Auckland

One might not think a blog on “A Different New Zealand” needs an entry on Auckland, but I want to mention several things we did that you might not otherwise think of.

First, we did the City Centre Ramble suggested by the Lonely Planet North Island guide (2012 edition).  (You might be surprised that a country of only 4.4 million people would need two Lonely Planet guides, one for the North Island and one for the South Island, but there is so much to see and do, that it makes sense.  Also, having two guides makes each of them smaller, which makes for traveling.)  The Ramble took us all the way from St. Kevin’s Arcade on “K Road” (i.e., Karangahape Road), through Myers Park and down to the harbour.  It was a very nice way to get acquainted with central Auckland.  And when we got to the harbour, there was a Fritz’s Wieners stand.  The bratwurst wasn’t the best I ever had, but it was good, even if the mustard selections were a little limited.

The guidebooks say the Otara Market is the world’s largest Maori and Polynesian market.  I don’t know if that is true, and it is a long bus ride from the Central Business District, but I still think it is worth it.  The bus ride itself was very interesting.  It gave you a chance to see a lot of different areas of Auckland.  (The buses aren’t air conditioned, but then they don’t need to be.)  The market itself was fascinating.  It is for locals, not tourists, which makes it better.  There are a wide variety of products and both fresh and cooked food, all the way from another Fritz’s Wieners stand to whitebait fritters.

Many people take the ferry to Waiheke Island, but we didn’t, so I can’t comment on it.  I will recommend the ferry to Devonport, however.  We did it on our last day in New Zealand.  The weather was perfect, and the views of the harbour were great.  

While we were walking along the shore in Devonport, we sat down next to an older Maori gentleman.  When he found out we were Americans, he talked about American troops being in Devonport during World War II.  Plus you can get Devonport chocolates right in Devonport.

Let me mention one thing we did that was definitely not “different.”  However, my wife would be upset if I did not include it.  We went on a simulated America’s Cup match race in Waitemata Harbour.  It was run by “explore” and was one of several different harbour cruises they had.  We went on this one because it was the longest.  They don’t have the simulated match races all that often, so if you can’t get on one of those, take one of their other cruises.  But if you can go on the match race cruise, do it.  And be ready to help.

For dinner, we ate at Soul in Viaduct Harbour because – it was on the harbour.  Two other nights we took cabs to Ponsonby to eat in some of the fancy restaurants there.  On Sunday evening, when many of the restaurants are closed, we ate at the Food Alley on Albert Street.  They had a number of choices; we chose Indonesian.

Finally, Sunday morning we attended a service at Holy Trinity Cathedral, which is in Parnell, near the Auckland War Memorial Museum.  The cathedral was lovely, and the service was very nice.  Like many churches in New Zealand, it seems as if it started out with perhaps a grander design and was then modified. The chancel is in a traditional Gothic style; the nave is modern.  The key, however, is that is fits together beautifully.