After Queenstown and the Routeburn Track, Mr. Wonderful and I flew to the north island (see, Tez, I know there are two!) and stayed on the Viaduct waterfront in Auckland. New Zealand’s biggest city has a similar feel to Seattle, only warmer. Built around the same time and fueled by the gold rush, both cities sport cute Victorian buildings to more modern glass and steel structures. It’s spread out, but the downtown is still walkable (I walked so much my feet nearly fell off). Both cities have skylines dominated by a well-recognized skinny tower. Tourists can’t bunjy off the Space Needle. The vibrant waterfront has a busy harbor with small ferry boats that service the many islands. Sailing is huge in Auckland, and I realized the sailboat-racing hero of my cruise book #2 is a Kiwi.

As usual, Mr. Wonderful had meetings all day, every day, until late at night, so I amused myself exploring the city. I enjoy touring new cities, taking notes on the urban design and special interest in historic preservation. Friday I walked from the Westin on the Viaduct all the way up Parnell Street to the Auckland Museum. The large colonial building lords over the city from the top of a hill, providing great views. It reminded me of the Philadelphia Museum of Art (of Rocky fame). I saw a Maori cultural performance, which was very similar to Polynesian performances in Tahiti. The singing was lovely. The six-member team demonstrated the poi – softball-sized puff balls on long strings that are swung about and bounced off the body – and short and long blades. They finished with the war dance that is widely recognized from the All Blacks rugby games. Afterwards I took pictures of the Maori carvings for future ceramics projects and walked through the giant park grounds of the Domain.

The Domain is 75 hectares in the hollow of an old volcano. It has formal gardens, lawn bowling, and thickly forested paths, like Lovers Walk. A lot of the names in Auckland are English – Albert and Regent streets, I stopped by the Wintergarden, two greenhouses connected by a courtyard with shallow pool, to knit and was photographed by some strange asian tourists. I’m not sure if they thought I was a local or just odd. On the return trip I passed through the Auckland University campus and Albert Park, before finally arriving on Queen Street and locating a Borders. Since I can’t resist a bookstore, I checked out the selection of romance books down under. No Nalini Singh. Mass market paperbacks for $20. AAAAA!!!!

Saturday I took the ferry to the volcano island of Rangitoto and hiked to the top. The volcano rose out of the sea 600 years ago. Trees and brush cover much of the black lava rock. It was hot, but the beautiful 360 degree views were well worth it.

Part I: Queenstown & Routeburn Track
Part II: Auckland (see more photos!)
Part III: Rotorua & Wellington