Excursioin Down Under- part II

Monday, March 31st, 2014- Auckland, New Zealand

 

             We were up by 4:30 A.M. The Circadian rhythms of our bodies would not adapt for several days yet. We read, watched and enjoyed the local news program and readied for the day. The Federal Deli called to us and we again enjoyed their bagel and lox creation for breakfast. It was 60 degrees and partly cloudy out.

 

            We hailed a cab and rode down to the ferry terminal. Usually we would walk but the effects of 20 hours in the air had caused both of us some physical distress. It wouldn’t ease until a few days of celebrex calmed down the affected joints.

 

             The ferry terminal was awash with arriving passengers from the far-flung islands around the city. Many thousands commuted daily to downtown Auckland for their work. For $18 each, we bought round trip tickets on the ferry over to Devonport. It is a scenic tourist town just across the Bay from Auckland. The ride over is a tour in itself. Auckland is known as the “city of sails” because many thousand enjoy sailing and have boats moored everywhere. One vessel caught our attention. It was a futuristic, streamlined monster of a yacht that looked like something from a Jules Verne movie, with Captain Nemo at the helm. We were to learn later that a Russian gazillionaire owned the vessels and parked it prominently here on display, safe from Vladimir Putin’s reach.

 

            At Devonport, we exited the ferry and walked up the four block long main drag. Curio shops, café’s and restaurants were prominent. On a busy weekend here, people would be five deep along the sidewalk. We browsed the shops bought some post cards and had some very good cappuccino at “Correlli’s” café. We sat and people watched for a time before heading back down the strip. A visit to a chemist gave us a tube of “antiflamme” which is supposed to help with swollen joints. We found the post office and sent some cards off into the mail.

 

            Next, we walked down to the ocean pier and small beach area in town. A few grandmothers were watching their charges play in the sand. It was sunny out with a cerulean blue sky and temps in the 70’s. A gorgeous day. We walked along the seaside trail enjoying the ocean traffic and ogling the pricey homes perched atop the ridge and looking  out to sea. They were quaint and looked very expensive. We sat for a time at different spots and enjoyed the birds and sky and frothy surf as it curled upon the dark basalt on an ancient lava flow. You are always aware hereabouts that the volcanoes beneath you are merely dormant, not extinct.

 

        About a mile up the shore we came upon a delightful slice of old England, the North Shore Cricket Club. Several teams were playing on the “pitch.” We sat for a time and watched the enthusiastic batsmen in their padded costumes swinging what looked like large paddles and a ball tossed by a pitcher in a decidedly different manner than we were used to. I have never really understood the game even though we know it is the precursor of American Baseball. The players all seemed to be enthusiastic and cheer would break out now and again when one of the batsmen hit the ball out into the field.

 

         From the cricket pitch we walked along the shore to the Torpedo Bay Naval Station. A small NZ naval museum attracted a class of elementary students. Next to the museum a small café looked out over the ocean. It is a pleasant spot to sit and idle the day here.

 

        The sun was rising in the sky, so we walked the mile plus back to the village and found the charming little “Sierra Café.” We sat along the walk and ordered delicious potato leak soup and tuna sandwiches on the best date bread I had ever tasted. It was a good stop.

 

        After lunch, we caught a mid afternoon ferry back to Auckland and a  cab back to the sky city Grand to chill out for a bit.  The Maori channel on TV entertained us with various cultural skits about local culture. Rowing and soccer dominated the other TV channels. A brief nap was a welcome conversation with Ozzie Nelson.

 

           It was early evening and pleasant out so we walked to the nearby Elliot Stables and chose Robert De Niro’s Pizzeria for dinner. Elegant margherita pizzas as good as anything in the states made for a delightful repast. Thanks, Bobby ! We stopped by the Glengarry Wine shop for a bottle of spirits and then made our way back to the hotel. The “go home” pedestrian traffic was considerable as workers made their way to the ferry, bus and train terminals for the ride home from work.

