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| Early Morning Auckland - from the Devonport Ferry |
The weather forecast for today was partly cloudy (i.e. party sunny) in the morning, then clouding up as the day progressed. So that’s why we wanted to get an early start, especially since one of the things we really wanted to do was to get a sunny/blue sky view of Auckland from the Sky Tower, and fortunately, we were pretty much able to do that.
We hopped on a city bus in Takapuna, where we were able to buy a day pass for all of Auckland’s busses and ferries for $15 each, which seemed like a pretty good deal – and we ended up putting it to good use. So first, we took the bus to the Ferry Terminal in Devonport – a neighboring town of Takapuna and right across the harbor/bay from Auckland.
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| Sky Tower - Here We Come! |
There we waited maybe 10 minutes (the perfect amount of time for a cappuccino and a chocolate croissant) before the ferry arrived. And after a 10 minute ferry ride, with beautiful views of Auckland, we finally arrived downtown. And from the harbor, it was only about a 10 minute walk to the Sky Tower, and as soon as we arrived we purchased our tickets and up we went.
When we got to the top, there were a lot of clouds, but there were also nice patches of blue sky and sunshine – and the view was lovely (as they say a lot down here). Whether we were looking straight down at the street below – through the glass floor, or out to the horizon, it was very cool. And Auckland looked beautiful – lots of trees, buildings old and new, and lots of water all around. We even saw the “Occupy Auckland” event, with scores of tents in a park downtown.
We also met a guy from Australia up on the top and had a very fun conversation with him. He graduated High School in Iowa as an exchange student – so we had some fun things to talk about. Turned out he was on the cruise ship that was in port, and I asked him how the crossing was from Australia to New Zealand – and he said “rough!” A lot of people were getting sick. (Now I feel a little better about cancelling our cruise – although I still wish that crossing didn’t present such an obstacle.)
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| Looking North towards Auckland's Harbor Bridge |
The museum had some pretty cool items – especially artifacts from the Maori people – but the section on the land was fairly hokey. Either way, we enjoyed our time at the museum, but our stomachs were telling us it was lunch time. So we left the museum and walked down towards Parnell Street – in the Parnell neighborhood – which is a place known for its restaurants, shops, bars and million dollar homes.
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| A Clean and Green City |
Once there, we passed by several restaurants before we decided to eat at La Bocca’s – and small little Italian restaurant that was advertising a $15 lunch special. This special included a meal (chosen from a list of about 15 options) and a glass of wine. A great deal for New Zealand standards. Joanie had some grilled calamari bruschetta and I had their Pollo di Cacciatorri . Both of us loved our lunches, and our glass of wine. And the owner of the restaurant was also very friendly and personable.
We then went to catch our bus to return to the City Centre, but stumbled upon a place that sold “New Zealand” ice cream, had free Wi-Fi and was right in front of the bus stop – so there we found ourselves – and it was a nice stop. Good ice cream and a nice respite at this sidewalk parlor. But our bus came and we boarded, and in less than 10 minutes we were in the heart of downtown again.
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| Occupy Auckland! Great to See! |
We then walked over to the Occupy Auckland site and walked the perimeter of their encampment. I hoped we would be able to talk with some of the protestors, but it seemed as though we caught them in a down time period. The camp seemed pretty empty at the time except for about a hundred tents! I think when your protest lasts for weeks and months, there are definitely quiet times.
We then walked down to the harbor, caught the ferry back to Devonport and then the bus back to our street in Takapuna. And now we find ourselves back in our hotel room, laying low, in the later part of a slightly rainy afternoon. The rest of the evening probably involves a movie in our room and a dinner out nearby. The good news about the weather though is that they are expecting another sunny day tomorrow – which is a good thing to have for our 3 hour drive to Taraunga!
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| Looking Straight Down Through the Glass Floor |
A fun day of exploring Auckland.
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| Maori Mask from the Museum |
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| Couldn't leave Auckland without a photo of the proverbial stuffed Kiwi |
