Out on the road

My plans of a rest day were squashed when the sun came out and was shone with all it's glory. I just couldn't resist getting out and about.

I've been wanting to go for a bike ride around the Auckland waterfront for awhile. We used to do it often when I was young but I haven't done it for a long, long time. So Mimi (my awesome hot pink bike) was disasembled and put in the boot of my car and off we went.

You just wont believe how beautiful the Auckland waterfront can look on a day like this. It amazes me really. Just the fact that this beautiful scenery is only 2 minutes away from the middle of the city is incredible. I was lucky enough to get the same view from my old high school's library window. I sometimes got lost in the scenery and would forget to do my study.

My trusty camera came along with me for this trip so I could amaze you with all the beautiful pictures.

This is a photo from where I parked my car. The first mountain you see is North Head. Its an awesome piece of history and was the main defence post of Auckland in World War 1 and 2. It is riddled with tunnels that I have spent many happy hours in and there is a ledgend of a lost plane cemented in a room somewhere in there. Behind North Head you can see the glorious Rangitoto Island. Rangitoto is the youngest volcano in Auckland (its now extinct) and is amazing because it looks exactly the same shape no matter where you stand, due to the round shape of the island.


The bike path takes you right around that headland and a lot further. The entire bike ride goes for 50km but I only went 5km in one direction and then 5km back.


This is a photo from Mission Bay, where I made the turn around. I sneakly took a photo of those two people since I thought they just made the shot. Thats Rangitoto again. I ate some almonds on my stop to give me energy on the way back :)

It was a fantastic ride and there were no hills so it was a lot of fun and not much work at all which the lazy side of me loved.

On a high

I just got back from a bike ride and it was fantastic.

I had decided last night that I was going to bike to Western Springs. Western Springs is a gorgeous lake with hundreds of ducks and swans and chickens and other animal life running around freely, and is about 8km from my house. From there I would lock my bike up and go for a run. There are 2 MASSIVE hills right by my house that I would have to bike up and down to complete my journey and I knew I would never make it so I put my bike into the boot of my car and drove until I got to the bottom of the second hill.

The ride was great, there were a few little hills that I had to bike up on the way there which almost gave me cardiac arrest but I managed to survive. Flying along on the downhills was awesome, I couldn't stop grinning. I saw a few other cyclists along the way and they all smiled, waved or nodded at me. I felt like a true cyclist... though I'm pretty sure most of them were just smiling at my awesome hot pink bike and helmet. As I neared Western Springs I knew I would never be able to do my run. I was so tired already and I had to get back to my car. I totally over-estimated my fitness levels. So when I got to Western Springs, I turned around and headed home. The journey home was much harder and I had to get off to walk up the hills. It was raining off and on during the whole ride and it started getting cold so I was glad to get into my car.

The whole ride was just great! And I can't wait to do it again sometime! Tomorrow I am going to drive to Western Springs to go for my run :)