Down Under: Ambling in Auckland

NEW ZEALAND—DAY 1, AUCKLAND

We lost Monday crossing the International Dateline so it is almost noon here on Tuesday. After checking into our hotel, De Bretts, and getting cleaned up, we spent about an hour and a half wandering around center city Auckland. Our hotel is nicely located in an area of restaurants and shops and not too far from the ferry terminal and St. Patrick’s Cathedral.  

Auckland’s weather today is reminiscent of San Francisco and with its harbor location, it reminds us a little of Halifax, only this is a much larger city. I’m enjoying the architecture which is very pleasing mix of 19^th century stone buildings along with contemporary glass and concrete skyscrapers. There’s a lot of construction going on including the addition of several new stops on the subway line.

Our first impressions are that not only is this a coffee city (lots of coffee stands and cafes), but that they do breakfast in a big way. Almost every restaurant we passed or stopped in at had a breakfast menu as well as lunch and dinner and folks were sitting around noshing on croissants or scones or a full egg breakfast.  

The Chief Penguin also thought there were an unusually large number of barber shops—very hair conscious men perhaps.

For our lunch, we went to casual Al’s Deli for a fried chicken sandwich with a side of cole slaw and The Saint, smoked salmon with capers and onions with cream cheese (I nixed this) on a bagel or a brioche roll. Perfectly acceptable, but nothing special. Fries and sangria or the tacos of the day also were in evidence.

After lunch we wandered some more (keep moving to stay awake is our mantra) and visited the New Zealand Maritime Museum. Lots of canoes of various vintages and materials, an exhibit on the America’s Cup, artifacts related to various shipwrecks, ship figureheads, and two other exhibits that bear special mention.  

One is a temporary exhibit on knots of all types called, “Knot Touch.”  Colorful yarns and plastics beads and buoys were strung up utilizing different kinds of knots. You entered through a large hoop and were free to feel and touch and play with any string or knot you wished. Very creative and more like art than history or science.

I also found “The Immigrants” a very informative and rich exploration of individuals who came to New Zealand from the 19^th century through the 20^th century and why. The depiction of what it was like to cross the Pacific in the 1840’s was particularly graphic. Very good use of diaries and letters and photos of real families who came to settle here.

All photos ©JWFarrington (some rights reserved)