Steve and Cathy's Blog

By every measure, we are entering one of the world’s most inviting and livable cities.  We have just arrived in this magnificent harbor and already we can sense this.  Even the container port and automobile receiving pier are neat and orderly. It’s 10:00am and we are right on time.

Because the itinerary had to be adjusted last-minute, there are no excursions available, plus it is Sunday. Unlike the retail-consumer-ruled United States, most of the rest of the planet closes its stores on this day, and that includes New Zealand.  So we will be left to entertain ourselves.  But when Insignia starts to back into our pier, we see that we are – as in Sydney – right next to what they refer to as their CBD (central business district). The picture at the beginning of this post will tell you exactly where we are.

And, of course, Cathy has done some research and has developed a good plan.  We will disembark, find an ATM, eat lunch at a restaurant, wander around the two wharves adjacent to ours, board a ferry and go to Devonport, an adorable town on the other side of the harbor.

By 11:00am, we are off the ship and on Quay Street, the main drag that connects the wharves and attractions in downtown.  Within the past ten years, two old industrial areas have been renovated into pedestrian areas full of shops, restaurants and marinas.  It is a very popular area for Aucklanders and tourists alike, especially on a Sunday.

First things first. We need to find an ATM.  About ten minutes into our walk, we find one.  A woman is using it, and there is a young guy with his three kids waiting.  In her inimitable way, Cathy engages him in conversation.  It’s his wife that’s using the ATM, and he and his three towhead, adorable children are taking Mom to lunch because its Mothers Day!  They live in Auckland, and are very gracious in providing suggestions about restaurants and attractions in the area, as well as ferry information.  This is a wonderful beginning to our New Zealand visit.

Because it is Mothers Day, he suggests that most of the restaurants will be packed, but recommends one that is on a second floor that he thinks will be bypassed because of its location.  It’s called Dr. Rudi’s, and he points out the building it’s in.  In about five minutes, we are there.

Sure enough, there are plenty of tables available, including one that is outside and overlooks Viaduct Harbor, which is full of boats and yachts.  This is perfect.  It quickly reminds Cathy of J’s Oyster bar in the Old Port area of Portland, Maine.  We sit down and peruse the menu.  Yes, Cathy orders oysters, and Steve a local draft beer. Then carpaccio for C and pork ribs for S.  We are very happy campers, and made even more so by seeing the restaurant fill up with families taking mom out for lunch.

Resisting the urge to just stay there for the entire afternoon, Steve finally flags our waiter down for the check.  He tells me: “Just go to the bartender and pay him.”  Noting that the bar is in another part of the restaurant, Steve asks: “And what should I tell him?”  The waiter, who is now leading us to the bar, replies: “Tell him you want to pay.”  By now we are standing in front of the bartender and we both say politely: “We already figured out that part.  What is our table number?”  We all get a good laugh over this amusing exchange, pay our bill and head down the stairs.

It is a beautiful sunny day, and we walk around the area checking out the yachts.  We are still on our tongue-in-cheek “hunt” for the perfect yacht for David and Margo, and we see several candidates.  There are several racing yachts.  We had heard that Aucklanders are real boating enthusiasts, and we see plenty of evidence of that already.

We pass one upscale restaurant after another, walk to the end of the tourist area, and begin to return. We cross a small drawbridge, and right after we cross it, the alarm that it is going to raise goes off.  In a few minutes, with the bridge waived, one of the racing yachts goes though, loaded with passengers.

We continue walking and see this orange 20-foot ocean container.  It has been turned into a small library!  Cathy is in instant heaven.  We spend a few minutes there while she picks out a book for the ship’s paperback exchange.  What a clever idea!

We make one more stop at a store called Canterbury of New Zealand that will have a couple of presents that we want to buy.  The sales rep that helps us has a brother that lives in DC, and we get in a nice chat about his visits to the USA.  Just as in Australia, everyone we meet is friendly and hospitable.

At this point, we are carrying enough souvenirs that it is time to go back to the ship and drop off our stuff.  We do just that, and then head for the ferry terminal on Pier 1 to catch the ferry to Devonport.  We board this huge catamaran high-speed boat.  In about twenty short minutes, we are pulling into the pier at Devonport.

It’s around 2:30-3:00pm, and sunset is at 5:37, so we gauge our visit accordingly.  We window shop for a few minutes, buy a couple of postcards, peruse a used bookstore, and visit one of the parks adjacent to the pier.  One of the first things we notice, besides that we are seeing seagulls again for the first time in months, is how green the grass is. It is so thick and healthy, especially for mid-fall.

We head into the center of town and inquire about an open supermarket and are directed to one, where we pick up a few things we can’t get on the ship.  We see a hill to climb that should give us quite the view of the harbor and the Auckland skyline.  It’s a pretty steep path, but it also gives us an opportunity to view some of the houses and tiny streets.  At the top are private residences, and there is no view to be had.  After heading down one street that is a dead end (one of the neighbors happened to be coming out and politely explained that), we find a street that will lead down to the shore.  Toward the bottom, we meet a couple that live in one of the houses and have a nice five-minute chat.

We find our way to another park and have a sit.  We have checked the ferry schedule and know which one to take.  We sit out and watch the clouds pass by and the sun begin to make another appearance.  The view is spectacular, and the photo ops endless.

Our ferryboat timing is perfect for viewing/photographing the sunset.  We are up on the open top deck along with many others, including a family with three young children scampering around and hamming it up for the parents.  It’s adorable.

We arrive back in Auckland and want to take in a pub for dinner.  We try to find a small side street called High Street that our accidental tour guide at the ATM told us about.  After fifteen fruitless minutes (it’s not on the street map we have), we give up and head for a place Cathy has seen.

It’s called Mac’s and is just what we are looking for.  It’s only about 5:30pm, so the place is empty – of customers andstaff. Lots of ambience: lamps hanging upside down from the ceiling, and books everywhere, on shelves and tables, and tall windows looking out on the pier. We sit in one place.  No one comes over.  We move to the other side and still no one.  Eventually I go to the bar and ask how their system works and do we order from the bar.  The nice barkeep laughs and says she will send someone over.  Eventually someone does show.

Long story short, we have a fine meal of fish and chips, but it takes a while.  The place is starting to fill up, and, like lunch, it is families taking mom out.  The table next to us has a pair of twins and an older sibling, none of whom are over three. After we eat, we think we know how to pay in a pub, so Steve goes back up to the bar and says “May we have the check?” The bartender comes over to the table and says, ‘I see you had chicken wings, and fish and chips? It was OK?” Steve says, “Oh yes, it was great, we just want to pay.” Her reply, “Oh you want to pay! I thought you said you wanted to have a chat. I almost hed a haht attek!” Another episode in the story called “Just Because People Speak English Doesn’t Mean Cathy and Steve Can Communicate With Them!”

We get back to the ship around 7:15, just in time to go up to Deck 11 to watch a fireworks show put on by the city.  There was some kind of Lights Festival during the weekend and this was the finale.  It is a nice display that lasts about twelve minutes.  We find our way back down and end this first day in this beautiful city by taking just one more photo: