Auckland, New Zealand
© Thomas Wilson Shawcross 17 May 2005
One Tree Hill
Today, I had lunch at the Sailfish Club in Palm Beach, Florida. The occasion was the monthly meeting of the Sons of the American Revolution. So, of course, the table conversation was about New Zealand.
Well, “of course” may not be the right word. Here is what happened: I was sitting next to a New Jersey man and his wife. His wife told me that they had retired to Palm Beach Gardens. I recognized that as being one of the local communities (my daughter has mentioned going to a mall there), but I admitted that I wasn’t quite sure where it was. I am embarrassed about how little I know about my own “hood,” so I muttered the excuse that my job had required a lot of travel to other countries, and when I was home I tended to stay at home. The wife asked me what country was my favorite. Without hesitation, I answered “New Zealand.”
I had gone to New Zealand on business. When I arrived, it had just finished raining, and a rainbow could be seen above a distant hill. At that time, I did not know it was called One Tree Hill, but I could see one very large tree on the top of the hill, next to a tall obelisk. Note that the image shown here shows an obelisk, but no tree. After my visit, protestors chopped down the tree. I do not know why they did that, but I am sure it had nothing to do with my visit. I wonder if it is called None Tree Hill now? It seems a shame, as it was a very nice-looking tree and was very old and very large. I wonder what it did to anger the protestors so? Personally, I would have blamed the obelisk. Oh, I joke about it, but I think this was a terrible thing to do.
I drove to One Tree Hill and viewed the one tree and the obelisk from up close. I noted then that protestors had already made an attempt on the life of the tree, but they had been caught before completely felling it, and the tree had been bandaged up and supported by guy wires. I figured the tree was safe now, but I underestimated the dark side on that one.
From atop One Tree Hill, I could see Auckland. Auckland is on a surprisingly narrow isthmus of land, and I could see the sparkling waters of the Pacific Ocean on each side of it.
Auckland, New Zealand
I had been working in Sydney, Australia, and I arrived in Auckland on a Friday afternoon. I had no meetings scheduled over the weekend, and I was looking forward to seeing what Auckland was like.
I checked into the Sheraton Auckland and left my rental car in the hotel garage. I had gotten quite used to “driving on the wrong side of the road” while working in Australia, but I thought that a better way to become oriented to the city would be to take a ride on a bus. So, I caught the next bus that was headed downtown. I bought an all-day ticket, as that would let me get off one bus, look around a particular neighborhood, and then board the next bus that came along, eventually returning to where I had started.
The first place I stopped was in a neighborhood that was filled with small shops. I bought a shirt commemorating the America’s Cup sailing event, which was scheduled for Auckland. I really liked that shirt. Later, I wore it out from wearing it so often. The next stop was an Art Gallery. I was impressed by the work done by a local artist, whose name I cannot now recall, much to my dismay. One of his lithographs was of the interior of a cozy motel room. The room had one window, and through the window could be seen the ocean, the beach, and one enormous rock. I really liked that picture, but I did not want to lug it home with me. On impulse, I asked the salesgirl at the gallery if the scene was of a real place or an imagined one.
She informed me that the rock was known as Lion Rock, and it wasn’t very far from the city. I decided I would go there. The salesgirl was very pretty and very friendly. She said she had been to the US once – to Los Angeles. She said she had been a bit overwhelmed by how many people were in Los Angeles (they were everywhere, like ants). She described an experience she had in trying to buy some gold jewelry in Los Angeles. She informed me that in New Zealand it was rather common to find jewelry made of nine carat gold. I knew that pure gold was 24 carats, but pure gold is too soft for jewelry, so it is alloyed with other metals that harden it (and change the color according to local tastes) and reduce the “carat” level from 24 to something less. I am not an expert in this area, but I think most gold jewelry in the US is between 12 and 18 carats. I had never heard of nine carat gold.
Neither had the jewelers in Los Angeles. The situation was not helped by the fact that her New Zealand accent made “NINE” carat gold sound like “NON”carat gold.
