Auckland

March 23, 2009

After leaving Bora Bora it took 2 sea days for us to get to Roratanga, another South Sea Island. We woke up to the sound of our ship being punished by high waves hitting the ship. I mean these were loud noises, like someone pounding the side of the ship with large hammers or rams. We looked out to see rain and the island visible through the showers. There also was a tanker off the other side of the ship being bounced around by the waves. It did not surprise us, therefore, when the captain announced that the water was too rough for us to be able to go ashore on the tender boats. We set sail for Auckland, New Zealand, realizing that instead of 3 more sea days, we now had 4. Ronnie and I enjoy the sea days, but for those who are only on this segment, they naturally felt disappointed about missing another port.

Auckland was worth waiting for, however. The forecast had predicted rain and cool temperatures, but Ronnie told everyone that the weather would be fine. Which, of course, it was. It started out cool, but the sun came out and it ended up quite warm and beautiful by the end of the day. We were so excited as we left the ship, docked right at the downtown district. We decided to take the on-off bus which gives you a tour around the city, getting on and off at any of 14 stops. We went around the harbor, to several parks, the cathedral, the aquarium, the zoo, the rose garden, the shopping mall, the lookout on top of a hill (they call it a mountain), the museum, and then to a trendy boutique district called Parnell, the city center and the sky tower, and finally to the Victoria Market.

What surprised us the most was how familiar the city felt. With the highest boat ownership per capita, the abundant waterfront vistas, the lush foliage, the architecture, the distinctive neighborhoods (villages within the city), even the climate, again and again we were reminded of our former home, Seattle, Washington. The similarities were striking. Even the Anglican cathedral: they had built the altar area first hoping to complete the rest later, as they did St. Mark’s in Seattle, and then finished the nave section in a totally different architectural style. We arrived at Holy Trinity Cathedral before it actually opened, but a sexton showed us around a bit until “the welcomer” arrived. She let us into the charming St. Mary’s, the original pro-cathedral built in 1886, a wooden structure quite large itself. Originally it was across the street from the cathedral building, but in 1982 they moved the whole structure in once piece across the street to its present location next to the cathedral. Quite an impressive feat.

We walked to the Auckland Museum and then took the satellite bus to a number of the stops mentioned above. We came back to the museum, and peeked in. It is quite impressive and we would have spent time there except that it was such a beautiful day and we only had one day in Auckland. We choose instead to continue on the double-decker on-off bus to Parnell, and were totally captivated by the neighborhood, reminding us again of Madison Park in Seattle. We spent a couple of hours there, including having lunch at a cute restaurant with a pretty inside courtyard with lots of ivy and fountains. We had pizza, which was a treat since we had pizza only once before on the trip, and it was different but quite good (especially the crust!). We did see some impressive local crafts (oh, no!) including an incredible multi-colored glass sculpture of one of the local symbols (they call it infinity) for only $65 (about $40 US). How I would have loved to bring that back, but they did not ship and there was no way we were going to risk packing it or even carrying it with all its delicate glass tendrils. We did end up finding one glass kiwi bird which the shop owner was willing to ship to the US (for a price, of course). Oh yes, as long as we don’t have to carry it back!

Back on the bus we went to the city center, past the sky tower and decided to spend some time at the Victoria Market since it looked quite impressive in the literature. We figured a couple of hours should do it. I know another market, leading us right into temptation. Sure enough the first stall we come to in what looks like a parking garage, they have New Zealand t-shirts with maori designs for $10 (meaning about $5 US), and I did find one that just seemed to fit me. But it was down hill from there. The shops were selling mostly mass produced trinkets that did not interest us in the least, and the few New Zealand looking things we saw said “Made in China.” After passing a dozen or so shops, we came to what looked like the end of the market. “There has to be more,” we said to each other. Guess what. There wasn’t. We followed one staircase to a second level where there was one shop that I guess was going out of business because all the clothing was in piles on tables. The sign said exit only, but the guard (yes guard) let us in anyway. Nothing interesting there either. The market was a total bust.

So our two hour tour through the market took more like 20 minutes, and we decided to trudge up the hill to the downtown area. It had seemed quite a hike when we had seen it on the bus, but to take the bus there we would have had to gone all the way around the loop, so it was hardly worth it. It wasn’t bad, and there was an Austrian lady we met on the bus who kept turning up where ever we went. There she was again and we walked up the hill with her and it seemed like nothing.

We stopped and bought some sodas and gum (I was determined to try to use up our New Zealand $ to avoid the exchange again), and looked in a number of the stores in the downtown area. Queen Street was the center, and as opposed to many US cities where the downtown has been deserted, this was a bustling area on a late Saturday afternoon. I was surprised to find that electronics were quite inexpensive compared to the South American cities we had visited. Indeed one of the waiters on the ship told us that New Zealand was one of the cheapest places to buy electronics because they have no import tax. So he bought a new Macintosh laptop with all the bells and whistles. We worked our way back towards the ship (Queen Street dead ends at the waterfront) thinking we would eat on the ship and go back into town since the ship didn’t depart until 10 p.m.

Since we were walking by the ferries, we decided to check on the ferry to the little village of Devonport across the bay. We found it went every half hour and was only $10 NZ round trip, or a little over $5 US. We decided to go then rather than wait until after dinner, and it was a wise decision. The ride over and back was delightful, with wonderful evening views of the harbor. The town was so cute, reminding us of Bainbridge Island in the Puget Sound near Seattle. We took a quick walk around the town, where a few shops were still open, and even went to the local supermarket. I did buy some delicious NZ licorice to have after Easter (yes, of course I gave up sweets for Lent again).

Taking the ferry back after an hour there enabled us to be in time for dinner on the ship. While waiting for the ferry I sat next to two maori (natives of New Zealand) women who struck up a conversation with me. I think they were mother and daughter, and they told me a bit about their home town. It didn’t feel like a chance meeting, and I wish I had asked them more. Then riding across the harbor with the sun setting and the wind in our faces as we stood in the front of the boat was magical. To say we enjoyed it would be a definite understatement. We went back ashore one more time after dinner and saw a bit of the Auckland night life. One of the most interesting night clubs was one called -5°, where the whole place, including chairs, is made of ice. People put on parkas and boots to go in. We didn’t. Seeing them inside through the window was plenty for us (why do you think we live in Florida?).

Over all, a wonderful day in Auckland, and we highly recommend it! Next will be the Bay of Islands in New Zealand, followed by Sydney and Newcastle in Australia.