Steve and Cathy's Blog

Our day in Auckland was compliments of Oceania Cruises.  There is an Around The World event that will occupy our whole day here.  We leave the ship around 10:00am and board buses for a tour of the city.  We will be dropped off at the 1,076-foot tall Sky Tower for a long lunch at the Orbit 360 Degree Dining restaurant at the 620-foot level at 12:30pm.

Our tour guide is also our driver, and he is very good at both.  We only stop once, at Michael Savage Memorial Park (the photo that heads up this post was taken from there).  It is named after an Australian-born man who was Prime Minister of the country from 1935-1940.  He is quite revered in this country, and is known as the architect of the government’s welfare state.

The property on which this large park is located still belongs to the Maori people of New Zealand. The Maori are introduced this way in the Wikipedia article on the subject: “are the indigenous Polynesian people of New Zealand. Māori originated with settlers from eastern Polynesia, who arrived in New Zealand in several waves of canoe voyages some time between 1250 and 1300. Over several centuries in isolation, the Polynesian settlers developed a unique culture, with their own language, a rich mythology, and distinctive crafts and performing arts. Early Māori formed tribal groups based on eastern Polynesian social customs and organisation.”

From what we’ve learned, arrival of humans on the islands that are now New Zealand came in two principal waves.  Polynesians in the 13^thcentury and Europeans in the 17^th.  Wikipedia’s article on the Maori people goes on to say: “The arrival of Europeans to New Zealand, starting in the 17th century, brought enormous changes to the Māori way of life. Māori people gradually adopted many aspects of Western society and culture. Initial relations between Māori and Europeans were largely amicable, and with the signing of the Treaty of Waitangi in 1840, the two cultures coexisted as part of a new British colony. Rising tensions over disputed land sales led to conflict in the 1860s. Social upheaval, decades of conflict and epidemics of introduced disease took a devastating toll on the Māori population, which fell dramatically. By the start of the 20th century, the Māori population had begun to recover, and efforts have been made to increase their standing in wider New Zealand society and achieve social justice. Traditional Māori culture has thereby enjoyed a significant revival, which was further bolstered by a Māori protest movement that emerged in the 1960s.”

In all of our time in this country, we got the sense that everybody – Maori and European ethnicities, as well as others – are working diligently to open what used to be closed doors to Maori people, and to incorporate their history and culture much more prominently than in the past. The United States has made such hash out of our dealings with its native population that it might be a good idea for our top Bureau of Indian Affairs officials to make a trip here.  Just sayin’.

Okay, back to the bus tour.  Usually Steve brings a notebook to jot down stuff that the guides impart, but he left it back on the ship today.  Big mistake, as the guide was loaded with interesting tidbits, so I ended up writing all over a tourist map we were given.  I tell you this as an explanation for sliding into VeryRandom Fact mode to record some of this information:

• NZ is the most southern landmass in the world. This isolation was such that there are no animals – except for birds – that are indigenous to NZ (please forgive the shorthand for New Zealand).  Thus all the animals that are in the country have been brought here by humans.
• The economy is agriculture-based. While NZ has a population of 4.5 million (a thirdof whom live in Auckland!), it produces enough food to feed 40 million. Our guide adds that Australian agriculture could feed 500 million.
• At one time, NZ looked to Great Britain as its greatest export market. When Britain joined the European Union, however, that market largely and quickly disappeared, causing a great deal of economic dislocation.  But, at the same time, the Asian countries such as China and India began to require NZ products and have largely replaced Europe.
• There are 10 million cows on the North Island of NZ, almost all of which are dairy cattle.  They call it “white gold” in NZ.  A huge percentage of the milk produced in NZ is used to produce baby formula that is sold in China, where breastfeeding is not the norm.
• In the 1970s, there were 70 million sheep in NZ. It is still a huge industry, but the population is down to only40 million!  Much of their lamb exports are to the US and Europe.
• NZ has a healthy trade surplus because of their ag industry, but contributing to that surplus is their wine industry, which exports 1 billion litres of wine annually.
• One other enormous export is timber. A species of tree from the US called the Monterey Pine was imported and growing conditions here are ideal.  It takes only 20-25 years for a tree to reach economic maturation.  Most of the crop is exported to China for housing. Although we learned later in Picton that the trees are becoming invasive in certain areas and the people are trying to kill them with poison on the root system.  This is causing conflict with environmentalists over whether this poison is harming other plant and animal life. And so it goes…
• Population growth is slow by world standards because of the relative isolation of the country. 65% of the population traces its ancestry to the British Isles, and 25% are from Asia. However, that 25% will increase to 50% as present trends continue.
• The topography of the Auckland region is a result of fifty dormant volcanoes (a picture of just one is below). The last volcano went dormant 800 years ago.