Girl: “ Do you have gold jewelry?
Jeweler: “Yes, Ma’am, we have a nice selection.”
Girl: “I would like to see a NON carat gold necklace, please”
Jeweler: “But, all of our gold has carats.”
Girl: “Yes, I understand that all of your gold has carats. I would like to see a gold necklace that has non carats.”
Jeweler: “But all of our gold has carats . . .”
Girl: “Yes, I understand. Now, may I see some non carat gold?”
You get the drift by now. I don’t think she bought any gold jewelry in Los Angeles.
That night, I visited the casino in Auckland. I think it was near the tall, spiky building that can be seen in the center of the Auckland picture. That night I had the only bad luck I ever had in New Zealand. I lost 80 NZ dollars at Blackjack. From then on, I couldn’t lose in New Zealand!
The next morning, I took the rental car from the hotel garage and headed toward Piha Beach, where I was told I could find Lion Rock. As I stated earlier, this part of New Zealand is rather narrow, so I figured I didn’t need to waste any time by looking at maps. The place wasn’t that big, so how could I not find what I was looking for? Well, as it turned out, I couldn’t find it. The roads in that part of New Zealand snake around ancient hills that had been formed by volcanic activity (such as One Tree Hill), and I was going in circles. Finally, I stopped at a Petrol station and asked. A customer heard my inquiry and told me to follow his car in mine. We drove around for ten or fifteen minutes, making I don’t know how many turns. Finally, my guide pulled over and motioned for me to take a right at the next road. As I did so, I saw him turn his car around and head back from where we had come. He had driven that far out of his way to help me, a total stranger! I was impressed with the New Zealand hospitality.
The road he led me to flowed directly to Piha Beach.
Piha Beach is a popular weekend resort destination, but since people in New Zealand are not as thick as ants (like they are in Los Angeles), the place seemed surprisingly deserted to me. The first thing I saw was Lion Rock.
The massive Lion Rock (101 meters high) stands out into the sea on the northern side of the estuary of Piha Stream, which flows out through the resort effectively dividing it in two. The beach to the north of Lion Rock is known as North Piha, and to the south of Piha Stream is the South Beach - the south beach is a little more sheltered from the wind and is more popular with holidaymakers as a result. I wanted to visit North Piha and South Piha, but first I was going to see the view from the top of the rock.
Lion Rock at Piha Beach
The view from the top of Lion Rock was awesome. The people on the beach way down below were so small they looked like they were from Los Angeles.
I enjoyed the view for a while and then decided to try to find the motel that I had seen in the lithograph. My guess was that it was in South Piha. I didn’t find any motels, but I did find a beachside restaurant that sold great fish sandwiches! I bought one. Then, I walked on the beach for a while. I came across a local family who invited me to join them, once they learned I was from the US. Again, I was impressed with the New Zealand hospitality.
Lion Rock as seen from South Piha Beach on a crowded day
I have read that people are no longer permitted to climb to the top of Lion Rock. I suppose that safety is the concern. There weren’t any guardrails up there, as I recall.
In addition to being a film location for the movie The Piano, Piha Beach has been used for the New Zealand television series Xena: Warrior Princess.
Lion Rock was for centuries a pa (fortified village) of the local Te Kawerau a Maki tribe, who called it Whakaari. They were driven out in the 1820s by Ngapuhi warriors from Northland who were armed with European muskets.
While I was there, I had the strangest feeling that I had been there before. Later, I learned that Piha Beach had been the location for some of the scenes of a 1993 movie that I had seen!
The movie starred Holly Hunter and was called “The Piano.”
The scene was shot on North Piha, between Lion Rock (which was not shown in the movie) and the rock that is to the north of it. I think it is called Nun’s Rock. This is a very good movie, and I recommend it.
