Auckland, New Zealand

February 20, The ship arrives early in the beautiful harbor of Auckland. The ship needs to be docked before the ferry traffic starts. A city of over 1 million people, an enormous harbor, islands and a major bridge connecting the people to the “CBD” (Central Business district).









 The bridge, when constructed was a four lane affair, which was considered ample - but as the city grew, and filled with Japanese cars, congestion came as well. Recently, the city contracted with a Japanese company to add two lanes on each side of the bridge. The Kiwis refer to it as the “Nippon Clip-on.”

We had planned to visit the Waitkomo Glow Worm caves, which would have taken us into the county side and the Waitkomo River Valley. The trip was canceled, so we spent our morning in the city. We visited the Auckland Sky Tower, the tallest tower in the Southern Hemisphere (1,076 feet). We discover that you can bunge jump from the top - something Father Robert might enjoy if he ever tires of roller coasters.  The city has several small volcanic hills, most of them parks now. We take a drive though some of the lovely, near-by suburbs, all with lovely views of the harbor.




We end our tour at Kelly Tarlton’s Underwater World and Antarctic Encounter. There are sub arctic penguins, sharks, a cat ride among the small penguin colony, sea horses (and sea dragons), and a replica of Captain Scott’s Antarctic hut along with a history of the race to the South Pole.

Armed with New Zealand dollars, we searched for a pub for lunch - but ended our search in the Queen Elizabeth’s pub where we had fish and chips along with Boddingtons Ale. The sail away after dinner was spectacular. Auckland is a city worth revisiting.

The next day we will be sailing South along the New Zealand coast, toward Wellington.