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Rachel's Travels...
On Wednesday the weather was slightly better, so I went to Waiheke Island which is in the Hauraki Gulf and about 1/2 hour away on a fast ferry. The journey was great - really nice scenery. You can sometimes see dolphins in the gulf but I didn't. I got to Waiheke and caught a bus to Ontangi beach on the north coast of the island. It was a really nice beach but the place was so deserted - there were hardly any people and nothing was open except one restuarant (the one store there was closed). The bus journey was also cool as the island is quite hilly and green so it provided good views along the way. I stopped at a place called Onera on the way back which had more stuff there there and a shop that was open! The beach there was also nice. As I wasn't far from Blackpool beach I decided to walk there. There was nothing there apart from houses, and the beach wasn't up to much - they did have a single child's swing there and that was it. I thought I could find my way back to the ferry from there, but I was a bit mistaken. I didn't get lost exactly, but I was never sure I was going the right way and it was also starting to get darker. I only saw two people on the way to the ferry, and only a couple of cars went past. Finally made it to the ferry just in time to see the sun set over Rangitoto island (the youngest volcano is Auckland - 600 years old and closer to Auckland than Waiheke).
My last day in Auckland had the worst weather so far - it absolutely pissed it down and didn't let off all day. I caught the Link bus and stayed on it for the full circuit so I could see some of the city - I think Parnell (where my hostel is) is the nicest bit. There are really quaint shops on the main street and there are paths between the shops that lead to other shops, some of which are around little courtyards. There are loads of nice shops here as well as a lot of art galleries. There was also a shop called the Chocolate Boutique which sold loads of different types of chocolate (I didn't go in for some unknown reason). There was also a little shop called Stansborough which proudly boasted to be the weavers to the Lord of the Rings. They were displaying replica Elven cloaks that they had made for the films and also for the bargain price of $95 (about 40 quid) you could have your very own replica hobbit scarf! Unfortunately I just didn't have the money.
As the weather was so crap I just decided to go back to the hostel and read and surf the net. The hostel is ok, the people in my room were really nice (there were four others), but it did seem like a very clicky place. I had the top bunk again which was a pain, but there were more things in the room, like shelves and a wardrobe and a table etc.
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