Our second day in Auckland was just as nice as yesterday. But first, we needed to know if everyone onboard was require to participate in today's muster drill. The answer from the front desk girl was "yes", everyone was required to attend this drill, or according to their warning, may be refused to sail on this vessel. We are not aware that the warning has been enforced, but we were not going to challenge it. It is understandable that the folks feel short-changed when our time is cut short with a drill at 4:15pm. Technically, the all onboard time was 5:30pm, but if you adhered to that, you would miss the drill. There was one time that we missed the drill, going off of the ship in the afternoon on boarding day. We had failed to see the muster request. But we did have to make it up the following day with a number of other guests that accidently did the same as us.
The weather looked dismal outside, although, it was not really cold. Like yesterday, we knew that if we were walking a long way, we would warm up in this humidity. So after a light breakfast, we headed off of the ship by 10am, and took a right turn at the old Ferry Building this time. This led us to the ice cream shop across from the ferry terminal. We took a quick look at the flavors, but could not find Hokey Pokey. Surely they have something close, and we figured we would check it out on our way back.
Our destination was the marina and the America's Cup Village, but it was not easy to get there. The streets have been dug up, and cordoned off to partial car and pedestrian traffic. We had to cross the street twice, but with the help of crossing guards. Interesting how they stop the crowd from running across the streets. They pull a tape across the intersection, holding everyone back, then walk it back, leaving the crosswalk open until the lights changed. A few of the crossing ladies did it with a flare, which really helped pass the time of day for them, and got some laughs from us.
With the hotels and restaurants in this area, it can become quite crowded, but most of this area becomes traffic-free. With the exception of the dock workers and delivery trucks, most of the traffic here is either people walking or riding bikes or scooters. Mostly the motorized varieties. In the America's Cup area, there are a few yachts, the NZ68 and the NZ41, where you can take a 2 ½ hour tour to experience a ride in one of these powerful vessels. You are even invited to participate in the actual sailing, along with the help of the experts. It comes with a hefty price of $200 per person, if done through the ship's shore excursions.
Many charter yachts, or party boats, are for lease here. Then as we continued on, we crossed over a narrow draw bridge, that will lift for boats to go into Stanley Bay. This is where the string of restaurants begin, all offering different types of food. Most would not open until lunchtime, but there were a few coffee shops already full of customers. Many of the big businesses and high rises are located here, so this type of dining is easily accessible to the working crowd as well as tourists. For us, it was too early for lunch, so we continued on with our walk.
We came into an area of marine businesses, more industrial. And a lot of work was happening here too. It appeared that a new hotel was being erected, and the old silos were undergoing restoration. A kiddie park with a water feature was here. And the fish market was locate up another side street. We walked to a small marina where smaller, but older sail boats were moored. There were plackets explaining the history of each vessel. And the nice thing was there were plenty of bench seating here. Great spot to relax and watch the marina traffic in the bay. Since it was Tuesday, we did not see the same activity as we did coming here on a weekend.
A nice boardwalk promenade has been added to the shoreline here, so we followed it for a long way with Saint Marys Bay on one side. This opened up with another marina, reportedly the largest one in the Southern Hemisphere. There were vessels of all sizes, a yacht club, and a few very nice restaurants along the way. Even nicer, there were new restrooms, even some showers. The wooden walkway ended with a sign saying it was going to continue all the way to the Auckland Harbor Bridge. They were working on it already.
But that did not stop our hike, as the old trail went on. We did end up at the foot of the bridge, but realized that it was not a pedestrian bridge. Right on the seawall, were benches and small cleaning stations with water for the fishermen. We did sit on one of the benches, watching one fellow bait his hook, and cast it into the water. The sun was beginning to peek through the clouds, and as we expected, it did warm up considerably.
It was time to head back. By now, the young locals were out and about running or biking along this set of trails, and we were not alone. Eventually, we arrived back at the restaurants in the marina area, and found a suitable place for lunch. We stopped at the Wynard Pavilion, and ordered two ice cold Stella beers on tap. Fish entrees were the biggest selections, but they also had a list of pizzas. Perfect, we ordered a Margherita pizza to share, and also one apple/berry cheesecake with a scoop of Hokey Pokey ice cream. The real stuff. While sitting at the comfortable high chairs, we remembered to try the WIFI. It worked well, and the Kindle got updated.
Taking our time, we made it back to the ship by 3:30pm. And we did stop at the ice cream place, but they only had a flavor similar to the one we love. Sharing a small cup of the caramel/vanilla ice cream, we were glad we at least had a scoop of the real thing at lunch.
The muster drill went off as usual at 4:15pm, then we spent an hour at the Seaview Pool when the ship left after 5:30pm. The real sail away was held in the Crow's Nest. It was windy, and still rather overcast, so not too many folks were back there. And it was the start of dinnertime, so many guests were busy doing that. We all showed up at the table, despite the fact that all of us were really tired after another day in Auckland. Our dinners were pork schnitzel and tuna, but cooked almost well. Both were good.
The fellows left at 9:30pm, to attend the show of the Alley Cats, but the rest of us had other plans. Mostly going back to our rooms to get enough rest for tomorrow's port of the Bay of Islands, the last of the New Zealand stops.
Bill & Mary Ann
Tuesday, March 3, 2020
Report #117 Auckland, New Zealand March 3, 2020 Tuesday Partly cloudy & 75 degrees
