Auckland

Monday 14th November 2005

We began to approach Auckland at about 10.30 am. The pilot came on board about 11.00 and we sailed between the many small islands in the channel leading to the city. The skyline of Auckland is very modern and is dominated by the Sky Tower, the tallest building in the Southern hemisphere (taller than the Eiffel Tower). It is 328 metres tall and is a slim and elegant design.

The port is very close to the city and we got excellent views as the tugs gently reversed us into place at our berth. Alongside by just after noon. This was timed just right to let us have lunch on board while the immigration and customs people did their thing. We told the chef we’d be eating in town this evening. We may go to the Sky Tower revolving restaurant – maybe a bit touristy but could be an experience!

As the city is so close to the port we all decided to walk in. The weather as we approached in the bay was changeable, and we wisely took our waterproofs with us. Good job too!! Almost as soon as we were outside the port gates the heavens opened, and we had an amazing shower. The walk into the centre of the city took about 15 minutes, through generally much more welcoming surroundings than many port areas. It doesn’t look as if we’ll need to get a taxi back tonight – the area looks quite safe.

We saw a large supermarket just on the edge of town. It’s open late, so we decided we’d pop in to buy a couple of things on our way back later.
We were using the Sky Tower as a guide as to which way to walk into the city, but it is very difficult to see it once you get near. We stopped for a glass of wine – New Zealand, of course – in a wine bar in Vulcan Lane. It was rather a trendy one and we were the oldest customers by many years. Discovered here that contrary to advice given to us they do not accept Australian dollars in New Zealand, so we had to nip down the road to a cash machine to get some money.
We wandered around the central area, along Queen Street, the main thoroughfare. Lots of interesting shops and restaurants. There’s a high proportion of Chinese, Korean and other Oriental residents in the city and along this area are dotted food halls with a selection of Oriental restaurants inside. Even though we’d just had lunch some of the aromas were devastating and it took a good deal of willpower to walk on by.

We took the free local bus which does a circle round the centre to help us get our bearings. We stayed on for a whole circuit and saw the beautiful gardens of the campus of The University of Auckland, many lovely houses – often reminiscent of faded gentility in UK seaside resorts such as Eastbourne, a plethora of shops including, as you’d expect all the well-known high street names, but also many I’ve never seen before. Then we walked down towards the ferry port to take a look at the famous Ice Bar, next to Lenin’s Bar. This is, as I’m sure you can imagine from the name a haven for the vodka drinkers of the city. The Ice Bar is made totally of ice, is full of ice sculptures, and the drinks are served in glasses made of ice. During the day it’s interesting, but it comes to life in the dark when the sculptures are lit by multi-coloured lights. Entrance to the bar includes the loan of a parka with furry hood and a drink from the wide selection of vodkas. As it was daylight we didn’t go in, but sat outside Lenin’s Bar for a short while in the sunshine.

Then off on a bus, $1.50 each, to Parnell, a rather swish inner suburb of the city. It has a long main street stretching up the hill, and is full of interesting galleries, lots of restaurants, including several Indian ones with delicious-sounding menus, plus some very expensive shops. Luckily most of the things I fancied buying (a dining table, a small chandelier etc) were too large to get up the gangplank of the ship so I didn’t buy!! We were in Parnell towards the end of the business day and many of the shops were closing. Also the weather turned nasty again and we had to shelter from the rain. So we got another bus back into the centre. Having looked at a map later, we could probably have walked back.

We decided to go and look at the Sky Tower, and maybe even eat there. The tower is approached from the main street of the city. The cost to go up is $18 per person and as this is included in a meal taken in the revolving restaurant we decided to splash out. The whole meal including a bottle of New Zealand sparkling wine was $139 (about £55) including entrance to the observation decks (cheaper than a similar experience in the UK), and the food was delicious. The views were stunning. We were able to see our ship in the distance. Also we got fabulous views of the Auckland Bridge and the surrounding countryside. During our meal there was the most tremendous rain storm with black skies and rain lashing on the windows of the restaurant.
The Sky Tower is 328 metres tall and you go up in a glass lift at breakneck speed – 40 seconds from floor level to the top. There is a glass panel in the floor of the lift so you can look down the lift shaft – scary! The restaurant 190 metres up the tower, revolves about one full circle each hour. You can see two strong wires running down to the ground from the top of the tower. These are the guide ropes for the bungee jump of 192 metres. Jumpers plummet for about 16 seconds at about 75kph. Above the observation decks the foolhardy can take a guided walk even higher up the tower – the Vertigo Climb which takes you up to 270 metres – needless to say we didn’t do this. From the observation deck, on a clear day, you can see 82 kilometres (51 miles), and can spot about 50 volcanoes in the surrounding area. The tower is built to withstand winds of 200 kph – expected about once every 1000 years! If such a wind were to happen the tower would sway about half a metre in each direction – almost imperceptible.

The Sky Tower from the Utrillo

We watched the darkness fall, and lights making a beautiful vista from the restaurant. Then a walk back to the ship via the supermarket where we picked up a couple of bottles of New Zealand wine to enjoy before our next stop in Noumea in a few days time. The loading was still going on as we arrived back at 10.30pm and carried on for much of the night. We left Auckland in fine sunny weather at about 6am the next day.