ARRIVAL IN AUCKLAND

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We are on our way from Toronto to Vancouver and then on to Auckland. Somehow I managed to get a seat with my back to the washroom wall so the back won’t recline. Oh well, it’s only 5 hours to Vancouver and we did leave Toronto right on time. There are 11 of us leaving from Toronto, 2 are meeting us in Vancouver and the last 2 are meeting us in Auckland. After we left Vancouver on our 14 hour flight, we cross the International Date Line so I don’t know whether it’s Nov. 13 or 14. My watch says 2:23 a.m. Vancouver time which doesn’t help me figure out which day it is. It is impossible to sleep on the plane, can’t get comfortable no matter what I do and my tail bone hurts from sitting so long.

So now we have arrived at 5:45 a.m. in Auckland so now I know it really is Nov. 14. We are all on the bus except 2 ladies who don’t show up. Finally Nancy goes back into the terminal to try to find them. Turns out they got into a line at the customs that had a bunch of Americans and the line wasn’t moving. All is well! The rest of the day is spent on the bus touring Auckland. Our bus driver is really great. He told us his only job is to make Nancy and the rest of us happy. No matter what we want he is willing to try to accommodate us however he can. Nancy mentioned we would like to put our feet in the ocean and he immediately pulled over, disembarked us and we all ran down to the beach to walk in the cold ocean water.

The Auckland Domain is a 75 acre parcel of land that has been preserved as spectacular parkland with ancient oak trees, flower gardens, flowering shrubs and trees and a palace sized museum. Feeling a little hungry I made my way to coffee shop for a small snack which turned out to be an oversized scone with lots of butter. I discovered that coffee is going to be a challenge: here are some of the choices - short black, long black, flat white. What on earth is that? Where is my Timmies or McDonalds coffee? It is like espresso and I have to add lots of hot water. While we were enjoying our coffee and snack, the sparrows were excitedly flittering around us and one actually landed on the table to get the crumbs off the plate.

I don’t have a lot of pictures yet and the internet is not good here so don’t expect to get many pictures until I get home and get update my blogs with the pics.

Some random info: Auckland has a population of 1.6 million and NZ has a total population of 5.13 million. I’ve see big black & white magpies but haven’t been able to get a picture of one yet. Now i’m stalking them, crawling though the underbrush, wriggling on my stomach through weeds - well maybe not quite that extreme but I will get a picture of one. We drove through a tunnel that was 2.5 km long and took 2.5 years to dig each side - no word on how much that cost! Auckland seems like a fairly new city, quite modern looking everywhere.

Not much to write about yet but tomorrow we are going exploring in the city - walking around, taking a ferry to Waiheke Island to see the wineries, a trip in the evening up the Sky Tower for drinks in the bar.

You’ll find that this blog is a few days all lumped together. We’ve been busy touring and today was our free day which we packed to overflowing. After a buffet breakfast, several of us headed out to walk from the hotel to the harbour front. Tickets are required for the ferry to Waiheke Island where we hope to visit one or two of the many, many wineries on the island. And being who we are we wouldn’t take the bus, we walked the scenic path through the jungle Alawa Whenua Reserve, up the mountain and past the Cable Bay Winery vineyards (which wasn’t open today). Eventually we arrived at our destination Mudbrick Vineyard which we were told was the best one on the island. The scenery from the tasting patio was absolutely stunning. Vistas of vineyards, lush foliage and in the distance the ocean displayed in a azure inlet bay full of other islands and sailboats. Sparrows flit among the branches of small trees hanging over us to provide much needed shade. The sparrows are bold waiting for crumbs accidentally dropped or carelessly left on tables - they are not the least afraid of people and will approach within a foot or two. A tasting of four wines - two white and two red - took us quit a while to savour, partially because of the view and partially because of the good company of friends. By the time, we left we were running short of time and it was a 3 km walk back to the main road. As it happened there was a taxi dropping off visitors and we jumped on for a quick ride back to catch the bus to the next winery. Oh no! Time is not on our side - we don’t have enough time to stop at the Stoneridge Winery but our option was to ride the bus and see the island. As Jane commented, it is very reminiscent of Hawaii with curving roads, hills, lush foliages, magnificent flowers. With only a few minutes to spare, we made it back to the ferry for the 4 pm sailing back to Auckland.

Our next venture is making it to the Sky Tower for our 6:30 booking at the Sugar Room Bar on the 53rd floor overlooking the Pacific Ocean and all the long extinct volcanic islands. Right on time we checked in zipped up the elevator to the 5rd floor. Our bill for 8 drinks was $115.50 but we scored some outstanding pictures!

The final adventure of the day will probably make some of you shudder in horror. Jane, Anne & I consulted our trusty city map and set out to walk back to our hotel. Due to street construction there were many detours through those dark construction tunnels built over the sidewalks. Weaving our way down one street and then another, we decided to take a short cut which turned out to be dark back streets which luckily were pretty much bare of people. Arrived at the hotel shortly after 9 p.m. safe and sound.

I know I have forgotten to tell you all the interesting things weve seen and done but it’s almost 11 pm and I’m running out of steam.

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Photos

Welcome to New Zealand
Anne, Jane, Marian and Helen