We had our first breakfast buffet aboard ship and ate twice as much as we should have, which I expect is par for the course. We had to eat early to get ready for our first excursion. Each day the ship was in a port, Viking offered a range of excursions. Typically, one excursion was included at no extra charge and more than half of the 900 passengers on the ship chose that option. We pre-selected time slots for our excursions and when the time came we mustered in the theater to learn which bus we would be assigned to. For any time slot there were usually multiple buses involved. Once we got to our assigned bus we would meet our tour guide and driver, sometimes the same person, sometimes two different people.
- Highlights of Auckland, Duration: 3 hours, 8:30 AM
- View North Island Landmarks and Visit the Auckland Museum
- Enjoy a panoramic drive of Auckland’s major sights and visit the Auckland Museum to learn about Māori culture. Meet your guide at the pier and embark on a narrated drive, passing many of the city’s landmarks. Amid its bustling streets, modern skyscrapers stand beside restored Victorian-era buildings, coexisting in perfect harmony. In the charming suburb of Parnell, pass quaint colonial-style shops. By the Central Business District lies the Auckland Domain, the city’s largest park. Within its 75-hectare grounds is the Auckland Museum, home to the world’s largest collection of Māori and Polynesian artifacts, including an 82-foot-long Māori canoe carved from a single tree. Here, you will have time to explore the museum’s exhibits on your own, and pay your respects at the War Memorial, located just outside. Afterward, return to your awaiting ship.
Our tour guide and driver was a Maori fellow, Maiki, with full face tattoos (we really should have taken a picture when he offered). He was friendly and reasonably informative, giving us a tiny bit more of a Maori perspective as we covered some of the same ground as our Monday tour of Auckland. We stopped again at the Joseph Savage memorial with its nice views of Auckland Harbor. Because we’d been there before, rather than look at the view and take pictures, Barb and I took the opportunity to grill Maiki about Maori attitudes toward NZ history and the British. She wondered about the mixed use of Maori and English names for streets and locations and whether that was something new or trending in either direction. I wondered about how the Maori used this open land and the ceremonial hall at the top of the hill but we got little satisfaction from Maiki’s bland responses.
Throughout the trip we never got very deep into the current relationship between the Maoris and Europeans in New Zealand. There were clearly racial and historical wounds that no one, neither the Europeans or few Maori we encountered, wanted to prod. There was also some sense of ongoing desire on the part of Maoris to retain what was left of their land and traditions distinct and apart from European and tourist influence. I got more of a sense of “otherness” than I did of integration of Maori culture into modern New Zealand’s identity…though everyone was encouraged to say Kia Ora (loosely the Maori equivalent of Aloha) whenever possible. The Maori language was posted along with English on much of the tourist signage and museum displays but we never heard anyone have a conversation in Maori. Lots of Maori words were incorporated into descriptions of places or events, making some of the signage read like a sort of Mad Lib — insert incomprehensible Maori noun here. We would learn there was more of a Maori population and cultural presence on the North Island than on the South Island, largely because of the colder climate and less hospitable terrain of the South Island.
We went to the Auckland War Memorial Museum which was indeed the same as the Auckland Museum. We were given 90 minutes to explore on our own which we were afraid wouldn’t be enough but turned out to be about right. We saw lots of impressive and intricately carved or woven Maori artifacts, learned a bit about the migration of Polynesians across the Pacific, some of New Zealand’s geologic and animal history, and some of New Zealand’s participation in wars from the Boer War through World War I and II. I snapped a number of pictures to look at in more detail later, rather than trying to absorb it all during our short time at the museum. Notable for their absence, there was surprisingly little about New Zealand’s colonial history, independence or current events.
One of the topics that most interested me was the progression of Polynesian or more properly Austronesian (a new term to me) immigration across the Pacific that culminated with the discovery and populating New Zealand, one of the last islands to be settled. There were several variations of graphics that told different aspects of the story but they were sometimes hard to capture the details…plus people kept getting in my way. I hadn’t realized these flows occurred in different waves over thousands of years. It makes one wonder what prompted certain groups to work up the courage (or be forced) to set out in search of new islands.
There was a similar graphic detailing the origins of Polynesians and the Maori language, closely related to language of the Cook Islands and Tahiti.
There were displays of the ocean-going canoes the Polynesians used. Aoteorora is the Maori name for New Zealand.