I drove back to Auckland. That night, I went to a movie theater to see the new Stanley Kubrick movie, “Eyes Wide Shut,” starring Nicole Kidman and Tom Cruise. I had heard that the movie had some scenes that were considered too sexually explicit for Americans, so the movie had been digitally modified for American audiences. Computer-generated characters were inserted to shield some of the actions that were visible in the original cut of the movie. I saw the original cut in New Zealand. It wasn’t as hard-core as I had been led to expect. The movie wasn’t as good as I had hoped, either – just ok. “The Piano” was much better.
The next day, I decided to explore Auckland some more. My wanderings took me to an area where ferries departed for Waiheke Island. I don’t know what it is about my personal psychology, but I cannot resist going to a place if I have never been there. The next thing I knew, I was sitting on a ferry and watching the skyline of Auckland recede.
A young married couple engaged me in conversation. They were building a home on Waiheke Island, would I like to see it? Sure, why not?
I don’t remember their names. I wish I did, as they were quite nice. I think he was from England, originally, and she was Thai. He called her “boss,” but I don’t think that was her real name. The home they were building was nearly finished. It was a very nice home perched on the edge of a cliff, overlooking the Pacific Ocean. I wouldn’t have minded living there! After seeing their home, I bade them goodbye and headed off to see more of the island. It was a quaint and charming place.
Waiheke Island
Oddly, while I was exploring Waiheke Island, I saw the biggest horse I have ever seen. When I first saw him, from a distance, I thought he was some sort of advertising sign. He looked almost as big as a billboard to me, but in the shape of a cutout of a horse. As I walked nearer, my eyes widened, as I saw it move. It was a real horse! I know very little about horses, and I do not know what breed it was. There was no one around, so I couldn’t ask. I still think about that horse from time to time . . .
The reason that New Zealand was my favorite place is that the people there were so friendly to me, and it was so beautiful. Auckland is on what is known as the North Island. People kept asking if I planned to visit the South Island as well, as it is much prettier than the North Island. I decided I had better not go to the South Island. I might never come back . . .
A typical scene on New Zealand’s ugly North Island. The South Island is much prettier.
One Tree Hill
Today, I had lunch at the Sailfish Club in Palm Beach, Florida. The occasion was the monthly meeting of the Sons of the American Revolution. So, of course, the table conversation was about New Zealand.
Well, “of course” may not be the right word. Here is what happened: I was sitting next to a New Jersey man and his wife. His wife told me that they had retired to Palm Beach Gardens. I recognized that as being one of the local communities (my daughter has mentioned going to a mall there), but I admitted that I wasn’t quite sure where it was. I am embarrassed about how little I know about my own “hood,” so I muttered the excuse that my job had required a lot of travel to other countries, and when I was home I tended to stay at home. The wife asked me what country was my favorite. Without hesitation, I answered “New Zealand.”
I had gone to New Zealand on business. When I arrived, it had just finished raining, and a rainbow could be seen above a distant hill. At that time, I did not know it was called One Tree Hill, but I could see one very large tree on the top of the hill, next to a tall obelisk. Note that the image shown here shows an obelisk, but no tree. After my visit, protestors chopped down the tree. I do not know why they did that, but I am sure it had nothing to do with my visit. I wonder if it is called None Tree Hill now? It seems a shame, as it was a very nice-looking tree and was very old and very large. I wonder what it did to anger the protestors so? Personally, I would have blamed the obelisk. Oh, I joke about it, but I think this was a terrible thing to do.
I drove to One Tree Hill and viewed the one tree and the obelisk from up close. I noted then that protestors had already made an attempt on the life of the tree, but they had been caught before completely felling it, and the tree had been bandaged up and supported by guy wires. I figured the tree was safe now, but I underestimated the dark side on that one.
From atop One Tree Hill, I could see Auckland. Auckland is on a surprisingly narrow isthmus of land, and I could see the sparkling waters of the Pacific Ocean on each side of it.
Auckland, New Zealand
I had been working in Sydney, Australia, and I arrived in Auckland on a Friday afternoon. I had no meetings scheduled over the weekend, and I was looking forward to seeing what Auckland was like.
