We're in the middle of a biological event! The Corpse Flower has bloomed in Auckland 🙂 Not that it does this rarely, but the last time it bloomed was in 2013. On the outside, this «flower» over three meters tall. I didn't get to the fragrant blooming period, so I can't tell you anything about the smell, but people who went to smell it say it doesn't stink much. Also in the post threw flower photos made in June-July this year (we have such a winter in the southern hemisphere). Since I don't know what all of them are called, the captions will just be numbers.

Back in early April during the big Easter vacation, I traveled to Gisbon to deliver a long-promised gift from Russia. As entertainment on the second day we went to the hot springs of Morere, where besides the springs there are several trails in the wildest New Zealand forest, of varying degrees of difficulty, with a climb of about 280 meters.

A test post to check out the blog extension. It's all on my phone, but I did my best, and there are some cool shots in there. 🙂 At the same time I tested MapMyWalk - a program that writes a track when you walk, but most importantly it shows the tracks of other walkers, and you can choose someone else's route and follow it. Very handy in unfamiliar terrain.

I went to the zoo to see the wonderful Kiwi bird and everyone else who would be there. In the end, I saw everyone, but not the Kiwi. In the enclosure where they live, an artificial night is created, and you can't see anything at all! The entrance ticket to the zoo costs $29, and for $85, you can become a special zoo lover and visit places inaccessible to ordinary people, like petting lemurs or feeding kangaroos. I would like to specifically mention the navigation in the zoo, which is just obscenely confusing. There are no signs on the territory at all, and I made three circles around the baboons before finding the passage to the Kiwi. At the entrance, everyone is given a map, but the map is schematic and does not reflect the actual distances and locations of the sections. Nothing is clear! But the map does have a schedule of when different animals are fed on which days, and you can watch shows all day.

Le Roys Bush, is a fairly well-known piece of nature in the northern part of Auckland. Known primarily for the difference in elevation from sea level to… I don't know how far it says to the highest point on Norhshore. 🙂 Historically, the trails in this forest were used by Maori to bring sea fishing products to their villages. Now these impenetrable thickets are used for walking, extreme running with high altitude gradients, well for wildlife watching.

The last day in Auckland started with torrential rain and hurricane force winds blowing cyclists out of the way. Thankfully, all the streets in the center are equipped with awnings and you can move around staying dry, but crossing the road was wet. There's a little bit of the museum in the post, and a lot of airplanes.

Continuation of the 25 kilometer hike across Auckland. This part will be two of Auckland's most popular tourist hotspots: Mount Eden and One Tree Hill. Mount Eden is the crater of a once erupting volcano. It was a long time ago, about 28,000 years ago. And One Tree Hill is where the Maori lived before the Europeans arrived. The original tree was cut down back in 1870 by some white asshole. Later, John Campbell tried to re-grow the tree, but to grow the same tree of the species [totara] failed. Eventually two pine trees took root at the summit, but these too were cut down once again by the Maori in 1960 for being a foreign, non-sacred tree. Now there is an obelisk to John Kembel at the summit, and the mountain is popularly known as None Tree Hill 🙂

Auckland is New Zealand's largest city and it is more like our, European, idea of cities than any other. For those who are not afraid to walk a lot through the city there is a route through the most important tourist places of Auckland - Mount Eden, Auckland Domain, Memorial Museum, One Tree Hill. The route is 16km long, but I got over 20. I left at 9am and got back to the hotel by bus at 6pm.

October 11th, I had to test the efficiency of New Zealand's transportation systems. From Christchurch to Picton by bus, then from Picton to Wellington by ferry, and from Wellington to Auckland by plane. I had bought the tickets in advance, but if someone was delayed by just an hour, the whole plan would fall apart... I didn't want that to happen. The morning turned out to be wonderful. I woke up at 6:00, had breakfast, and was at the bus stop by 6:45, where I still had to go through a simple registration for the flight and exchange my electronic ticket for a regular one. When I entered the office, I saw two women, one of whom was a pure-blooded Maori. I handed her the papers, and she suddenly asked me in perfect Russian, 'Shevchenko?' I didn't even have time to react, and she added, 'Russian?' I was completely amazed 🙂. Then she continued in English, saying that her husband is Russian 🙂. At that moment, the second woman in the office woke up and exclaimed, 'YOU HAVE A RUSSIAN HUSBAND O_O?!' In general, the morning turned out to be positive for everyone 🙂.

Like any other city in New Zealand, Christchurch has a botanical garden and a local history museum. I don't like museums, so there won't be many pictures from there, but the botanical garden is there mmmmmm...