Friday 27 February 2015

Day 48 - Thursday 26th February - Auckland

Day 48 - Thursday 26th February - Auckland

(Firstly apologies for the delay with this blog - we have been so busy the past couple of days that I haven't had time to write it! Will hopefully catch up by this evening before I forget everything!!)

I had set the alarm for 6.00 to watch the sail in to Auckland, but when I stuck my sleepy head out on the balcony we had already practically arrived! It was still dark but we could see all the high buildings lit up in different colours. I watched the sun rise behind the port and then we watched another cruise ship enter the dock just behind us - an enormous Royal Caribbean vessel.

We did not have a tour booked for Auckland so we had a leisurely breakfast, had our latest weigh in (all good so far!), and then made our way ashore about 9.00. We decided to spend the morning in Devonport, which is a suburb just across the bay from where we were docked. There was a regular ferry service departing from just next to the ship, so we got on the next boat and enjoyed the pleasant short trip across the water. We spent a while looking round the shops near the ferry terminal, but decided before it got too hot to do the main attraction - the walk up Mount Victoria, the volcanic cone in the centre of the village. The walk up took about 15 minutes and was very steep, but we survived, and were rewarded with incredible views from the top - back to the city, over the pretty houses and churches in the rest of Devonport, the Harbour Bridge, and all around the harbour. We spent quite a while up here looking around, and also seeing the large gun which remains up here from times long ago.

We walked back down and had a wander round the village, searching out the chocolate shop which had a glass partition at the back where you could watch the chocolates being made in the kitchen - heavenly! We strolled through the park and along the beach, and then along the seafront, looking at the many quaint Victorian style houses which the town is famous for. We then got the ferry back and popped back onto the ship for lunch.

We set off again in the early afternoon for a walk which I had planned by ringing all the places that looked interesting on the map we had been given, and trying to join them up in a logical way! The only problem with this is the map didn't show gradients, and so I had no way of knowing how far uphill we would be walking! 

We set off along the quayside road, dodging the many runners and cyclists for who this was a popular route. We saw a large mural which was a memorial to the Greenpeace ship, Rainbow Warrior, which was bombed and sunk by the French just outside Auckland in 1985, as they didn't like the organisation's peaceful protests against nuclear testing in the Pacific. (JL went very quiet at this point!) We continued on and then headed into the Dove Meyer Robinson Park which was a lovely green oasis in the city.  We saw an incredible tree here which looked like some sort or alien being with thick branches curling up, down, sideways, and all around, crossing the pathway so low that you had to duck under it! We then walked though the Parnell Rose garden which had lots of pretty flower formations. From here we walked through the Parnell district, which has amazing colonial houses in a range of colours and styles. The estate agents didn't list the prices... Here we discovered that one of the roads on the walk was slightly uphill... Luckily we made it to the top in one piece, and were treated with views of the huge modern Holy Trinity cathedral with an incredible stained glass window covering the whole of the back wall. We headed from here into the Auckland Domain, which is an enormous park housing the Auckland Museum (a most impressive building) as well as a number of other attractions, not all of which we could find (I think the map was wrong!). It was very pretty with small ponds and fountains. We came out the other side and crossed the motorway running through the city, in search of more churches, cathedrals and parks. We finally made our way back down in search of Auckland's most famous landmark, the 328 metre high Sky Tower, which dominates the skyline. The base of it was surprisingly hard to find, but we eventually did, and were greeted with our first sight of someone throwing themselves off the top! Luckily they were connected to wires and were doing this as part of the Skyjump activity!! We spent the next ten minutes craning our necks trying to get a good view of more jumpers! By this point we were nearly back at the ship, and I was going to be late for afternoon tea, so we stopped into a local cafe, which just happened to have free wifi as well- yay! A few more photos of St Patrick's Cathedral and the Ferry Building, and then we retired to the ship, absolutely exhausted with aching legs!

We had an early dinner to wake ourselves up, and then chilled out in the cabin for a bit before the evening's show - Russell Harrison, a New Zealand singer, who did lots of audience participation to keep me awake! After the show we went on deck to watch the ship sail away from Auckland with amazing views of the lit up city - a spectacular end to the day. Then to bed to recover ready for our third day ashore tomorrow!!! 

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