Today was a day for nostalgic wanderings as I made my way around Auckland and again I was hit with the realization about how much time has passed, but how a sight, a sound or a snapshot can trigger memories from so long ago. Bryce and I decided to split up for awhile today while I did the nostalgia thing which was probably a good thing, but also hard because I wanted to nudge someone and say "I remember when -" or "this is where we would-"....but that's okay I still had fun anyway.
The day started extremely well, I love a buffet breakfast because you can fill up and not worry about food for the rest of the day and the Rendezvous Hotel does an amazing breakfast, so I happily indulged in a big one and I wasn't disappointed.
Breakfast over the hop on hop off bus called which was an easy find, just around the corner from the Civic Theatre on Queen Street. The price was NZ$45 (about the same in AUS this weekend) and consists of two routes, the red and blue, the red taking you to the aquarium and Bastion lookout, the blue taking you to Eden Park and the zoo. (you can get tickets at a variety of online sites -check for prices as they may vary and offer discounts-or you can buy them from operators at different stops on the route)
I love a hop on hop off to orientate you with a new place,(or to take you to old familiar haunts but the wait times between buses can be long in some places or the route you take but I was lucky as there was yet another cruise ship in town (the Voyager of the Seas which looks about twice the size of yesterdays Noordam) so they had put extra buses on so any waiting time between stops was minimal (although that also meant that the buses were crowded with cruisers but I think in this case more buses outweighed overcrowding).
I boarded the bus and watched as Auckland unfolded in front of my eyes and noticed again how much had changed, Farmers building which was in my era a department store with a lot of memories of a playground and cafe at the rooftop but is now the Auckland Heritage Hotel.
I remember as a kid often going to Mission Bay or St. Helens on a Sunday afternoon for a picnic or a cream tea in one of the cafes at the beach and it taking forever to get there so I was surprised that it didn't take as long as I thought it would.
The first 'hop off' for me was Bastion Lookout, the war memorial and the Michael
Joseph Savage Memorial Gardens with some amazing views of the harbour. From the lookout you can walk to Mission Bay but I didn't walk to the beach, if I had more time I would
have, but I crammed in a lot of 'reminiscing' today and although I was tempted to see if cream teas tasted the same I made do with just wandering around Bastion Point before getting on another bus as it made it's way around the route (if I had a couple extra days I would have taken that walk as well as many more 'hop offs'- again another reason to visit again)
I chose not to stop at the Kelly Tarlton Aquarium (again not enough hours in the day) but I have heard that it is well worth a look (and at $39-42 for the price of a ticket and a little extra for a shark cage dive it looks on par if not better than other aquariums that I have been too).
I have to confess that there wasn't a lot of 'hopping off' of the bus, although there were plenty of stops that I could have, like the Parnell Village (a shopping area that I wandered around plenty as a kid) and the Holy Trinity Cathedral which was magnificent (and as I love religious building but not necessarily the religion there would have been some good photo opportunities) but I stayed on to get to the Auckland War Memorial Museum, which was filled with memories of trips there with Papa and my sister. I loved this museum as a child and just walking around it soaking in the sights and setting brought all those fond childhood memories flooding back.
The museum was built in on the hill of Pukekawa in 1929, and is one of New Zealand's finest heritage buildings and houses a remarkable collection of war memorabilia. There is also a Maori cultural show held daily which could be good for people who want a taste of the culture but are only in town for the day (like those cruise ship tourists) .
At the museum you change from the red to blue route which takes you around Mount Eden...which is an area that holds my earliest memories, of living in Grange Road with my family and Papa, of going to school for the first time (and crying when I couldn't join Wanda on her first day because I was too young,) of play school and reading Cat in the Hat and eating potato top pies afterwards, of changing into shorts in the garage because I didn't want to wear the dresses/skirts to school that my mother wanted me to wear and running away from home. All those memories wrapped up in and around the area of Mount Eden, Eden Park and St. Lukes shopping centre and I wish I had three or four more days to really take a proper wander down memory lane.
Of course there were lots of jokes
made by the bus driver as we approached Eden Park who was pleased to know there were lots of Australians on the bus and that Eden Park had recently hosted the Bledisloe Cup (an annual event between Australia and New Zealand which New Zealand won again) so he rubbed that in a bit, but all I could think of was how much it had changed since the last time I had seen it. There are some amazing sculptures of some of New Zealand's athletic heroes and I imagine that if I ever get the chance to visit again there will be a few more.
I think I need another day or two in Auckland to just wander, to stand in front of those places that I remember, to sit and watch people and wonder if they were someone that I might have spent time with in one of the many schools that I went to while living in Auckland (I'm not sure I remember all the schools I went to so that would be a challenge in itself). Oh well, it gives me a reason to come back sometime soon.
I was tossing up between shopping at St Luke's or going to the zoo, and elephants won over shops and I am glad I made that choice.
Yes, I am one of those people that love zoos and yes I know there are a lot of zoos in the world that are a disgrace, but there are also a lot that look after their animals and help in conservation and breeding and I will happily support them, knowing that in some cases that zoos may be the only chance we will have to see some of these beautiful creatures because of the crap we do to their environments. Enough of my rant about my reasons for liking zoos but now we might come to a conclusion as to why I didn't fit in much else on my day because I spent way too long watching the elephants (and the many other animals in the zoo :) ) I thought the zoo had great enclosures for the animals and I could easily have spent another hour or two wandering around, however my son, the sky tower and dinner called and with a brief stop at the hotel to freshen up and collect Bryce, the evening adventures began.
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I am a sucker for observation towers (I don't always enjoy the price of them but the $25NZD price tag wasn't the most exorbitant that I have paid) and the 360° views were worth it, especially as we watched the Voyager of the Seas leaving port, that was an impressive sight. The view in daylight was impressive and I made the journey back up the Skytower again later after a great dinner on the wharf, (we paid an extra $5 to get a day/night pass) and got an impressive night time view of the city/harbour which was a great end to my busy day in Auckland.
The view from in front of the hotel looking towards the tower.
