Our crew has officially grown to four for the next 11 days. Sarah, Michael, Judy and I landed in Auckland, New Zealand around midnight on Thursday and wearily made our way to our hotel, The Quadrant, before quickly settling into our beds. We slept in on Friday morning – the late arriving flight and time change definitely warranted it! – then set out to see the city by foot.
Our first stop was (obviously) coffee and we were happy to introduce Judy to the flat white. She approved! Next we headed down to the water to explore the harbor.
Happily enjoying our flat whites.
Auckland's harbor on a beautiful day.
After strolling around the harbor for a few hours, we walked over to the fish market to see how it compared to Tsukiji Market in Tokyo. Not surprisingly, this one was much more tame; that said, we still got to see some interesting species of fish on display. We were hungry at this point (though not in the mood for fish!) so we walked across the street to Jack Tar for burgers and fish & chips - the food hit the spot but the uninterrupted views of the harbor were the best part.
We walked off lunch by strolling around the city for a few more hours. Sarah and Judy stopped in a few shops along the way, too. We eventually stopped in Western Park to check out the unique "sculptures" on display - artist John Radford took pieces of buildings that had once stood in Auckland and placed them here in the park. It wasn't like any park we'd ever seen before!
There were three or four big pieces like this scattered throughout the park - pretty cool way to remember the city's old architecture.
Once we made it back to our hotel, it was time for a brief siesta. But after a quick break, we went back out to see the sun set from Mt. Eden, a dormant volcano and the highest point in Auckland. There were plenty of other people with the same idea...which wasn't surprising when we saw the views of the city.
We made it to the top (after a bit of a steep uphill climb!).
Auckland at sunset.
Last glimpses of the sun.
With the sun down for the day, we took the bus back to downtown Auckland for dinner. We had to try a few places before we found a restaurant with availability, but we were happy that we ended up at Haoni. The Vietnamese food was great and we had a very friendly American waitress (who was so happy to see some other Americans that she bought us a round of drinks!). A great end to our first day in New Zealand!
We woke up today at a more reasonable hour, packed our bags, checked out of our hotel and headed down to the harbor to catch a ferry to Waiheke Island. The weather cooperated again and we had a great time walking around the island for a few hours.
Hello from Waiheke!
Oneroa Bay.
Sarah's favorite beach house we saw on our walk.
Sandy Bay.
After a delicious lunch at Delight Café, we were back on the ferry to Auckland and on our way to the airport for our short flight to Wellington.