 

         We had decided to take the ferry out to Waiheke Island tomorrow, so we made arrangements for a tour of the island as well. We settled in with a libation to watch CNN and catch up on the international news. The Country was agog with the impending visit of William, Kate and George, the English Royals, We read for a time and drifted off to sleep, happy with the day’s adventures.

 

Tuesday, April 1, 2014 Auckland, New Zealand

 

        We were up by 7 A.M. and made preparations for the day. The Federal Deli called to us and we stopped in for bagel schmears and coffee. A cab ferried us to the Ferry Terminal and we got tickets to Waiheke Island. It was a pleasant forty-minute ride out across the Bay to Waiheke Island. The Russian mega yacht was sailing nearby. A whole section of her aft hull had slid up into the decking revealing a small garage. From it emerged a powerboat carrying its occupants on some errand or other. This boat could well fit in one of the Bond movies.

 

       The island terminal is an anomaly in that there is no commercial activity attached to it. Small lots surrounding it held hundreds of cares for the daily commuters into Auckland.

 

        We had arranged for a two-hour tour of the island and the bus was waiting for us as we emerged from the terminal. The driver narrated for us as we climbed up onto the hilltops to follow that narrow lane around the island. It seemed like every turn of the road produced a “wow vista.” We looked out and down onto translucent, crystal clear and jade colored water crashing in frothy surf on bright tan beaches or the dark basalt rocks of an ancient lava flow. The bright azure sky glistened off the emerald green islets strewn about the surrounding Tasman Sea. If this wasn’t a portrait of heaven, it ought to be.

 

 Every bay was chock a block with yachts and sailing vessels of all sizes. From the hilltops you can se the various seamounts that mark the tops of some of the 50 dormant volcanoes that underlie the area.

 

          The surrounding hilltop homes were equally impressive in both size and vistas. Everything here had to be hauled out from Auckland so even the more modest homes started at $500,000 and ran up to whatever you wanted to pay.

 

          The bus brought us down to Palm Beach for a cappuccino at “Charley Farley’s” beachfront café. The vista of blue sky and tan beach here is eye candy for the soul. Curiously there were but two couples strolling the beach here. The year round population of the island is only 6.000 people. It swells to 60,000 during the busy Summer Christmas season.

 

       We continued our tour. We passed several of the twenty vineyards on the island. They grow coffee here and have olive groves that press out a local brand of olive oil as well. It all looked lush and prosperous.

 

       Ostend is the small commercial center for residents. Hardware stores, groceries and that type of thing are available here. We passed through it on our way to Aneroa, the small tourist enclave. The tour ended here. The driver told us where we could catch the hourly bus to the ferry and left us off. We browsed the shops and small restaurants. Most were sro with visitors and tourist cute. The “Delight Café" sits off the main drag with an awesome vista out over the bay. WE settled in this small gourmet shoppe for some excellent vegetable and chicken pastry tortes.

 

          It was nearing 2 P.M. and we were mindful of the "last lifeboat syndrome” that affects all island ferries and later trains. It can become a panic crush to get on late in the day. We found the bus to the ferry and road back to Matiata Bay. The ferry was already crowded even at this early hour. I can’t imagine it during the summer Christmas season. We rode back across the bay to Auckland enjoying all of the nautical traffic.  It was 78 degrees on a sunny day in early fall. It doesn’t get any nicer that this.

 

        Celebrex had helped eased the stiffened joints so we decided to walk across busy Queen St. to Wellesley. It was a river of young people scurrying hither and yon. This is the place for people under thirty.

 

       At the hotel, I wrote up my notes enjoyed a late afternoon “toonie” and chilled out. It was still early evening when we ventured forth to the nearby “Little Mexico” restaurant on Wellesley. We had some great fish taco dinners with Sangria. It was a good choice for dinner.

 

       The early evening air was warm on our skins as we walked back to the hotel. It had been a pleasant experience on our last day in Auckland. Tomorrow, we would meet up with the Dawn Princess and continue our tour of New Zealand and SE Australia. We were rested and relaxed and eager for the adventure.