There was an impressive and intricately carved sea going war canoe or waka. Maori legends speak of the original migrations to Aoteoroa in seven or more large canoes like this. Maori tribes trace their lineages back to specific canoes which is quite a feat of oral history.
There was a discussion of the Maori use of rivers and water to drive settlements across New Zealand.
There were many displays about Maori structures and carvings, not to mention weapons, fishing and farming tools, clothing and more.
In the natural history area of the museum, I was impressed by the displays about a prehistoric ammonite and the giant moa. There were also quite a lot of stuffed birds and animals but I didn’t feel the need to photograph them.
I was interested to learn about the 19th century wars between the Maori and New Zealand government forces, sometimes other Maori. These wars were often followed by land confiscations which successively shrank the Maori footprint and resistance through the century, reminiscent of the decimation of American Indians. There’s a somewhat different story in the late 20th and early 21st century in terms as Maoris and the New Zealand government reached a number of settlements and compensation to redress treaty violations.
There were also extensive displays on New Zealand’s involvement with the Boer War, World War I and World War II but we would be learning more about them in later museum visits in other cities.
Despite only 90 minutes in the museum we were getting a little bleary eyed by the time we got back on the bus. To cap off the tour, Maiki performed a solo haka, explaining that it was a welcome, not a war chant. He explicitly asked for tips, the only guide to do so, but emphasized that they would help his family. Whether we tipped or not (we did) he offered everyone a small green stone, pounamu, a symbol of friendship, love and gratitude for New Zealanders. I actually quite like having mine. It’s an interesting contrast to Pele’s Curse that admonishes tourists against taking any native stone from Hawaii.
We made it back to the ship and had lunch with Barb and Karen at the World Cafe buffet, again eating a good deal more than we really needed. After lunch, I sat on our stateroom balcony working on notes, enjoying the great weather and taking a few photos. Barb went for a salutary walk and headed for tea at 4pm. I went to a not very informative talk about the next day’s destination, Tauranga. in general, the ship’s daily Port Talks were breezy introductions to each city along with a few lame jokes from our Cruise Director, Graham, followed by an excruciating recitation of each excursion in broken Eastern-European English by the Excursion Director, Leon. Fortunately, the Talks were recorded and available on demand on the cabin TV. All the information was in the Viking Daily delivered to our room and also available on the Viking app. It was nice that we didn’t have to attend these session in person each day. The Viking app actually proved pretty useful for updated cruise information and restaurant menus, though I used it a lot more than Barb who was more comfortable with the paper Viking Daily.
Our ship departed Auckland shortly after 5pm and I went to the top deck with a gin and tonic in hand to get a good view. I was pleased to find there weren’t too many people up there and I found several comfortable vantage points to peacefully contemplate our glide through Auckland’s extensive harbor. I spent a very enjoyable hour or so watching Auckland’s skyline fade in the distance as the sun went down. We were cruising now. I could get used to this.
I felt like we saw a good chunk of Auckland in our few days there. I’m sure there’s a lot more, but we hit the highlights and needed to leave something to the Aucklanders. While we were in port we were docked next to ships from the Oceania and Princess cruise lines. Tourism is the largest segment of New Zealand’s economy and we did our bit. I ate at a couple of good restaurants, had two ferry rides, dabbled in history, met a few local people, the weather was perfect. Not a bad start to the trip. Time to move onward.
By the time my departure reverie was over, I found Barb napping in the room, too full from her tea to contemplate dinner. Earlier in the day, I had made an 8pm reservation at the Chef’s Table specialty restaurant so I could try their menu of Chinese-themed items including Peking Duck. The Chef’s Table menu shifted every three days and this looked like one of the most intriguing choices. But it was also New Zealand night in the World Cafe and I wanted to try a bit of their whole roast lamb. So I headed there a bit before 8pm to have a pre-dinner. The lamb was okay and I tried a little crab fritter and a green bean salad of sorts. I also couldn’t resist an extensive spread of cheese selections including several different blues.
The Chef’s Table meal included an amuse bouche of crab salad, a set of xiu mai dumplings, an unexpectedly nice palate cleanser of shave ice with a kick of hot pepper, and a riff on Peking Duck that came out more like a little burrito. There was also a trio of desserts, the best of which was a yuzu creme brulee. There were also wine pairings with each course. I obviously shouldn’t and wouldn’t have two dinners each night, but I proved it was possible. Once, anyway.
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