I checked into the Sheraton Auckland and left my rental car in the hotel garage. I had gotten quite used to “driving on the wrong side of the road” while working in Australia, but I thought that a better way to become oriented to the city would be to take a ride on a bus. So, I caught the next bus that was headed downtown. I bought an all-day ticket, as that would let me get off one bus, look around a particular neighborhood, and then board the next bus that came along, eventually returning to where I had started.
The first place I stopped was in a neighborhood that was filled with small shops. I bought a shirt commemorating the America’s Cup sailing event, which was scheduled for Auckland. I really liked that shirt. Later, I wore it out from wearing it so often. The next stop was an Art Gallery. I was impressed by the work done by a local artist, whose name I cannot now recall, much to my dismay. One of his lithographs was of the interior of a cozy motel room. The room had one window, and through the window could be seen the ocean, the beach, and one enormous rock. I really liked that picture, but I did not want to lug it home with me. On impulse, I asked the salesgirl at the gallery if the scene was of a real place or an imagined one.
She informed me that the rock was known as Lion Rock, and it wasn’t very far from the city. I decided I would go there. The salesgirl was very pretty and very friendly. She said she had been to the US once – to Los Angeles. She said she had been a bit overwhelmed by how many people were in Los Angeles (they were everywhere, like ants). She described an experience she had in trying to buy some gold jewelry in Los Angeles. She informed me that in New Zealand it was rather common to find jewelry made of nine carat gold. I knew that pure gold was 24 carats, but pure gold is too soft for jewelry, so it is alloyed with other metals that harden it (and change the color according to local tastes) and reduce the “carat” level from 24 to something less. I am not an expert in this area, but I think most gold jewelry in the US is between 12 and 18 carats. I had never heard of nine carat gold.
Neither had the jewelers in Los Angeles. The situation was not helped by the fact that her New Zealand accent made “NINE” carat gold sound like “NON”carat gold.
Girl: “ Do you have gold jewelry?
Jeweler: “Yes, Ma’am, we have a nice selection.”
Girl: “I would like to see a NON carat gold necklace, please”
Jeweler: “But, all of our gold has carats.”
Girl: “Yes, I understand that all of your gold has carats. I would like to see a gold necklace that has non carats.”
Jeweler: “But all of our gold has carats . . .”
Girl: “Yes, I understand. Now, may I see some non carat gold?”
You get the drift by now. I don’t think she bought any gold jewelry in Los Angeles.
That night, I visited the casino in Auckland. I think it was near the tall, spiky building that can be seen in the center of the Auckland picture. That night I had the only bad luck I ever had in New Zealand. I lost 80 NZ dollars at Blackjack. From then on, I couldn’t lose in New Zealand!
The next morning, I took the rental car from the hotel garage and headed toward Piha Beach, where I was told I could find Lion Rock. As I stated earlier, this part of New Zealand is rather narrow, so I figured I didn’t need to waste any time by looking at maps. The place wasn’t that big, so how could I not find what I was looking for? Well, as it turned out, I couldn’t find it. The roads in that part of New Zealand snake around ancient hills that had been formed by volcanic activity (such as One Tree Hill), and I was going in circles. Finally, I stopped at a Petrol station and asked. A customer heard my inquiry and told me to follow his car in mine. We drove around for ten or fifteen minutes, making I don’t know how many turns. Finally, my guide pulled over and motioned for me to take a right at the next road. As I did so, I saw him turn his car around and head back from where we had come. He had driven that far out of his way to help me, a total stranger! I was impressed with the New Zealand hospitality.
The road he led me to flowed directly to Piha Beach.
Piha Beach is a popular weekend resort destination, but since people in New Zealand are not as thick as ants (like they are in Los Angeles), the place seemed surprisingly deserted to me. The first thing I saw was Lion Rock.
