Mt. Eden afternoon.

Skyline on a Sundial

Last weekend was very uneventful. I had a few papers due the following week. Of course none of them were completed during the weekend, but somehow staying in Auckland made me feel better about it. Amanda, Kevin and I decided to get all day bus passes and see what we could do. Mt. Eden was decided upon as it started to rain outside of the apartments. It would rain on and off all day, but cleared up conveniently enough for us to take some beautiful pictures of the skyline and surrounding area.

Mt. Eden or Maungawhau- the 'Mountain of the Whau Tree' in Maori, is a volcanic mountain that last erupted around 15,000 years ago and the 'majestic bowl-like crater is 50 metres deep'. It is the highest non-man made point on the Auckland Isthmus and attracts many tourists. The suburb of Mt. Eden is kind of an upper crust part of town, with multiple prestigous and equally elitist private boys and girls colleges (high schools). University of Auckland also houses its Epsom campus for Education majors in the suburb.
All of this information according to Wikipedia of course. I am extremely adept at using footnotes now, but unforunately have no idea how to do so in a blog post, or for citing a source such as wikipedia, sorry.

The specs on the rim of the cone, just between the tree and the right edge of the picture.
Those are people. Believe me.

Skyline

Foreground-Mt. Eden, Left-Skyline, Right-Rangitoto

Rangitoto and a massive cloud above Rangitoto(also another volcano).
I think its raining over there.

One Tree Hill has an interesting history. It along with Mt. Eden is a volcanic cone, but was more heavily populated and used by local iwi-Maori tribes. The hill was named One Tree Hill by European settlers for obvious reasons. The tree was later cut down for firewood? Another tree replaced this tree in the late 1870s but was felled by a Maori activist in 2000. Presumably in an act of vandalism against the NZ government regarding injustices against Maori. (Most likely land disputes and rights and interpretations regarding the Treaty of Waitangi- a hotly contested issue in New Zealand politics and culture). Anyways, the tree was never replaced, which has given the hill its new name N(one) Tree Hill.

One Tree Hill, just below the rainbow, where the obelisk stands.

Also, if you're wondering, the american television program One Tree Hill was inspired by the song 'One Tree Hill' written by U2 about an employee of their band from NZ who passed away. (insert wikipedia footnote here).