A small, burgundy-coloured prefabricated house now served as New Zealand's first Hare Krsna Temple. Mount Eden was situated at the end of a lava flow from an old volcano. Auckland was cradled in a nest of 60 such volcanoes, and Landscape Road displayed an abundance of the characteristic large volcanic boulders of the area.
In front of the little bungalow was a small, wooden veranda, and a tiny garden. The backyard was slightly bigger, with a revolving clothesline and some citrus fruit trees. Prabhupada entered the newly transformed lounge that now served as the temple room, sat on his large, blue and red velvet vyasasana and started a kirtana. Afterwards, he spoke to the 15 young boys and girls who now sat before him, expressing his appreciation for their coming forward to spread the very important Krsna consciousness movement. New Zealand, Prabhupada predicted, would take the Krsna consciousness movement very seriously.
The sister of Aksayananda dasa, one of Srila Prabhupada's disciples, had provided various pieces of furniture and other items for Prabhupada's use during his stay in Auckland. This included clean white sheets which were spread across the floors of the small cottage.
Prabhupada stayed in the front room of the house. Auckland was experiencing chilly weather, and shortly after his arrival Srila Prabhupada complained of the "pinching cold" in his room. He asked Tusta Krsna to seal all the windows with tape, and Tusta complied.
Despite the cold, Prabhupada reiterated that he liked New Zealand very much. "You make some arrangement when the weather is warm," he told Tusta Krsna. "Then I will come here and stay for some time. I'll stay here and translate for months. This is a very nice country; the people are nice, these young boys who are coming forward, they are also very, very nice."
- From "The Great Transcendental Adventure" by HG Kurma Prabhu
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