We had one full day in Auckland to poke around and see what the hubub is about. Auckland regularly is named one of the world’s most liveable cities and after just one day we can see why. It feels like a small San Francisco with an added soupcon of foreign-ness that is very appealing.
It’s a hilly place but that affords you some lovely views, like this one from the top of Mt. Eden. Mt. Eden is an extinct volcano and there are a number of them sprinkled throughout the Auckland area.
After climbing up Mt. Eden (okay, we taxied up and then walked up the last 100 meters of the hill), we went directly to the ferry terminal for a short ferry ride to Waiheke Island.
Lots of sailboats on the Hauraki Gulf today as it’s Sunday.
For us this was really about the ferry ride to the Island but it’s actually known around here for nature walks and great beaches. We only had about an hour to spend so we walked around the small town. We did manage to snap a picture of a Tui bird.
We returned back to Auckland in a driving rainstorm and decided to just walk around the central area and generally try to stay dry.
Fun shops all throughout the area.
At the end of the day we enjoyed our last dinner on the ground at Princes Wharf before we return to the United States tomorrow.
We go back pretty much the same way we came – Auckland-Singapore-Frankfurt-New York-Chicago. We leave here tomorrow at 12:10pm, which is 7:10pm Sunday night in Chicago, and arrive home at 3:45pm on Tuesday. Total planned travel time is 44 hours and 35 minutes. Ouch.
Fortunately we’ll be in either First Class or Suites Class the whole way!
