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Published: February 15th 2014
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AUCKLAND, NZ - GETTING THERE IS HALF THE FUN?
Auckland is fun, and beautiful! The people are friendly, the pubs are great, but getting here is a pain - let me explain why more so in my case. I was scheduled to leave Sarasota, Fl on February 12 to Atlanta and on to Los Angeles, Sydney and then Auckland. February 12 became a nightmare for travelers through Atlanta. I got a message that my flight to Atlanta was cancelled. What to do? I certainly was not the only person impacted by this severe storm, but, since I had no insurance, I wanted to make sure I got to Auckland to start my cruise. After several attempts to talk with a person, I got lucky and got a flight from Tampa ( 50 miles away and leaving at 6:50 am ) to Memphis and then to Los Angeles. I rented a car one way to Tampa and got a hotel room at the Tampa Airport so I could make the early flight. Not convenient, but I was lucky to survive the chaos of the Atlanta situation. After 32 hours in airports and on planes ( the longest leg was
15 hours ) I arrived in Auckland, New Zealand. I entirely missed February 13.
My first impressions of Auckland were made at the airport. My baggage arrived on good shape and customs and immigration went very smoothly for me and all personnel were friendly and helpful. It was very easy to get a shuttle to my downtown hotel and the ride in through Friday afternoon traffic was ok, but there was heavy traffic. Hotel rooms were VERY scarce this weekend because of a big Lantern Festival celebrating the Chinese New Year, a big Rugby match and a rock concert in addition to the normal tourist trade. After a shower, I decided to walk a little and get something to satisfy my thirst and hunger. Traffic here is on the left, so I needed to be very aware of the traffic patterns when crossing.
Downtown Auckland is safe and walk able. Even though it was dusk, I felt very comfortable. There are hills and I couldn’t find some street names, but the little tourist map I had was effective. I was very close to the site of the Lantern Festival and got a few pictures.
More tomorrow. I found an advertisement for a pub with “102 beers from around New Zealand and the World”. I tried a few, and fish and chips ( snapper from local fishermen ), but couldn’t handle all 102. Back to my hotel to get sleep in a bed instead of on a plane.
This morning I decided not to waste the opportunity of knowing Auckland a little better, so I got up and went to the Gray Line for a city tour. The 3 hour tour provided a great overview from a terrific driver/narrator. I then had a quick sandwich at a nearby deli and took a 1 ½ hour harbor tour. I sat on the open top deck and got some good pictures of the skyline and a little extra sun. The temperature was fine even though the apparent wind speed was sometimes high. After the harbor cruise I walked to the Sky Tower and took the elevator to the level 60 Sky Deck - 722 feet above ground; at 1,076 feet total height it is the tallest free standing building in the Southern hemisphere. I passed on the bungee jumping. The elevators and some of
the floor areas on the decks have glass panels on the floors. Interesting!
I came back to my hotel to start the blog before going out after dark to witness the Lantern Festival. What a mob of people. Well behaved, but I felt very sorry for the little children and infants in carriages. Lots of food vendors, but it was a challenge for any one to find a space to eat.
Tomorrow, church before boarding the ship for 14 days.
ILYS
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Laurie Zeh
non-member comment
Auckland
You are intrepid for sure. Dale and I will be very interested to hear about your New Zealand cruise on Oceania. We're planning a trip to NZ next year and a cruise may be the way to go.