It probably goes without saying, but it was another noisy night. In the morning, large packs of school kids ran screaming by all dressed in various group outfits... there was a pack of Supermans, a bunch of Pacific Islanders, etc. I've been seeing this over the last couple of days... kids all dressed up in all sorts of outfits. Not sure what the story is.

My game plan today was simply to hike to the top of Mt. Eden. It wasn't that far away so I didn't have to worry about the bus. I headed out, away from downtown. After only a few minutes, I passed by a cemetery... and since I can never resist a cemetery, I went in.

The Symonds Street Cemetery was quite large and part of an expansive park... not a park in the sense of flat, green grass, but a dense forest on steep hills. The gravestones were scattered about the thick foliage, neglected and worn. Most of the burials took place from 1842 to 1886, and so it is much more representative of a singe era rather than being progressively added to as most cemeteries are. It included many important people, including the first governor of New Zealand and first mayor of Auckland. There were also many, many infants and young children.

Pressure to close the cemetery began as early as 1852 out of concern for over crowding and potentially polluting the groundwater of the now growing adjacent neighborhoods. In 1908, burials became restricted to immediate family members who had already reached the age of 50 by that date. The rest of the entire cemetery was turned into a reserve. In the same year, the Grafton Bridge was built. It was the largest single span cement structure in the world at the time. In 1964, the giant motorway and another large road were constructed. This required the disinterment of some 4,100 graves and a large chunk of the area was destroyed.

The place was absolutely spectacular! Nestled among the giant trees and overgrown plants was a vast array of decaying, ornate headstones... filled with amazing stories or hardship and woe. The sound of cicadas mingled with the passing freeway cars.

Entering the cemetery, with the bridge in the background

Neglect

A tale of woe: a 17 year old girl was shot on her way to church

Reunited after 43 years

Whole families

A missionary... to New Zealand and "friendly islands"

A hard life... seven children died in infancy

I walked under the bridge to the far side as well. The various paths were extensive and led deep into the overgrowth. At some point, the headstones seemed to thin out, so I went back to the main graveyard. That was probably a good thing either way, since it was obvious people were living in the park under the trees. This was also quite the wild party place at night, as evidenced by beer cans and various trash.

Remote graves

I would have wandered longer, but I did still want to climb the Mt. Eden. I walked across the street into a small Asian deli to grab something to eat. Hmmmm... meat, meat and more meat. Eventually I found a small egg and tomato sandwich. I ate then then started to head up the hill.

A block later, I passed the other half of the cemetery. I resisted exploring that (mostly because it was filled with vagrants and the strong smell of marajuana), but I did pop into the gated Jewish cemetery. This land was apparently set aside in 1843. In 1908, the unused portion of it was returned to the city by the Jewish community to be used as a public reserve.

Unfortunately it looked like the protective gate had done it little good. All the headstones had been desecrated with swastikas and various letters or words had been scratched out.

Letters and words were scratched out.

I continued my walk up the hill, past the second half of the large original cemetery as well as the giant freeway that replaced part of it. On the way, I topped up my phone (you can buy NZ$20 of credit at most supermarkets or convenience stores) and bought another sandwich and an apple turnover as snacks for the mountain top.

Looking down on the second half of the cemetery

The large freeway

I was expecting a huge hike, but it was only a 10-minute steep walk... or at least would have been if there had been any signs. There were trails in all directions. I ended up in a dog park first. So I just decided to follow the car road.

Mt. Eden is actually an old volcano, and there was a very clear crater at the top. It was quite windy. I sat for a bit, enjoying my sweet apple turnover.

The crater

Downtown

Another view of the area

More smaller volcanic mounds like the one I was standing on