Public transport in Auckland

We didn’t go exploring last weekend because we had some cleaning up to do. Our spare bedroom has been our unpacking/storage room and our first visitor arrived last night to sleep in it so we spent the weekend making it look like a bedroom again. Our visitor is a PhD student of Ben’s who fled Christchurch after the February earthquake for his home country of Canada. He has been there ever since until his return to New Zealand last week. He will be in Auckland for a few months during which time he will complete his PhD. He’s staying with us just for a few days.

Ben is still exploring different ways of getting to the University from our new house. It’s not an easy task. This morning I dropped them both at the Birkenhead ferry which is directly opposite the CBD and offers a pleasant journey into town. Here’s a pic from the ferry terminal:

The warm sunshine on Sunday, 18th July pulled me out of bed and it seemed too tragic to spend the day indoors. So I went to church on my bicycle in my Sunday best. It was still so gorgeous that I decided to explore the neighbourhood on my bike. After a few false starts and stops I was sailing down hill on the cycle path from Baysview road towards Takapuna. The uphills had me get off my bike and walk my bike till I reached the top. But the downhills with the wind in my hair was an experience beyond words.

Since I reached Takapuna without any mishap, I thought I would continue down to Milford and perhaps surprise my son at The Warehouse and take him out for lunch and a spot of sunshine. Not surprisingly, I was not the only one enjoying the sunshine. The footpaths were milling with people taking in the sun and window shopping. I noticed that there were no cycle lanes although there were many cyclists. The more confident ones in their battle gear were whizzing past on the road. The lesser confident, albeit determined cyclists, like me, were weaving in and out of lazy shoppers on the footpath. Since I could not spot a cycling lane, I consoled myself that this must be a “share and care” footpath. There could be no other explanation after John Key’s ambitious declaration to connect both the North and South Island by cyclable lanes. But, when a busy shopper pointed out the road to me and reminded me where the street was, I thought that I must be making a mistake.

So, I cycled down to Milford and back trying to find the cycle lanes that I should be on so as to avoid the pedestrians being a hazard to me, but they were conspicuous by their absence. If anyone does find these missing cycle lanes, could they please inform me.

Kind regards

Sonali Geo