Today we had a day visit to Auckland, New Zealand. “Auckland” is a native Maori word meaning “the entire dam city is under construction.” Seems the city has grown a lot during the last few decades.
As this was my first visit, I took the standard “Sights of Auckland” bus tour. First stop (fighting the construction and traffic) was the Sky Tower, It has two observation decks, and I went up to the level 60 “Sky Deck”. It is the tallest freestanding building in the southern hemisphere. They offer a bungee jump – maybe next time.
The Royal Caribbean cruise liner Ovation of the Sea was also at Auckland. As you can see from the picture I took from the Sky Tower, it is too large to fit at the pier – I don’t know if the issue is with its length or draught. The Silver Whisper carries up to 388 guests and 300 crew. The Ovation carries over 4000 guests alone!
Afterward we visited the War Memorial Museum. The third floor was dedicated to its named purpose (and I will post pictures when I have better bandwidth), but the first and second floors were general New Zealand history. They had a “Secrets of Butterflies” exhibit, and I saw this jewelry in the shop – actual wings in acrylic. I’m sure they died of natural causes.
We returned to the ship for lunch, and then I wandered down town. After three weeks of amazing food, I was in the mood for something mediocre for dinner, and Burger King fit the bill. Fun fact: they had ginger beer on tap. I also visited a drug store to buy a shower back scrub brush – the only thing I really missed from home.
That evening we were entertain on board by “Nga Oho”, a Maori folk dance/song group. We saw the Haka and other traditional songs and dances. Compared to other troupes we’ve seen they had good stage craft. And they were some big boys.
Tonight, we set sail for Sydney, Australia. Pop quiz: where is “old” Zealand?
