February 10, 2023 – Auckland, New Zealand

We arrived very early into Auckland, NZ.  The city was all sparkling with lights of tall buildings.  Apparently, we were in a hurry to beat the Coral Princess to the dock in downtown.  We did arrive first and docked before sunrise. 

We opened our curtains in the cabin and right outside were balconies of the new Hilton hotel.  They were just building the hotel when we were here in 2020.  It’s shaped to look like a cruise ship docked at the pier.

We have plans to meet friends, Carolyn and Michael, today.  We met them on the 2020 cruise and they are from Auckland.  We are looking forward to seeing them again.  We’ve stayed in contact and followed them on their many journey’s.

We disembarked the ship right in downtown.  We walked around the marina and could see all the sailboats used for America’s Cup.  Then we walked to a new shopping complex called Commercial Bay.  What a beautiful area.  Everything is clean and pretty.  People are very friendly and helpful.

After a stroll along the main streets, we made our way back to the Viaduct Harbour.  We had reservations at Soul Bar & Bistro.  We saw Carolyn and Michael at a table waiting for us.  Our friend Carmen (also friend from 2020 cruise), Bob and I, gave them a big hug and then sat down at a table (open air) overlooking the beautiful harbor.  The sky is blue, temperature perfect and company of friends outstanding.  We spent the next few hours just catching up on everything that has happened since we’ve seen each other.  They live right across the harbor from downtown, so they took a ferry to meet us.  

Carolyn and Michael ordered a nice bottle of wine and we had a superb lunch at this restaurant.  Many of you know, I like an adventure, but not when it comes to food.  I only like mild seafood, but Bob is loving all the seafood everywhere we’ve been.  Bob started with oysters from an island just a few miles away.  Then he had something called Whitebait Fish.  The only way I can describe it is, hundreds of tiny fish in a crepe like dish with a lemon, butter and chives sauce over it.  Carolyn and Michael also had it and recommended to Bob.  He said it was delicious.  You’ll laugh when I tell you what I ordered, keeping in mind, New Zealand has excellent dairy.  I had macaroni and cheese (NZ cheddar) with ham off the bone shredded in the dish with a parmesan crust. Makes my mouth water as I’m describing it.  It was outstanding.  Carmen had black tiger prawns and also said they were delicious.  Michael introduced me to ginger beer with lime and now I’m hooked.  Although we were all full, we still had a dessert.  Homemade ice cream plate with 4 assorted flavors.  Refreshing.  

Time for a walk.  Not far up the hill is the famous Sky Tower.  The tallest man-made structure in New Zealand and the Southern Hemisphere.  We took a transparent elevator to a glass-floored observation deck, towering 1,072 feet in the air.  Panoramic 360 degree view.  So nice that Michael could point out exactly what we were looking at.  Our own personal tour guides.  The view was stunning.  We could see for miles.  Auckland is a beautiful city and we’d love to visit again.

We left the Sky Tower, walked down the hill to the ferry terminal and said our good-byes to Carolyn and Michael.  We had such a lovely day with them.  Thank you so much!

Keeping them in our prayers since this cyclone is heading their direction and from what they told us, their summer has been extremely stormy.  Too much rain and flooding in the recent weeks.

We boarded the ship and when ready to leave, we sat on our balcony and watched hundreds of sailboats in the harbor going along side, as if they were racing us.  The sky turned from blue and sunny to grey and stormy looking.  As we left the safe harbor and went into open waters, it definitely got choppy.  Careful walking on the ship tonight.