Auckland - November 3

Auckland - New Zealand's largest city

When we left Tauranga - the port city for Rotarua, we headed West by Northwest. New Zeakand's North Island has a huge peninsula at the top that extends to the Northwest and which contains may more inlets and bays. Auckland is on this large peninsula and is the largest city in New Zealandwith 31% of the nations population putting it at just under 1.4 Million inhabitants.

Auckland sits on a fairly narrow isthmus and is one of the few cities in the world that has port facilities in two major seas,  the Tasman Sea and the  Pacific Ocean

From 1840 until 1865, Auckland served as the national capitol.

While Auckland is pretty far north, it is nonetheless mild with normal springtime highs in the 60's it was cool with showers the day we visited.

Once again, Bob was on the veranda when we pulled in

As in many of the cities, water traffic, such as this ferry, form a big part of the infrastructure

The ship was moored next to an upscale ferry terminal

Right in downtown Auckland

Next to the Hilton and some nice apartments

We met our guide at a local hotel, just down the street from this elevated boat storage

We drove past impressive churches

And dwellings

To ascend to the rim of Mount Eden,

A dormant volcano

We could see this monument from our perch - turns out that was One Tree Hill, our next destination

Atop Mt Eden

On this platform is a really cool "Compass Rose" that lists the distance to nearly every city in the world!

We then drove to Cornwall Park, the site of the spire we'd seen from Mt Eden

Pohutukawa Drive is so named . . .

. . . for the trees that line either side

The government recognizes the national desire to grill and provides these grills - with fuel - free of charge!

A restaurant part way up the mountain

Finally, we parked well below the summit of "One Tree Hill" and had to walk to the top because the road was too narrow for our van.

As it happens, this marker for Sir John Logan Campbell, the gent who donated all this land, revealed it was his birthday! Hence the flowers. The marker farther back was his friend a Maori chief. It started to rain, so we started back down without gathering additional info!

The island seen offshore Auckland is a volcanic cone that is typical in the area

On the way down, we noticed this field where people rearrange the stones to commemorate a love!

Bill & Peggy at the base of One Tree Hill (no the tree you see just below the monument is not the one tree, that one was cut down by a disgruntled Maori who was upset that it was not a tree native to New Zealand)

. . . and Bob & Theresa, also at One Tree Hill

Our next stop was the War Memorial which included a large plaque commemorating the huge loss of life at Gallipoli during the first World War

On a nearby field, we enjoyed trying to figure out the rules for cricket - without much luck. We asked our guide if it was possible to explain the rules of cricket to a Yank, ha said "Probably not!" But went ahead and tried.

There was a large horticultural center including greenhouses and gardens

 

 

Many gorgeous plants in the greenhouses

Bill & Peggy

In a nearby koi pond, this duck was in her afternoon grooming

Water flowers at the conservatory

We then commenced our drive to the West coast - just across the isthmus passing many handsome buildings

Some men practicing their war canoe strokes

And encountering many scenic views

An interesting van during our drive about

We arrived at Otakamiro Point above a surf beach where there was a contest ongoing

But the real attraction for us was the gannet colony on the point and tiny  Muriwai island

These large birds nest on this tiny island and the cliffs above the Tasman Sea

They have a tri-fold wing, much like the albatross.

The Gannets greet each other upon their mate's return

They "bury" their heads for warmth and dark, I suppose

Here you can see the tri-fold wing as this bird grooms

The overlook brought us to within 100 yards of the gannets

This "blowhole" was just behind the point

Alongside the gannets, we saw these smaller birds - any help as to what they are will be appreciated

Below, we saw the fishermen planting their poles on the flat rocks . . .

. . . but the waves break over these rocks and our guide told us a fisherman is swept into the sea at least once or twice a season!

Those fish must be really good eating!

Peggy at the gannet overlook platform

Here looking from the point back down the coast - the surf beach is below the car park visible on the left

Theresa just above the surf beach

Bob & Theresa at gannet overlook

We stopped for a wine tasting on the way back into town

The wine was excellent and we bought a bottle of Gewurztraminer and a bottle of sparkling muscat

A really cool  wine rack in the wine tasting room

We figured this must be some important government center but it is in fact a very upscale consumer mall!

Just thought this was funny! "In Quesa Emergency"

We were dropped at the same hotel. We sat in the lobby & mooched their free Wi_Fi before heading back to the ship

Views from our dining room table pulling out

Auckland in the misty distance

The show that night featured the ship's four singers - nice end to a nice day!

 Tomorrow - Bay of Islands and Glow Worms