Monday, February 13, 2012

Cruising around Auckland Harbor























Once caffeinated, and walking up the street to get a quick sandwich, we headed over to the harbor where we enjoyed two excursions: the first was a 90 minute harbor cruise, a great chance to get a peek at the Auckland skyline from the water, and to get some sun and feel the wind on our faces. A highlight was crossing under the harbor bridge and having the captain telling us to look up, just as a daring bunjee jumper took a leap from a platform under the bridge's traffic lane. We passed under the bridge, where there is a sign posted to warn harbor traffic about objects suddenly falling from the sky (the bunjee jumpers) and circled back just in time to see someone else take the leap.

Our ship pulled back into port at just before 3:00 pm, and we hurried right onto the ship at the next berth for a quick ten minute ride to Davenport, a little village right across the harbor from downtown Auckland. Our blogger friend Gwan had suggested we make the trip and get an ice cream while we took in the views. Not wanting to disappoint Gwan, we did exactly that, enjoying lovely breezes and the warm sunshine that long-range forecasts had said would be hidden behind rain clouds all week. So much for worrying about things you can't control anyway...

The hotel hosts a cocktail hour in the "drawing room" on the second floor in about 45 minutes, so I have just enough time to clean up and change. Our plan is to find a nice, easy place for dinner and call it a night. We fly to the town of Queensland on the South Island tomorrow at noon.

5 comments:

  1. Looks beautiful, although those bungee jumpers would give me a bit of a fright!

    It must be great to be able to wear short sleeves (Peter) in February. I'm just about to go out and am bundled up in numerous layers.

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  2. Colour me not disappointed! Hope you enjoyed it! I'm also jealous you're getting sunshine (and breezes, Auckland can be terribly humid).

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  3. I loved Auckland. A great little corner hut for Vietnamese buns for a quick snack, don't remember the name, near the library. And I love the big open square near the cathedral. Anyway, you sound like you're having fun. Excellent.

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  4. Mary Kay. Yes it is lovely to be able to wear summer clothes! We are seeing the news report about the cold snap in Europe and watched a video of folks skating on the frozen over canals in Amsterdam! Wild stuff! We were in amsterdam about a year ago with my folks and enjoyed perfect spring weather.

    Gwan. Thanks for the suggestion. And I am blogging by email which is making it difficult to go back and fix mistakes once they are posted, so i realize that it is "Devonport", not "Davenport". Yes, we feel extremely fortunate to be avoiding the summer humidity but are prepared for more extreme temps (colder) when we travel south. Talked to some fellow travelers at the cocktail hour last night and they had just returned from Queenstown and Milford Sound and said it was mighty chilly. But they were from Brazil, where it is always warm!


    Joesph. Funny you shoukd mention Vietnamese food. We actually did end up at the Hanoi Cafe last night for dinner. Awesome fresh food: spring rolls, shredded chicken with mango, and Pho with beef, all served with some thirst- quenching ice cold beer!

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