The massive Lion Rock (101 meters high) stands out into the sea on the northern side of the estuary of Piha Stream, which flows out through the resort effectively dividing it in two. The beach to the north of Lion Rock is known as North Piha, and to the south of Piha Stream is the South Beach - the south beach is a little more sheltered from the wind and is more popular with holidaymakers as a result. I wanted to visit North Piha and South Piha, but first I was going to see the view from the top of the rock.
Lion Rock at Piha Beach
The view from the top of Lion Rock was awesome. The people on the beach way down below were so small they looked like they were from Los Angeles.
I enjoyed the view for a while and then decided to try to find the motel that I had seen in the lithograph. My guess was that it was in South Piha. I didn’t find any motels, but I did find a beachside restaurant that sold great fish sandwiches! I bought one. Then, I walked on the beach for a while. I came across a local family who invited me to join them, once they learned I was from the US. Again, I was impressed with the New Zealand hospitality.
Lion Rock as seen from South Piha Beach on a crowded day
I have read that people are no longer permitted to climb to the top of Lion Rock. I suppose that safety is the concern. There weren’t any guardrails up there, as I recall.
In addition to being a film location for the movie The Piano, Piha Beach has been used for the New Zealand television series Xena: Warrior Princess.
Lion Rock was for centuries a pa (fortified village) of the local Te Kawerau a Maki tribe, who called it Whakaari. They were driven out in the 1820s by Ngapuhi warriors from Northland who were armed with European muskets.
While I was there, I had the strangest feeling that I had been there before. Later, I learned that Piha Beach had been the location for some of the scenes of a 1993 movie that I had seen!
The movie starred Holly Hunter and was called “The Piano.”
The scene was shot on North Piha, between Lion Rock (which was not shown in the movie) and the rock that is to the north of it. I think it is called Nun’s Rock. This is a very good movie, and I recommend it.
I drove back to Auckland. That night, I went to a movie theater to see the new Stanley Kubrick movie, “Eyes Wide Shut,” starring Nicole Kidman and Tom Cruise. I had heard that the movie had some scenes that were considered too sexually explicit for Americans, so the movie had been digitally modified for American audiences. Computer-generated characters were inserted to shield some of the actions that were visible in the original cut of the movie. I saw the original cut in New Zealand. It wasn’t as hard-core as I had been led to expect. The movie wasn’t as good as I had hoped, either – just ok. “The Piano” was much better.
The next day, I decided to explore Auckland some more. My wanderings took me to an area where ferries departed for Waiheke Island. I don’t know what it is about my personal psychology, but I cannot resist going to a place if I have never been there. The next thing I knew, I was sitting on a ferry and watching the skyline of Auckland recede.
A young married couple engaged me in conversation. They were building a home on Waiheke Island, would I like to see it? Sure, why not?
I don’t remember their names. I wish I did, as they were quite nice. I think he was from England, originally, and she was Thai. He called her “boss,” but I don’t think that was her real name. The home they were building was nearly finished. It was a very nice home perched on the edge of a cliff, overlooking the Pacific Ocean. I wouldn’t have minded living there! After seeing their home, I bade them goodbye and headed off to see more of the island. It was a quaint and charming place.
Waiheke Island
Oddly, while I was exploring Waiheke Island, I saw the biggest horse I have ever seen. When I first saw him, from a distance, I thought he was some sort of advertising sign. He looked almost as big as a billboard to me, but in the shape of a cutout of a horse. As I walked nearer, my eyes widened, as I saw it move. It was a real horse! I know very little about horses, and I do not know what breed it was. There was no one around, so I couldn’t ask. I still think about that horse from time to time . . .
The reason that New Zealand was my favorite place is that the people there were so friendly to me, and it was so beautiful. Auckland is on what is known as the North Island. People kept asking if I planned to visit the South Island as well, as it is much prettier than the North Island. I decided I had better not go to the South Island. I might never come back . . .
A typical scene on New Zealand’s ugly North Island. The South Island is much prettier.
posted by Tom Shawcross | 10:56 AM
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