We arrived in Auckland’s airport at 6am, pretty quickly found our luggage and escaped customs despite being shamed into declaring that we brought roasted nuts into New Zealand. Notices from the flight attendants and at the airport made it very clear that New Zealand was strict about what they allowed to be brought in – no previously used camping or sports equipment, for example – but the customs agent didn’t seem worried about our nuts.
We easily found our Viking representative and quickly learned that there were 20-30 fellow cruisers on our flight. We filed onto a bus with still more cruisers from other flights for the ride to our hotel, the M Social Auckland (website). Along the way, the bus driver offered a little commentary about the city, including that it is built on the remains of 53 volcanoes (why would you do that, even if the last one erupted 600 years ago?). Auckland is home to 1.7 million people, nearly 1/3 of New Zealand’s total population. Based on the drive in, it was clearly a very modern, European/American-looking city with highways, suburbs and an urban core of high rises.
We arrived at the hotel and checked in at the front desk but our rooms were not ready yet, which was to be expected. We were able to change and clean up a little in the lobby bathroom, then went up one flight to a Viking “lounge” where about 50 other cruisers were already waiting like so many jet-lagged zombies. We stayed there for a while but soon hit the streets of Auckland to see what we could see.
We walked up Queen Street, the main shopping street, a few blocks but it turned out there was not much open at 8am on a Sunday other than McDonalds. Barb stopped in to see the menu but refrained from making a purchase…this time.
We circled over toward Viaduct Harbour, a pretty marina with an impressive number of luxury yachts and sailboats. The Harbour’s bridge was raised and not open to pedestrian traffic so we had to walk all the way around the basin to get to the Wynyard Quarter district on the other side. At least the day was comfortably sunny and we were able to get our bearings for a couple of hours.
After wandering downtown Auckland for a while, Barb and I decided to head to the Auckland Fish Market in search of lunch. We got there about 10:30 but the stalls didn’t really open until 11am. We waited near the fish and chips place, the Market Galley, and ordered once it opened. Barb’s fish and chips were surprisingly tasty. My salt and pepper fried squid were pretty good, too.
We came back to the hotel and lounge around noon hoping to get into our room, but we and a bunch of others were held in purgatory for several more increasingly cranky hours. I walked over to a Walgreens supermarket for some wine, Cokes and Tim Tams. We finally got a room around 2:30pm and settled in. Barb unpacked a bit but then decided to take a nap which became a deep sleep. We were surprised to hear a commotion outside our window around 4pm and watched a pro-Palestine demonstration come down the street. They stopped outside our hotel for a round of speeches then headed around the corner.
I resisted the urge to sleep and finally decided to head out for some food around 5:30pm. I walked around the harbor a bit then decided to hit a nearby food court discussed by several of the cruise folks at the lounge. I settled on some dumplings and a cider to celebrate Chinese New Year which we had officially missed by virtue of the international date line. It was all I needed for dinner.
Afterwards, I wandered back to Viaduct Harbor and stumbled upon a harborside wedding celebration featuring a corps of taiko-like drummers. They entertained me and a cluster of passers-by along with the wedding party for about 20 minutes. I finally started hitting my jet lag wall and headed back to the room, admitting defeat in my desire to stay up past sunset.
Back in the room, Barb and I managed to more or less stay awake until about 9pm. I was able to sleep pretty well until close to 6am but Barb was up at 3am. She at least stayed quiet and let me sleep longer.
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