How does one follow up 14 days of intense physical effort in the mountains of the South Island of New Zealand? Why, of course, you fly to the north island, absorb a quick reminder of the vagaries of driving a car on the left, grab some sleep and then go for a 3 1/2 hour bike tour of Auckland. A huge disclaimer – they were powerful e bikes and our biggest challenge was learning what buttons to push and not veering into traffic.
Our tour started on the waterfront and eventually took us to the highest point in the city, Mount Eden.
Our guide was a knowledgeable historian and took us through the evolution of the area from a Māori stronghold to a British base to the vibrant metropolis of 1.6M that exists today.
With bays, coves, rivers and the ocean at its doorstep, it’s no wonder Auckland is a city of boats. The world’s largest marina (2,000+ berths) hosts a staggering array of every imaginable type of sailboat and yacht.
The city also is attempting to get more people out of cars and has a very friendly approach to developing bike lanes and rights of way.
The hills, and there are some steep ones, were a breeze with the e bike so getting to the top of Mount Eden was no problem. As with our hikes, the reward was the view.
Then it was back down to the harbour with our guide describing numerous landmarks on the way. We also saw many vestiges of NZ’s participation in the Americas Cup sailing race including the launch of a small prototype used for testing potential design features of the next generation of yachts.
The harbour is a bustling place full of F&B options. Having worked so hard on the bike – NOT, we certainly had to rehydrate.
Tomorrow we take action adventure to a new level with a walk/float through caves south of the city. With glow worms adorning some of the caverns it could be quite illuminating.
The Bennetts On Tour 