ChenBoon

On the third day in Auckland, I’m left alone because my wife and her friends went to Levin for job. Hence, I have to travel alone until I go back. It’s kind of lonely, as there are no one to share your thoughts. However, it’s more flexible and I’m able to go to a few places. On the morning of third day, after seeing my wife and her friends onboard AirBus leaving for domestic airport, I decided to visit the Auckland Museum and walk towards that direction. The weather was great and the view is amazing along the walk.

Walked from top left to bottom right to reach Auckland Museum

The Auckland Museum is a 3 storey building telling the story of New Zealand, its place in the Pacific and its people. The Museum is a war memorial for the province of Auckland and holds one of New Zealands top three heritage libraries. It has pre-eminent Maori and Pacific collections, significant natural history resources and major social and military history collections, as well as decorative arts and pictorial collections. It is truly a worth a visit if you are visiting Auckland and New Zealand, in general.

Auckland Museum on hill called "Pukekawa" in Maori.

Actually, the Auckland Museum is located in a park area called “The Domain”. Nearby to the museum, there’s a Wintergarden park with alot of plants and flowers in it. Around the Wintergarden, there’s a pond where some mandarin ducks just lounge around. There is also fields where people play arguably Kiwi national sport, rugby.

After spending around 4 hours at the domain, I decided to walk around Auckland to have a look what it still has to offer. Another 15 minutes walk, passing the Auckland Hospital, I came into a sub-urban area called Parnell. Apparently, it’s named as Auckland’s Creative Quarter. True to its reputation, there are many small shops selling artsy stuff and posh looking cafe for people to lounge in. It is a small and peaceful neighborhood with some small parks and really nice houses. There is also a house used by Anglican Church Bishop’s private residence.

Private residence for Bishop of Anglican Church.

Not knowing specifically where I am heading to, I kept on walking. After about another 25 minutes walk and thru a small park, the path opens up to a panoramic view of the Hobson bay and nearby Ports of Auckland. There is also the Parnell Bath but unfortunately, it is closed during the time that I was there. There is also a faint sight of Rangitoto Island and clear view of Devonport across the Hobson bay.

View across Hobson Bay

The next morning, I signed up for a free one day guided tour around Auckland onboard the Stray bus. We were greeted by Chukie and he really got out group going by introducing some interesting Kiwi phrases. For example Kiwis like to say “sweet as” meaning to say “awesome”. However, for those not informed, they might misunderstood for different meaning. First up the tour was a visit to Skycity’s Skytower. We had a game of coin flipping. Unknowingly to us, the last person to guess every outcome of coin flipping correctly, got a chance to be thrown out of a 192 meter Skytower! I guess lady luck was not blessing me at that time. After that, we hope onto the bus and continue our journey to the Viaduct Harbour. Viaduct Harbour has some really fancy restaurants, pubs and also a marina with some expensive looking yacht and sail ships.

Marina at Viaduct Harbour

After a run around in Viaduct Harbour, we were on the scenic Tamaki Drive heading towards Bastion Point. There is a monument commemorating past Kiwi Prime Minister, Michael Joseph Savage in Bastion Point. The place itself is actually embroil in a bloody cultural conflict whereby the Maoris was forcefully evicted from their land at Bastion Point by the government around 1970s. The Māori tried to stage a peaceful occupation at the land in protest. The peaceful occupation lasted for 507 days and was finally ended on the 25th May 1978, when 800 police and the New Zealand army were used to forcibly remove the occupiers and destroy the temporary buildings including vegetable gardens and a meeting house, which were constructed to accommodate the living during the protest. Two hundred and twenty two protesters were arrested. The occupation and use of force to end it played a part in highlighting injustices against Māori, and the occupation was a major landmark in the history of Māori protest. The Bastion Points sits between Mission Bay and Okahu Bay and it offers scenic view towards downtown Auckland and Devonport.

View of Auckland from Bastion Point

After about 15 minutes walk around the Bastion Point, we moved on and arrive at The Gables Speight’s Ale House, located at neighbourhood of Hernes Bay. Speight’s Brewery has always produced award winning, traditional ales and beers, using only the finest quality Southern ingredients and purest water. All of us got a sample taste of drought ale/beer/cider available at the Speight’s Ale House. For lunch, I got a beef Nachos and a pint of Speight’s Old Dark, and I did not regret making that choice. After finishing lunch the final stop is a visit to the Auckland Harbour Bridge. The famous A.J. Hackett operates a bungy jump shop at mid-span of the bridge. They also offer a bridge climb with views of the city and the harbour.

Stray bus and Auckland Harbour Bridge