• One in five Aucklanders owns a boat. Other stats insist it’s one in three.  See below and you will see evidence of this:

• By the way, yacht building is also a big industry here. Take a look at that photo above and you can believe it in a second.
• The America’s Cup race will be held in Auckland in 2021, as the Royal New Zealand Yacht Squadron currently holds the cup, having won it in Bermuda in 2017.
• The very first international base established by the US Army was in Auckland, and New Zealand to this day has a very close relationship with the US, especially militarily. The ANZUS treaty (Australia, New Zealand, United States Security Treaty) has been in force since 1951, and binds the three countries together militarily.
• It is not well known, but New Zealand contributed more personnel to the WWII effort per capita than any other country.
• With the exception of the Sky Tower, there is a height restriction for buildings in Auckland limiting them to fifty stories.
• The Pacific and Austrolasian tectonic plates meet in the middle of New Zealand.In 2010, a 7.1 earthquake and a 6.3 aftershock hit the area of Christchurch on the South Island.  The aftershock in Christchurch itself killed 185 people and the rebuilding continues to this day.

After our visit to Michael Joseph Savage Park, we were taken on a one-hour tour through part of the city.  The place is loaded with gorgeous parks, prosperous neighborhoods and shopping areas (notshopping malls) full of small stores.  It was very evident everywhere we went that there are many well to do Aucklanders.  That it is considered one of the world’s most livable cities becomes very understandable very quickly.

Our next adventure is a lunch at the Sky Tower.  This was built in the 1990s by Harrah Entertainment and has indeed become an iconic part of the Auckland skyline.  We notice that it’s pretty darned expensive to go to the observation deck, and to have lunch at the Orbit 360 Degree Dining restaurant is a real treat. We arrive right on time at 12:30. It takes about fifteen minutes to get to the restaurant, up an open elevator, which also includes a glass floor. Cathy is not thrilled.

The restaurant was named after its most unique feature:  it revolves 360 degrees each hour, so everyone will get to see 100% of Auckland as we do so.  That is a great feature until you want to find the elevator or restrooms.  That is a little disorienting, but a fun challenge.

We are seated with many of our best friends from the ship.

The weather outside is gorgeous, so the views are spectacular.  Lunch is served at a very relaxed pace: Caesar salad (with white anchovies!) grilled salmon, and apple and date pudding which was sort of like Indian pudding. We pretty much have the place to ourselves, and there is no rush on the part of the staff to have us finish at a given time.  Our bus driver had told us that the buses that would take us back to the ship would start leaving at 2:30, but that time comes and goes with nary a mention.

One of the most peculiar offerings at the Sky Tower is described by Wikipedia: “ the “SkyJump”, a 192-metre (630 ft) jump from the observation deck, during which a jumper can reach up to 85 km/h (53 mph). The jump is guide-cable-controlled to prevent jumpers from colliding with the tower in case of wind gusts.”  We hear that Sherry, one of the Around The World Babes, is doing it.  Brian O’Dell thinks it over and he too decides to do it. We think he is crazy, and all of us good-naturedly give his wife Barbara our condolences.  We find out later that all goes well.  Brian describes how carefully this jump is designed, and we now better understand why the attraction exists and is so successful. It isn’t really bungee-style. He wore a harness and was upright, and the guide slowed it way down at the end so he landed easily.

We finally do board the bus around 3:30 and are taken back to the ship.  Others opt to continue shopping and will walk down the hill and on to the ship.  They must be on board by 5:30, as we are sailing for Tauranga, New Zealand at 6:00pm.  The ship eases out of the slip right on time and we bid Auckland a fond adieu from Deck 10.  We’ll be back!