Auckland and Devonport

Moved into our new digs in the afternoon after Bruce picked us up. If you read the last post you might remember we looking after John and Merrill’s house while they are in India. You know that travelling isn’t always comfortable and, if you want to see the world on the cheap, sometimes you have to make sacrifices. When you do make those sacrifices you just focus on the good and let the bad drift away. Not every place is up to our standards and John’s place is one of those that really push the limit.

First off the tennis court is not a private one but we have to share it with the other 10 town homes in the gated development. Secondly the damn palm tree in the backyard partially blocks the view of the harbour bridge from the second floor balcony. There aren’t any fruit trees in the backyard and the guy next door is always making splashing noises in the pool. Some times this trip doesn’t seem like it is worth all the trouble.

Just take a look at the pictures and see what I mean. Who can live in a place like this?

On Sunday afternoon we visited the Auckland Museum which is perched in a big classic marble building on a hill overlooking the harbour. It is a great museum with a superb Polynesian collection. One of my personal favourites was a display on volcanoes in New Zealand, which is still one of the world’s most active volcanic centres.

They had built a replica of a living room overlooking the harbour complete with sofas and a big screen TV. On the TV is a newscaster interviewing experts and talking about the fact that Auckland has been evacuated since it is expected that a volcano will be coming up in the middle of the harbour in the next several hours. As you watch the TV you can see water boiling in the harbour through the large window at the end of the room. Suddenly there is an explosion in the harbour, the whole room shakes, power is lost and you can watch the volcano form out of the water. Then there is a massive cloud of gas that sweeps over the window. Very effective display especially when all the displays around it say “Not if but when”.

The next day Lana and I got dropped into the city and made our way to Auckland’s busy wharf. It is a busy commercial shipping centre, a private marina, a home to old sailing ships, a nice maritime museum and the place the ferries dock.

After doing the Maritime museum (B+ on the museum) we wondered around the downtown and eventually walked the three kilometres back. The next day we did a double time walk back into the city to catch the ferry over to Davenport. Davenport had been a separate community until the completion of the harbour bridge at which point if became a quaint and expensive suburb. The shops were very nice, the street side café even better (ordered a BLOT – bacon, lettuce, tomato and avocado) and the walk to the old gun emplacements at the tip of the peninsula gave great views. Spent about six hours walking so we grabbed a bus back across town. For those of you wondering – clear skis and about 25C. There was a lot of humidity if that makes you feel any better.

Check out the last picture and see if you can figure out where the newspaper and the mail go. It's not a bad idea. On the other hand the folks in Canada would probably mistake the round hole as a recycling deposit box or as a place to put all those used Tim Horton's cups.