Aukland

Kia-ora means “welcome” in Maori.  So Kia-ora.  Here begins our New Zealand adventure.

Arrival

After arriving at our hotel, we met our tour director, Kristen, in the lobby and went for a walk around Auckland to orient ourselves.  The signature Sky Tower is just a block from our hotel.  It is 1,076 ft. tall and was completed in 1997. Striking was the contrast between modern and old architecture.  Next we saw the Cathedral of St. Patrick and St. Joseph, a Gothic Revival building which is a World Heritage Site.  There is a chapel dedicated to Suzanne Aubert who started the Sisters of Compassion.  She was responsible for housing orphans around the world.   In 2016 she was given the title of “venerable”, a step toward being declared a saint.  Then we continued down to the port to see the 1912 Edwardian Baroque Ferry Building. We wandered along the waterfront to Viaduct area and saw the first World Cup boat winner.  We got back to the hotel at 1:15 and went down to the food court two levels below the hotel for lunch.  Finally we got into our rooms and were able to settle in and rest.

Before dinner, we meet our group for a lecture from James Brown, a Maori leader about the Maori beginnings in the island—The Legend of Tamake Makau Rau–and about the Maori present status.  There are many similarities between their situation and our Native American situation.  It was interesting that the first Maori came around 1300 C.E. from other Polynesian islands.  Before that, there were no human inhabitants of New Zealand.  The name—The Land of the Long White Cloud—came from these settlers who said that the islands looked like an “aotearoa” from the distance.

Tour of City

Today was our day to explore Auckland. It began with a coach tour of the city. Its population is about 1.5 million; about 1/3 of all Kiwis call Auckland home.  The city lies between two sparkling harbors, the Manukau on the Tasman Sea and the Waitemata on the Pacific Ocean.  It has 15,000 km of coastline and is often called the City of Sails. The city is built on a volcanic field with 50 volcanoes with and area of 620 square kilometers.  These form the hills, lakes, and basins of the city.  Mt. Eden, a dormant volcano, is called Eden Garden.

We began by crossing the Aukland Harbor Bridge which connects central Aukland with the North Shore. We toured the vibrant Viaduct Harbour with restaurants and entertainment along the waterfront.  Then we proceeded down Queen Street, the main shopping area, to the Auckland Domain, a park that surrounds the crater of Auckland’s oldest volcano, Pukekawa.  We stopped at the Michael Joseph Savage Memorial Park, named after New Zealand’s first Labour Prime Minister and founder of the welfare state. It is set on a hill overlooking Waitemata Harbour and Rangitoto Island.  Next we stopped at Wintergardens—two greenhouses joined by a courtyard with water lily and lotus pools.  The greenhouses contain a large variety of plants. The area behind the green houses has been converted into a huge fernery with over 100 varieties of ferns native to New Zealand.

We continued on to the Auckland War Museum to view their premier collection of Maori taonga (treasures).  These include woven textiles created from flax and carved stone and wooden artifacts.  There is a full-sized traditional meetinghouse with intricate carved and painted designs throughout.  At the end of the museum tour, we assembled in an auditorium for a cultural performance culminating in a “haka,” the traditional war dance of Maori men. Our final stop on the tour was in Auckland’s oldest suburb, Parnell, where the Europeans settled when New Zealand became a British colony in 1840.  This section is very European with shops and cafes.  St. Mary’s Church was originally built in 1860 but moved to its present location in 1982. It is designed in a Gothic Revival style and is a historic wooden building. Takutai Square is a pedestrian mall with lots of upscale shops. Finally we ate at Ostro Restaurant overlooking the harbor.