New Zealand Vacation

August 12th - August 14th, 2005

Friday, August 12th

Auckland, New Zealand

We arrived in Auckland, New Zealand late Thursday night. The hotel we had reserved (from Australia) was a dive! Worse still, their advertising said it had "internet access"...guess what they meant....dial-up! And even worse....even dial up did not work in the crappy room they gave us....The smart man that I married realized that "if mama ain't happy, ain't nobody happy"...so we chose to lose a day and find a decent place to stay. At 10 am the next morning we were outta there! We picked up our rental car at the airport and found a hotel on the North Shore. As we headed north, we were treated to this lovely site of the Auckland skyline.

Auckland is on a narrow strip of land between two scenic harbors. Auckland is surrounded by more sandy beaches and attractive islands than probably any other city in the world. The city itself is splashed with green parks that include the terraced volcanic hills where Maoris once lived in fortified villages. Auckland is known as the "City of Sails" as there is so much water, both oceans and lakes, that there are many, many sailboats! The new hotel we found - named aptly "City of Sails" offered us a large, beautifully appointed room with a balcony, queen bed, large corner spa pool in our room, Sky TV (satellite?), a friendly and helpful owner/operator (John) and best yet....wireless internet! What more could you ask! We settled in, did our laundry, had a romantic dinner and shared a long, hot, soak in the spa....by candlelight!

Saturday, August 13th

Auckland Zoo

Saturday morning we decided to go to the Auckland Zoo to see some of the unique animals that are native to New Zealand. The zoo is not huge, but has spacious, natural compounds that felt both intimate and interactive.

Best known to be exclusively from New Zealand is the kiwi - a nocturnal, flightless and endangered bird. The zoo had a special nocturnal house and we were lucky enough to get this photo of a kiwi.

We also saw this graceful swan.

Meerkat

Nepalese Red Panda

Cotton top tamarin (a monkey)

The sea lions were in a new enclosure that allows you to watch them through a viewing window in an underground tunnel. In fact, that was really unique about this zoo....the well-planted, narrow trails felt very intimate and included tunnels that went INTO the enclosures and allowed you to pop up in the MIDDLE of the enclosure under a plexiglass dome...really cool!

Baby penguin

And my favorite...the lemur

The lemurs were beautiful and playful.

And they lined up, sat back, spread their arms and sunned themselves!

Auckland Museum

Next we visited the Auckland Museum to learn about the Maori people of New Zealand. The Maori settlement in Auckland dates back at least 800 years. Initial settlements were concentrated on the coastal regions, but gradually the fertile isthmus became settled and land was cleared for growing food. From the 17th century tribes from outside the region challenged the local Ngati Whatua tribe for this desirable place. In response, the locals built fortified villages on Auckland's numerous volcanic cones. But when the first Europeans arrived in the area in the 1830s they reported a land largely devoid of inhabitants. The Auckland isthmus had largely been forsaken, either ravaged by war or the threat of it.

The Auckland Museum sits atop a sweeping
expanse of lawn in one of Auckland's oldest parks.

The museum has a comprehensive display of Pacific Island and Maori culture, including a 25m-long war canoe.

But the highlight of our visit was the performance of Maori song and dance by Manaia which provided a good introduction to the Maori culture.

Although the Maori's position in New Zealand society seem very similar to the Japukai in Australia or the American Indian in the U.S. this presentation was much friendlier and pleasant....fun and interesting!

In addition to songs, they demonstrated various games played with sticks...

...and soft balls on strings that they swung around quite amazingly.

Mt. Eden

Auckland is punctuated by some 48 volcanoes, many of which provide parkland with great views. The view from Mt. Eden (Maungawhau), the highest volcanic cone in the area, at 196m, is superb. You can see the entire Auckland area and look 50m down into the volcano's crater.

Here is a peek into the crater. If you look closely, you can see a man who walked down into the crater.

Here he is....I zoomed in on him.

Incredible views...

One Tree Hill

Next we drove to One Tree Hill....another volcanic cone. At 183m, it is a distinctive bald hill, topped only by a huge obelisk and, until recently, a lone Monterey pine. It was the largest and most populous of the Maori pa (fortifications) and the terracing and dugout storage pits are still visible.

As we started up the narrow road, we were surprised to see this sign....

But as we rounded the next corner, we saw the lawnmower for this steep volcanic hill!

This is the obelisk at the summit.

Here you can see the terracing.

On the way down the hill, we were treated to a rainbow!

Sunday, August 14th

Kelly Tarlton's Antarctic Encounter and Underwater World

Kelly Tarlton's Antarctic Encounter and Underwater World is housed in old stormwater holding tanks.

The Antarctic Encounter includes a walk through a replica of Scott's 1911 Antarctic hut,

We took a ride aboard a heated Snow Cat through a frozen environment where a colony of King and Gentoo penguins live at sub-zero temperatures.

A transparent tunnel runs along the center of the aquarium, through which you can travel on a conveyor belt, with the fish, including sharks and stingrays, swimming around you.

MY favorite was the new Stingray habitat. I could have stayed right there the whole time!

The photos do not do them justice, but these gentle animals would come up to the edge of the low sided tank...splashing along the edge...or would sidle right up the side of the young man in the tank with them to feed them. Here the stingray is climbing up his right hip.

And here he is hand feeding one.

A seahorse

crawfish?

Lion Fish

Moray Eel

Giant Crawfish

Meandering Along the Shoreline

After lunch, we took a leisurely drive along the sea and lake shores which were just about 100 feet apart.

This quaint house is the Pumphouse. From 1905 to 1944, the Pumphouse supplied the whole of the North Shore with water from Lake Pupuke. It is now a theater, gallery, amphitheater and cafe.

Those of you who know me really well, know my great love of trees. These two were really amazing.

Sky Tower

Sunday evening we had reservations for dinner at the Sky Tower.

At 328m, it is the tallest structure in the southern hemisphere.

A lift (elevator) takes you up to the observation decks in 40 seconds.

We did not see it, but people jump off the observation tower (for $200) using a harness, something like a parachute.

We then took the Skyway Lift to the ultimate viewing level.

As the sun set, we had a romantic dinner in the Orbit Restaurant, 52 stories up in the Sky Tower. The restaurant revolves once an hour and has stunning views of the Auckland region. The food and service were superb, making us feel like their honored guests.