Auckland is a sprawling city of 1.4 million and is sitting on top of 50 inactive (we hope) volcanoes. The streets follow the contours of the old lava flows so it seems somewhat haphazard in its layout.
After dropping our bags at the apartment, we departed on foot for a walking tour to kill some time before our 3:00 pm check-in. This meant no morning shower and touring in our airplane clothes. We also forgot to retrieve the suntan lotion which would have been advantageous in the sunny 27 C temperatures of the afternoon.
The good part was that it was downhill to the waterfront. Not that much different than San Francisco in terms of steepness of the streets and in some cases a bit more so! It was a Sunday morning so not too busy even though this is peak summer tourist season. Nice wide granite sidewalks and an attractive downtown streetscape. There is a large Asian and Polynesian population and hence an abundance of ethnic restaurants.
The waterfront has undergone a significant amount of development which started when Auckland hosted the America’s Cup in 2000. Very vibrant with lots of restaurants and bars.
The Viaduct Harbour has some of the largest private sailing yachts I have ever seen moored a single harbour. These are just a few examples.
After lunch in a really cool waterfront cafe, we decided to tour the Maritime Museum. We were pleasantly surprised with the scope and quality of the displays ranging from the boats used to populate Polynesia centuries ago to early old world explorers to the modern Americas Cup competition. They have the NZ AC boat we saw in San Diego in 1995 that won the Cup on permanent indoor display.
There is also an extensive display and tribute to Sir Peter Blake who was the skipper of that boat and a number of other successful NZ sailing yachts.
The "Big Boat" from the failed 2000 Americas Cup competition in San Diego is also on display out on the street.
After the museum, it was time to venture back uphill to the hotel to finish our check in. After a bit of an unpack and clean up (and a beer & a wine) we walked a couple of blocks to a casual Italian restaurant for supper. Early to bed tonight!
The Kiwi word of the day is “Hob” - a 2 burner stove. Our apartment has a combination hob/oven/dishwasher.
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