Walking from Newmarket to Parnell

Just walking to Parnell, Officer, and minding my own business. 

Wow. 

As I cross a street, I look to my right...volcanic cone.

 ...and to my left, Sky Tower.

You know that I love weird trees and air roots, right?. Here's a dandy. That's the Holy Trinity Anglican Cathedral in the back ground.

Another view of the Cathedral

Distinctive trees

St. Mary's Church. The original Anglican Church in Parnell. It was moved from across Parnell Road and now sits next to the Cathedral. 

Front of the Cathedral. 

What a cool looking house, despite it's obvious age. Boy, would I love to tour it. 

An equally cool tree in front of it. It might be a cabbage palm, but it's the largest one I've ever seen and I could be wrong. 

The library.

Well, this is intersting. The Olympic rings. I'll have to look this place up when I get home.

It turns out that this is the New Zealand Olympic Committee Offices. Wow.

It's almost impossible not to continuously photograph the Sky Tower. It's visible from all over. 

Just liked the looks of this building. 

Here is another sight visible from all over Auckland. It's Rangitoto. About two and a half miles off shore. It's also where Waitamata Pohutukawa honey comes from. The only place. In the world. 

Looking from Parnell Road down the Scarborough Terrace. Steep hills here. 

Not a cathedral, but historic...

Look at that. 1861. Can you imagine what Parnell looked like then?

It's nice in here. There is a feeling of age and respect. And, like every other Catholic Church I've been in, the smell of decades of incense permeates the place. The smell of prayer.  

I don't know the story of this piece of art, but it stands in the park on the corner of Parnell Road and Ruskin Street.

A picture of public toilets may not be your idea of pleasant viewing, but when you've been walking for a couple of hours, these are just what you might be happy to see. 

I decided to walk on over to La Cicada and buy some bread and fancy cheese for my girls back home. Two of those long loaves you see on the counter in front of the woman with the blue shirt and jacket are what I bought. 

And, since it was about noon, I bought a ham sandwich from one of the tented vendors. The woman serving me automatically slathered on two kinds of sauces before I could tell her I'd take it plain. I'm glad I didn't stop her. Those sauces made the sandwich. To heck with the calories. 

On my way back from La Cicada, as I climbed the first stage of Ruskin Street, the rain hit fast and furious. I took shelter under some dense trees and had my small umbrella up as added protection. I waited it out with two Asian girls as company. They had been coming down the hill and reached the trees just as I did. 
These squalls usually don't last long and this one didn't have the high winds that accompany some. You can see that the rain is coming straight down. 
When it was mostly over, I headed uphill again with new vigor. A nice rest halfway up charged my batteries. That ham sandwich didn't hurt either.    -djf