Mt. Eden

One of my goals for today was to figure out how the bus system around here works (a story for another post). As I was riding around, this sign caught my attention from the bus window.

I had seen a picture of Mt. Eden on another blog, so I knew that it was an inactive volcano, but not much else about it. I hadn't been planning to climb to the summit, but I decided to jump off the bus and give it a go. Fortunately I had my camera with me.

Mt. Eden is the highest natural point in the Auckland area (or so says Wikipedia). It's more of a hill than a mountain, as it only reaches 200m above sea level. Yet it gives some of the best views of the Auckland CBD.

There's a winding circular path called Summit Road that leads to the top. It was a nice little walk, probably about 25 minutes or so until I reached the top. Mt. Eden is in a wooded area--a stark and welcome contrast from the city center. The views kept getting better as I walked higher.

The summit of Mt. Eden itself isn't particularly interesting. It's a cinder cone volcano, so the top is a grassy crater that's probably 200 feet deep. There's a little monument up there, and a bunch of tourists. Some buses carrying Japanese tourists passed me on the way up, and there were a few dozen passenger cars there as well. For reasons I don't fully understand, most of drivers of the cars were sitting in their vehicles in the parking lot with the seats reclined and their eyes closed. I don't know why you'd want to take a nap when there's such nice scenery around.

The tourists detracted from the serenity of the area, but it was still a beautiful park. This is the New Zealand that I had pictured in my mind's eye, and I haven't even left Auckland yet. I'm looking forward to what I'm going to see when I start traveling throughout the country.