From the Wilderness to the Big City

Earlier this month, I undertook a challenge of a new kind – orienteering. I was previously aware that such endurance competitions existed; yet, I had never attempted one. As this entire year abroad has been a series of experiments, I can now add a new experience to my list of endeavors.

The event was held in Piha, a small town on the coastal side of the Waitakere Mountains. The sea at Piha is notorious for dangerous surf, and in fact, there is a Baywatch-type television program set in the area call Piha Search and Rescue. The “Waitaks,” as they are called by the locals, rise steeply from the coast. Situated just west of Auckland, the range is by no means isolated; although, there are rugged, isolated sections. As such, the orienteering competition required a bit of preparation. Each member in a team was required to carry a pack with the following items: wool hat and gloves, thermal shirt and leggings, flashlight, rain poncho, emergency blanket, and whistle. A first aid kit and compass were also compulsory for each team. One hour before the competition commenced, teams were given a map of the area which outlined trails through the Waitaks and various point stations. The purpose of the day was to visit as many stations, write down the codes in order to collect points, and then return to home base before the allotted time expired.

So, our novice team of four set out on the journey. Fresh and exhilarated, we started off jogging and collected our first points at Kitekite Falls. Just as we did, rain started to fall, but it didn’t slow us down. We got quite wet, and admittedly, a bit lost in the network of trails, but we eventually made it to our next station – a small footbridge, where we found the code underneath the bridge. We continued jogging along.

From bush trail to coastal trail to bush trail again, six hours passed. We saw some beautiful scenery – the coastal cliffs were starkly stunning, and the black sands for which the western beaches are renowned contrasted the deep, blue waters and white, frothy waves. The weather went from fair to poor to brilliant to poor again to chilly as the sun set behind the hills. The trails turned to bogs, and by the end we had all been in mud up to our ankles, if not higher. Our plan of attack went from overly-ambitious to reasonably abbreviated. We were humbled. We collected points which by no means rivaled the winners, but we had fun. We considered ourselves tough for our gutsy effort.

And we all slept soundly that night.

Because we were so close to Auckland, we celebrated our wilderness endeavor with a tour of the big city the next day. We started with brunch atop the Sky Tower, in the heart of Auckland’s city center. The Sky Tower is an icon and resembles the Space Needle of Seattle. There is a restaurant at the top which slowly rotates so guests receive a 360° view of the city as they dine.

After our filling meal, we strolled through the city. We witnessed magnificently gnarly magnolias in Albert Park. These trees were outrageous; they were breathtaking; they were so cool! Albert Park was perhaps my favorite place that we visited for the reason of these trees alone. Through the park and then the University of Auckland campus, we made our way to the Auckland Domain. The Domain is another large park – a sort of Central Park for the city of Auckland. Beautifully landscaped, the Domain has a series of forested trails and plenty of open fields. It is adorned with sculptures, and it is also the home of the Auckland Museum and a plant conservatory with a gorgeous, albeit small, exhibit of orchids.

And, as if we hadn’t already accomplished much that weekend, we topped it all off with a drive to Mission Bay where we threw around a frisbee on the beach. It was quite a fun-filled, adventurous weekend. Oh, and did I mention that the orienteering competition was the just the first of two? Yes, we will surely be up for the next challenge.

See pictures of Piha and Auckland at my Shutterfly website.