So this morning I was joining a small group driving tour around Auckland taking in a number of areas I did not visit when I took my bike tour on Monday.
Once I was picked up, I joined up with others in a small mini-bus and the tour began with our driver/guide Michelle. First up was a trip through the Auckland central business district near the waterfront, then through the main shopping area of Queen St, where my hotel is located (all high end designer type stores) and past city hall.
We then drove through the Auckland University district past the lovely Albert Park, which is surrounded by absolutely gorgeous old merchant homes that have been restored and were pretty spectacular.
The drive then took us past the New Zealand High Court before turning back along the waterfront again (near the port) and up the hill to the very expensive Parnell Village. (We rode our bikes through this area on Monday.)
Now Parnell Village went from a run down area in the 1960s to an upscale, trendy area when a guy named Les Harvey bought up a number of old buildings and homes and used recycled materials to restore them. Today, the old buildings have protected heritage status and are occupied by boutiques, bars and restaurants. And the old homes that were restored are worth millions. Quite the visionary.
And around the corner from the main village area we entered the city park known as The Domain, which I had also visited on Monday. We stopped here and took a few pictures of the area, which includes the the Auckland War Memorial Museum, which focuses on the geology (volcanoes) of New Zealand, Maori history, and, of course, New Zealand’s participation in WW I and WW II. Adjacent to the museum was the Domain Wintergardens, which houses exotic plants.
From here, we left the park and crossed the Grafton Bridge before turning onto Ponsonby Road, yet another trendy, fashionable area also known for its historic buildings. And as we passed along the street, I caught sight of a gorgeous mural featuring the Takahe, an extinct bird in New Zealand. Apparently someone sent one of the bird’s feathers to King George and everyone in his court wanted a feather as well thus leading the locals to hunt the poor bird to extinction. Very sad, as the bird appeared to be absolutely gorgeous.
Anyway, from Ponsonby Road, we made our way to the Auckland Harbor Bridge where we drover across to the North Shore. Now once on the other side of the bridge, we were able to take in spectacular views of a number of extinct volcanoes, including Takarunga/Mt. Victoria, Rangitoto and Maungauika, which we would be visiting later.
We wound our way through the suburbs of Takapuna, yet another upscale neighborhood filled with homes sitting on the bluff overlooking the Hauraki Gulf. The homes were fabulous, but a couple years ago, the area experienced a massive storm and apparently some homes suffered damage. Today folks have been selling their homes in fear of having their homes fall off the cliff if there is a similar storm since the erosion from the last storm was pretty significant.
From Takapuna, we wound our way along the beach front to Narrow Neck Beach where we made a stop at the Narrow Neck Beach Café for a morning break. (I opted for the banana smoothie … YUM).
While I was waiting for my smoothie, I wandered down to the beach and took in the gorgeous views across the Hauraki Gulf to Rangitoto Volcano. There were people swimming in the bay, people walking the beach and sailboats floating along. It was absolutely gorgeous.
After the short break, we continued on along the waterfront to the historic town of Devenport. Now here, we ended up having to wind our way through the backstreets because apparently a small area of Devenport is being used for a film location. In fact, we passed a number of huge set trucks and blocked off roads before reaching the road that would take us up to the extinct Maungauika volcano.
We ended up spending about 20 minutes here and the views on what was a gorgeous sunny day were spectacular. In one direction, I could see downtown Auckland and the Sky Tower. In another direction I could see the dormant volcano Takarunga/Mt. Victoria and in still another direction views to Hauraki Gulf to Rangitoto Volcano.
Now back in the 1900s Maungauika used to be a fort so there were lots of tunnels you could explore as well as some old cannons still on site. If we had more time, I would have loved to wander through the tunnels.
Anyways, after the short stop, we headed back through Devenport to Auckland crossing the Auckland Harbor Bridge with its magnificent views of Waitemata Harbor and then turning along the waterfront to Westhaven Marina (which I had visited in the rain on Monday).
Now as we drove through Westhaven Marina, we got an up close look at the old Auckland Harbor Bridge, which sits directly below the new bridge (which carries 150,00 people per day between Auckland and the North Shore). It was amazing to see the difference between the two bridges.
We made a quick stop at the marina, which I learned is one of the largest marinas in the Southern Hemisphere, before driving back along the waterfront to our original departure point.
Now some of the folks were continuing on with a tour to areas far outside Auckland. I was not. Instead, I headed a couple blocks down the road to the Maritime Museum to change my harbour cruise reservation from today to tomorrow … I had found a bar that was carrying the Canada-US hockey game and I was NOT going to miss that.
So at 2:00 on Friday afternoon February 21, (5:00 p.m. on Thursday February 20) for you folks at home, I took a seat in Dr. Rudis sports bar along with a table full of Canadians heading out on a cruise tomorrow and a table full of Air Canada flight attendants and pilots to cheer on Team Canada. (Not a single American showed up for the game.)
And every time Canada scored we all went wild. And when the Americans scored we all booed. And when Connor McDavid scored in overtime for Canada to win the game, it was bedlam. Screaming. Shouting. Clapping. High Fiving. It was fabulous. And the bar even sent over complementary shots of some kind of red liquor for all of us. It was a blast!
Not sure how tomorrow will top this afternoon (have not stopped grinning), but I will give it a go with a food tour, rescheduled harbor cruise and a trip up the Sky Tower.
