Auckland New Zealand, Land Again!

There are a LOT of steps up to Albert's Park!

Cloudy Auckland

Sailing into Auckland Harbor was a welcome experience after so many days at sea from Tonga. Auckland is a big city of about 1.5 million people and we walked up Queens street in a sea of a mix of business people and backpackers seeking adventures in the NZ. Our first goal was Starbucks to get internet. We were then off wandering and went uphill to Albert's Park and the University of Auckland. From there we wandered streets until we found the main street along the ocean and went away from the ship for as long as we could walk. After turning around and heading back towards the ship we took a short refuge at the Quay Brewery for a pint and a rest. From there we walked past the Whisper and on to a Marina area and found a restaurant with a typical NZ "platter", a big board with a mix of tapas type appetizers and found a great NZ Pinot Gris that had a little Rose color that we all liked called Ned. The ship sailed early for further NZ but we lost some companions such as Natalie, Jeff and Richard. Some are off for NZ adventures and others on to Australia for some time.

Side Note: We are in Wellington at the moment. Further updates to come but we have been without internet access for a while due to a dispute with the NZ Government and ship connections. Not scheduled to really see ship internet working until we have left NZ and are far enough out. Two days at sea to OZ should make up for it.