sports.
At Auckland, we were met by busses again, and taken on a two hour bus tour of Auckland. It was pretty interesting, but again I felt like we didn't have any time at all to absorb anything. The city is built amongst and on top of a number of volcanic cones, all extinct for thousands of years.
One of Auckland's volcanic cones, and the war cemetery
It was interesting to see the huge circular or oval hills scattered throughout the urban sprawl of the city. One of these cones is named "One Tree Hill", because it has one tree growing at its top: a pine of some sort. This is undoubtedly the most famous tree in all of Auckland: it can be seen from most places in the city. Next to the tree there is an obelisk, placed there to symbolize the peaceful relationship with the Maori indians who were here thousands of years before the English or the French. (Much of New Zealand, especially Auckland, where the Maori population is concentrated most heavily and still growing, is attempting to be bilingual, speaking both English and the Polynesian language spoken by the Maori.)
One-tree Hill, seen from Mount Eden