The Land Down Under: Fifteen Locations in Five Days - 2

Our friend (Riyadh) and his other half (Rupa) flew down to Auckland from Sydney giving hubby and me an opportunity to show them around. Riyadh & Rupa could only stay for five days; our focus was to cover as much ground as possible.  Auckland weather is famous for its instability, so we ended up traveling in all sorts of weather - rain, shine, hail & gale. Our initial plan of visiting fifteen locations in five days was closely followed except for a few places narrowly missed due to extremely bad weather.  Five days, almost fifteen locations, thirteen hundred photographs (thank God for digital cameras) and around two hours worth of video clips later, our friends are safely back home in Sydney. I am in front of the computer reminiscing our time together.  Over the next few months I will share my experiences about each of these locations. All welcome aboard and Bon Voyage!

Fifteen Locations in Five Days

Day One:  Location 2 - Cornwall Park >>

After a fulfilling lunch we sat on our deck contemplating on the next destination over hot cups of tea. Riyadh and Rupa were generous with the compliments for our deck and the rather cottage like town house.  Adeeb looked particularly pleased with himself.  Usually his laziness puts Homer Simpson to shame, but over the past couple of days, he has been scrubbing, cleaning, weeding, gardening and mowing like mad just so that our friends would not have the faintest idea about the grubs we are. It was quite peaceful with branches of the Gleditsia tree swaying in the wind, a fragrance of wild roses floating in the surrounding and our girl cat Mr. Bill Clinton meowing for attention.

Most of our friends address Riyadh as 'Sir'.  Riyadh was knighted "Sir Ali of Urir Chor" by his friends at the tender age of 8.  Ali is his first name and Urir Chor is perhaps the most far out place his friends could think about sending him off to. While we filled Rupa in on the history of Riyadh becoming sir, the perfect place for our next destination came to mind.

I was thinking of Cornwall Park of course.  Named after the Duke and Duchess of Cornwall and York who later became King George V and Queen Mary, the place seemed to possess almost enough of a royal aura to take our very own Sir for a visit.  I was particularly keen on taking them there. This was one of the rare occasions when I had the upper hand over Adeeb when it came to places of interest.  He never visited the park but I went once before with our neighbour.

The day my neighbour and I visited the park was an impromptu decision after a movie session.  It was a beautiful day and the view from the top of the hill was splendid.  Unfortunately I did not have my camera with me at that time, I have been desperate for a revisit ever since.

The Cornwall Park was previously named One Tree Hill by early European settlers.  This was named after a solitary pine tree on top of the hill. A Maori name for the Hill is Te Totara i-Ahua meaning "The Totara That Stands Alone". The tree was considered sacred by the Maori as it was an important part of Maori ceremonies involving newborns. Another Maori name for the hill is Moungakiekie meaning "The Mountain of Kiekie"; Kiekie is a vine that grows on forest trees. The tree was cut down by a group of angry workmen during 1852.  Over the years many attempts to reestablish the tree have failed.

During 1901 Sir John Logan Campbell was asked to be honorary Mayor of Auckland. This was when he gifted the park to the people of Auckland and requested that the park be known as Cornwall Park. Sir John Campbell was later known as the Father of Auckland because of his contributions to Auckland's growth and development. He is buried on the Summit of One Tree Hill. A 30 meter tall Obelisk incorporating his grave was erected in 1940 for Auckland's Centenary Celebrations.  The Obelisk marks the center of the park.  The Obelisk also represents the mutual respect between the Maori people and White (Pakeha) people of New Zealand.  

The last time I visited the park, my neighbour had a very self important and serious look on her face as she imparted with this information.  Her exact words were "Sir John Campbell bequeath the Cornwall Park to the people of Auckland".  I wonder why she chose the word 'bequeath', maybe because it has an authentic ring to it, almost like reading out of a historical document. A kind of grandeur. Words such as 'gifted' or 'gave' sounds rather simple and plain in comparison. 

 This time around we were not so lucky weatherwise.  A tiny black cloud followed us as we started for Cornwall Park.  By the time we drove past the main gates and followed the winding road, it started to get a bit windy and clouds had a darker shade.  It is amazing how the difference in light transforms a place.  The expansive grass fields, the scattered Puhutukawa trees, a flock of sheep lazily grazing inside a fenced area and the One Tree Hill Obelisk standing on top of the hill all had a mysterious shade.  It looked like a sleeping kingdom waiting to be charmed to wakefulness.   I was telling Rupa and Riyadh about the planetarium that is somewhere within the park and the Acacia Cottage - Auckland's longest surviving building.  During my visit with my neighbour, I went and had a look inside the cottage.  A lot of the original furniture is still preserved within the cottage.  The beds looked so small, not even long enough for an average person! I wonder if people are getting taller over the years.

This time around, however, we had to keep satisfied with just a stroll around the summit and looking out into the horizon from the mountain tops.  We saw the Sky Tower through the clouds and the flock of sheep looked surreal from the top.  It was too windy to do anything else. I was mostly working hard trying to keep my clothes in there place being too much of an animal lover to scare the poor cows off like that.  We did manage to take a few pictures even though some of them looked like the wind was blowing us away.  Most of my time was spent behind enormous rocks.  A parting advice from this wind-washed friend of yours - never wear a mid length skirt to a hill top on a tremendously windy day unless you are Marilyn Monroe!