With temperatures and sunshine improving, we're venturing out again. A couple weeks ago we decided to explore the coastline of the harbor not far from us. We walked about four miles over to the little area of Northcote Point. We explored what little is left, thanks to the construction of the Harbor Bridge. At one time there was a village on the point of the peninsula across the Waitemata Harbor from Auckland. The North Shore, the general area where we live, was largely undeveloped because boat or ferry was the only way across the harbor to move goods or teams.
We got down on the shore of one of the little bays and found NO sand at all. It was really hard to pick our way among the rocks and debris on the shore. The water was beautiful and sparkly, but you can see the rocks along the shoreline.
We walked along for as long as we could, heading for the point where the bridge now connects to the peninsula. The views were great, even if the shoreline was less than desirable.
This was just a portion of the sailboats we saw out out enjoying the great weather.
Sailing under the harbor bridge.
In the late 1950s the city decided to build a bridge connecting Auckland and the North Shore, which in turn connected the entire rest of the North Island. On the North Shore, the bridge was built from the Northcote Point peninsula. Unfortunately, that all but eliminated the village of Northcote. In the early days of Northcote, there was one "news agency" (kind of a general store) where the Auckland newspaper was available to residents of the North Shore. Early each morning, the owner's son would row across the harbor from Northcote Point to Auckland to pick up the day's papers and bring them back to sell. He must have had some biceps after doing that for awhile! Fine in good weather, but rowing that distance in a storm would have been a real challenge. To this day, a ferry is still available from Northcote to Auckland several times daily.
This is the view from the shoreline right at the place where the bridge attaches to Northcote Point.
We went up on the point and took this picture from under the bridge. This view was not achieved without its cost. There was a monument there for three bridge workers who were killed in accidents during the bridge construction.
Greetings from Auckland!
This was just a portion of the sailboats we saw out out enjoying the great weather.
Sailing under the harbor bridge.
In the late 1950s the city decided to build a bridge connecting Auckland and the North Shore, which in turn connected the entire rest of the North Island. On the North Shore, the bridge was built from the Northcote Point peninsula. Unfortunately, that all but eliminated the village of Northcote. In the early days of Northcote, there was one "news agency" (kind of a general store) where the Auckland newspaper was available to residents of the North Shore. Early each morning, the owner's son would row across the harbor from Northcote Point to Auckland to pick up the day's papers and bring them back to sell. He must have had some biceps after doing that for awhile! Fine in good weather, but rowing that distance in a storm would have been a real challenge. To this day, a ferry is still available from Northcote to Auckland several times daily.
This is the view from the shoreline right at the place where the bridge attaches to Northcote Point.
We went up on the point and took this picture from under the bridge. This view was not achieved without its cost. There was a monument there for three bridge workers who were killed in accidents during the bridge construction.
Greetings from Auckland! 
1 comment:
Those pictures of you guys look like you were super-imposed on a postcard! Beautiful!
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