Ranui

I had an appointment out in Ranui today, which is about 19 km away out in west Auckland.  It's nearly on the edge of the Native Forest, where the city suddenly stops and there's only one small road through to the piha (beach).

I took the express bus along the Western Motorway.  What a difference from Los Angeles.... only two lanes in each direction, nearly no traffic, and blasting right along.  The motorway doesn't last long, however.  Every few miles there's a stop light and turnoff onto surface streets before getting back on.  The motorway was more like a bypass than a freeway.

We drove past the bay, Pollen Island, and hundreds of pohutukawa trees in full bloom.  On a surface street a car ran a stop sign in front of us, and the bus driver had to swerve and hit the brakes pretty hard.  Several people were startled and yelled (but no harm done).  Once we continued on our way, several people on the bus shouted up to the driver, "Good driving!" and "Well done!"  You'd never hear compliments like that on an LA bus.

I arrived at my destination (and since I was the only one left on the bus, the driver brought me right to the front door, rather than dropping me off 200 meters away at the bus stop).  Residental area, farms, and a cow pasture. It was nice.

 

I saw a fig tree!