Saturday, October 20, 2018
We’ve been in Auckland for a week exploring the city, visiting sights, and learning about the “Kiwi” lifestyle. The city is in a well protected harbor on a huge bay in the northern part of the North Island of New Zealand. Ferries connect many parts of the region to the downtown area, which they call The Central Business District or CBD. Here are some things we did this week:
The Sky Tower is an observation and telecommunication tower which dominates the Auckland cityscape. At 728 feet, it’s the highest building in New Zealand and a dynamic symbol of the city. Visitors take an elevator up to the 52nd and 60th floors. Adventurers and thrill seekers can bungy-jump off the 55th floor. One person jumped while we were there. They made it to the ground safely and quickly!
The conical shaped island in the harbor is Rangitoto Island which was created 600 years ago from a volcanic eruption. The 360 degree view from the top of the Sky Tower was spectacular.
We visited the War Memorial Museum aka The Auckland Museum to see their permanent exhibit of Maori art and artifacts.
There were other excellent exhibits and we spent several enjoyable hours in the museum. One special temporary exhibit which I really enjoyed described the evolution of Women’s Rights in New Zealand during the last hundred years. “Aotearoa” is the Maori name for the two island which comprise New Zealand.
We walked up the main shopping street of Queen Street many times during the week. There are familiar international stores like H&M as well as Gucci and Dior.
One day we visited the New Zealand Maritime Museum which exhibited a wide variety of boats from outrigger canoes used by the Polynesian islanders and Maori seafarers to modern workboats and sailing vessels.
We saw the famous yacht, Black Magic which won the America’s Cup race in 1995. It was the height of yacht design and technology at the time. The black and red torpedo-shaped object in the lower right hand corner of my photo below is the bottom of the keel of Black Magic.
On another day, Jeff and I also visited the Museum of Transport and Technology aka MOTAT. Another fun museum with displays of steam engines, old telephones, computers, simple machines, trolleys, old cars, tractors, airplanes, and an original steam-driven pump station.
Britomart is a new neighborhood just off the CBD which has been renovated from old warehouses to modern office buildings, restaurants, cafes, and boutiques. We found a French pastry shop that had delicious croissants and really good “flat white” coffee. A Mano was another good Britomart restaurant with an Italian inspiration.
The Auckland Bridge which connects the city with the northern suburbs was lighted at night with flashing computer-controlled LEDs in many bright colors. It’s a three-hour light-show every night!
We will be sad to leave Auckland next week. It’s a vibrant, young, and exciting city with great potential for growth and development. The people were friendly and there were many things to see and do. Did I mention perfect weather? It’s been 65 to 70 degrees during the day and frequently breezy. The skies have been partly cloudy to very sunny. Locals told us it never snows in the winter and summers are never too hot.
The current Prime Minister is 38 year old Jacinda Ardern who recently gave birth to a daughter, while in office. She is not married to her partner who is a stay-at-home dad. Jacinda is a champion of progressive ideas. It’s nice to know there are places in the world like New Zealand that are moving forward into the 21st century. Unlike the United States, which seems to be regressing since the last election.