Auckland, New Zealand
January 30 - 31, 2024 - Our second port of call in New Zealand and the country is just beautiful. It is the largest city with about 1.6 million of the 5 million people of New Zealand living in Auckland. We were docked at a pier right in the downtown area so it was only steps off the boat to stores, restaurants and businesses (including all the major accounting firms with names on the surrounding skyscrapers). Apparently there is a push by some residents to get the piers moved elsewhere, but the resounding opinion from our bus drivers is that it will never happen.
On our first day in Auckland, we did the included 3 hour “Highlights of Auckland” excursion which included a few photo stops and then 90 minutes of free time at the War Memorial Museum. We weren’t necessarily excited about spending time in a War Museum, but the name did not do it justice. Someone had mentioned a few weeks ago that this was an exceptional museum, and it was. It was a Natural History, Native Culture and War Museum wrapped up in one. We spent most of our time on the first floor, which had all the native crafts and buildings, including a Waka (native canoe), a Mauri (meeting house) as well as the pottery, carvings and textiles they crafted over the years. A highlight was the textiles made from crushing inner layers of trees, over time, and they using plants/flower for painting patterns. The workmanship was incredible. After the tour, we walked around town on our own.
On our second day in Auckland we did a “NorthShore & Devonport Village” excursion where we first drove around the downtown area before crossing the harbor bridge to go to the North Shore. While in the harbor, we drove past the training building for New Zealand’s America’s Cup team. When we stopped for pictures of the bridge, we saw 1995 winning ship, which is now a charter boat, as well as the 2024 ship doing some training. We then crossed the harbor bridge and drove through the North Shore, admiring the beaches and the neighborhoods. The houses were surprisingly close together, but I guess their suburbs are the same as ours. We ended the tour in Devonport Village, and enjoyed walking through some of the shops before stopping at a street cafe for lunch. We then used the ticket our tour guide gave us to take the ferry back across the harbor to our ship.
