Cornwall Park

We left the Waihi Beach Holiday Park fairly early on the Monday morning. This was our penultimate day in Aotearoa and we were heading back to the Heartland Airport Hotel in Auckland for our last night. On the way we stopped for a ramble around Cornwall Park. This verdant expanse of land with its manicured lawns and seemingly infinite variety of trees was gifted by Sir John Logan Campbell to the people of New Zealand in 1901 following a visit by the Duke of Cornwall and has been a haven of natural beauty and recreation ever since. One could spend all day strolling and relaxing in this idyllic setting as many of the Auckland residents and visitors do. Some of the highlights are the Huia Lodge, which was built around 1903 in a mixture of Queen Anne Revival and Australian Federation styles from  kauri timber. Directly opposite is the Acacia Cottage,  built by Sir John himself in a Colonial Georgian style using pit-sawn kauri timber in 1841 and re-erected in the Park following Sir John's passing. On the very summit of Cornwall Park, known as One Tree Hill,  stands a magnificent 100 feet high Obelisk erected as requested by Sir John in his will to honour and make known his admiration for the achievements and character of the mighty Maori race. The Obelisk fittingly was constructed in 1940, the Centennial Year of the Signing of the Treaty of Waitangi. Our walk concluded along a gorgeous avenue of Norfolk Pines and red Pohutukawa trees. In the evening we took ourselves over to Mission Bay for a farewell dinner and final get-together at a superb Mexican restaurant. We had arranged to meet up with a group of bike riders from the Bushies who were cycling the North Island. These intrepid riders had had a marvelous and very energetic time cycling up and down the mean hills of Aotearoa, racing along mountain trails and doing what must be one of the most thrilling adventures and adrenaline rushes for cyclists ever by riding along the sands of the famed Northland 90 Mile Beach with the rolling surf on one side and a lofty mountain range on the other. So it was a most enjoyable finish for all hands as we swopped tales and downed a few coldies. It was a sort of collective Mission Accomplished and what better place to do it than at panoramic Mission Bay.