Let the Sun Shine — Finally — in Auckland

Day 30, Grand World Voyage

Thursday, Feb. 2, 2023; Auckland, New Zealand.

There is so much to do in Auckland, and what do I do? Get a pedicure! I’ve been to Auckland four times now, and twice I have treated myself to a wonderful foot massage, nail trimming and a new coat of the latest color polish. If I do it any more, it will be my “thing” to do in New Zealand’s largest city.

Auckland sits between two large and rather stunning bays. It is the City of Sails, with marinas and the tall masts of sailboats lining its coasts. On sunny days with a nice breeze, the bay is full of boats. Clusters of identical boats can be seen racing all around you. About half a million sailboats and yachts call the city home, alongside about 1.5 million people.

Cruise ships dock in the center of the CBD, as downtown is known, on either Queens Wharf or Princes Wharf. Today we moored at Princes, right next to the Hilton hotel. When I opened my curtains this morning, I could see I had a neighbor or two or two dozen, almost within reach.

On the other side of the ship, ferries zipped in and out of their docks, taking commuters, students and others to the communities that surround the bay. In 2020, our bus tour took more than an hour to reach the wonderful village of Devonport, within easy sight of the ship and just a short ferry ride away.

We considered jumping a ferry for Devonport, or taking an Uber up the hill to the Auckland Museum. Eloise and Elaine thought they would visit the New Zealand Maritime Museum just a couple of blocks from the ship. I had a wonderful visit there just three months ago. Instead, we started our day walking up Queen Street, window shopping in the high-end boutiques along the way. I thought I remembered a department store near a park at top of the hill. But we saw neither, and now I think I might be confusing it with Brisbane, Australia.

Instead, we crossed over to an art museum and then climbed the hill to the center of Albert Park. I believe it was more than 50 steps up, with no hand rail. Since my knee replacement just more than a year ago, I have regained most of my strength and all my range of motion, but not necessarily my confidence. Later I opted to go back down along a path that also was steep but at least had a handrail.

The forecasted rain hadn’t arrived; in fact, the sun had come out, and I couldn’t find an empty bench in the shade, so I’ll sketch later from my photographs. Meanwhile, I had a destination to reach just outside the park – a nail salon. They could take me in an hour, so I filled it having a burger and a brew in a nearby pub.

Two more stops: A perusal of a grocery store – a favorite activity in foreign ports. I saw multiple shelves of Tim Tams, a favorite in this part of the world but not so much for me. I headed for the Maltesers, a malted milkball surrounded by delicious chocolate from the U.K. Elaine discovered it while in England for a college semester. We can buy small packages at World Market at home, but it’s fun to find larger ones abroad. I filled my backpack and will leave bags on my sisters’ pillows tonight as a surprise.

Then I stopped by Giapo for its famous gourmet Hokey Pokey ice cream. Vanilla with crunchy bits of honeycomb toffee and chocolate. It certainly will spoil my dinner.

I’m sure the people of Auckland were thrilled to see the sunrise this morning. We were blessed with a day without rain. Auckland has suffered devastating floods in the past few days, but we didn’t see much sign of them in the CBD. Others reported seeing flooding in flat areas. A couple of stores on Queen Street had window signs that they were closed due to flooding. Must have been basement areas or roof leaks, as we were on a hill side.

Over the next three days, we will visit three other ports on New Zealand’s North Island: Tauranga, Gisborne and Wellington.