happy waitangi day! did you know that new zealand has a holiday tax? yes, when it's a holiday you pay 15% more for things at participating facilities. the last few holidays we were lucky but today we ate at a participating place. sucking more money from me.

north head, she's got the big guns

anyway, we went on our second free auckland day tour with kiwi experience. this time we got to experience the north shore. we explored the tunnels of the north head historic reserve, which was really quite fun. it's a hill decked out for battle, mounted guns and mines and all that stuff, for WWI and WWII. we didn't realize we would need flashlights today but i had my tiny key chain light, so we were able to walk around in the very dark tunnels which stank of humid dampness. smells like my japanese grandmother's house i swear--which is why i don't like to spend time there.

an entrance to the tunnels

after that we walked along the beach a little bit that is close by, then to devonport for lunch. here is when it repeats what we did weeks ago. we ate at the same place and then we went to mt. victoria for a few minutes when it started to sprinkle. i really enjoyed finding my way around the tunnels though. would have been much fun as a kid. if it wasn't new zealand, i might not have been as adventurous. i might have feared rats, snakes, and other creepy crawly things or crazy homeless using the tunnels as their home or lots of dirty needles discarded, etc. instead, just some trash, graffiti, and moldy stench.

tunnel windows for shooting the enemy

did i mention that i dropped my digital camera at north head? yeah, it got messed up a little. the little cover to the lens no longer operates. it was off when i dropped it so the lens was covered. then i turned it on and the cover did not move. i was able to move it but now the lens is permanently exposed to the elements. otherwise, it's fine. i haven't even gone anywhere and already messed up the camera. i have to extra super gentle care of it now. i cannot afford for anything to happen to this camera.