The Big Kiwi

Alan and I arrived in Auckland on Halloween, and opted for a night at the movies. Halloween does not seem to have all the hype in New Zealand that it does in the US. However, everyone seemed to be buying fireworks for Guy Fawkes Day...

On our first full day, we followed a downtown walking tour from our Lonely Planet guide book that aims to show charming nooks of the city. We started in St. Kevin's Arcade, with used book stores, vintage clothing shops and eclectic cafes. We could spot the Sky Tower in the distance, and we could see it throughout the day, always part of the skyline.

Then we walked through Myers Park, which might have been pretty beneath the renovation construction. Up at street level, we walked past the Town Hall and Civic Theater.

We turned towards Albert Park, a greenspace amid the city streets.

After a quick jaunt through the Auckland University campus to see the clock tower, we headed down through a high end shopping district call Chancery Precinct, before cutting through Vulcan Lane to Queen Street. Vulcan Lane is lined with historic pubs, and certainly had a fun nook feel to it.

We veered off the prescribed tour path in search of lunch, and found it at Food Alley, with stalls of different Asian Foods. Alan and I chose Wang Thong, and greatly enjoyed our Thai food.

Next we walked along the waterfront and harbor area, enjoying the recently renovated Wynward Quarter.

After a break in the sunshine on some cool moveable benches, we returned to Queen Street to see the Britomart Train Station.

Other shops in this bustling area allowed us to complete some errands, like a haircut for Alan. By this point it was afternoon snack time. Alan chose Dunkin Donuts, but I held out for gelato, since it was warm out. I was rewarded with Giapo's, and being totally overwhelmed by the magnificent experience, forgot to get a picture of the masterpiece that was my gelato. Fear not, for later we made a return visit, and I had the camera ready.

It is a fact that afternoon snack time is closely followed by pre-dinner drinks, so we returned to Vulcan Lane to sample beers at Occidental, an historic 1870 pub. So these were historic beers.

On Sunday, we worshiped at St. John's, a united congregation (Presbyterian, Methodist, Anglican). A Mandarin Congregation worships simultaneously, and the services combine once a month to share communion. Today was that day. Since the lunch held after worship, hosted by the Chinese congregation, was announced as open to all, Alan and I followed the scent of free food. Aside from the pastor and her husband, we were the only non-Chinese people there. Why is that?

After church, we set out to find Cox's Bay Park, as this is the location for afternoon Ultimate Frisbee pick-up. We met a few friendly folks and got to run around a bit. Pre-dinner drinks were had at Galbraith's Alehouse. They brew a wide variety of beers, and we were impressed by what we tasted. I had an APA and Alan had a Trappist Ale. They also served jalapeño poppers!

On Monday, November 3, since rain was forecast, we spent the day at the Museum of Transport and Technology. The Museum was set up as a village (similar to Founders Park in Nelson), with larger buildings as museums for the history of the MOTAT area, rail cars, theaters, sports, war, and showrooms for automobiles and bicycles. Other buildings showed farming equipment, homes, or communications equipment like telephones and telegraphs.

An extension of the MOTAT was a trolley ride away, a museum of aviation. We saw so many different types of aircraft and learned a bit about the history of aviation.

We returned to Galbraith's for dinner, where I tried another APA, and Alan had a sample tray with a couple of bitters, a stout and a lager.

On our final day in the city, Tuesday, we spent the morning reading in Cornwall Park, then walked up One Tree Hill, which is immortalized in a U2 song (or so I am told). Sadly, the tree is no longer on the hill. It was a tree sacred to the Maori, cut down by British settlers in 1852. At some point, it was replaced by a pine, but the Maori tribe successfully campaigned for the pine to be cut down, since it wasn't the right tree. Now there is an obelisk.

We ate lunch at Teed Street Larder, in the heart of the Newmarket shopping district. This area seemed to have some unique shops, so we explored for a while. We found a fair trade store, Trade Aid, which recently opened the world's only fair trade chocolate factory in Christchurch. The Lumsden Freehouse also caught our attention, as it advertised craft beer. While is was absolutely necessary to head downtown for gelato (and picture taking of the gelato) and some time in the Auckland Art Gallery, we found our way back to the Freehouse to try some different pints in  the evening.

As promised, here is photographic evidence of the gelato. We tasted at least 8 flavors before making a choice. Then at least 5 toppings were added, like graham cracker pieces, caramel sauce, marshmellow creme (which was then toasted), and individually placed hazelnuts.