After breakfast I met a friend of mine in the lobby of the hotel. She lives in Auckland and had offered to give me a tour. We drove to Mount Eden, a hill to the south-west of the city centre. The hill was formed by a volcanic eruption and is one of several around the city. The most recent eruption was only 600 years ago. It formed Rangitoto Island in the harbour. From the top of Mount Eden I got a good view despite it being a cloudy day.
Rangitoto Island showing the typical shield profile of a volcano.
Two more volcanic hills; Mount Hudson in the foreground and Mount Wellington in the distance to the right of it.
Perhaps the most famous of Auckland’s volcanic hills - One Tree Hill.
A panorama of Auckland’s central business district with the Harbour Bridge on the left and the Skytower to the right of centre.
After Mount Eden we took a scenic route through the city suburbs to Mission Bay. We had a leisurely lunch and chatted in a waterside café. After that my friend dropped me off at Kelly Tarlton’s aquarium and we said goodbye. The aquarium was the first in the world to use curved perspex tunnels that you walk through, under the water with the fish swimming around and over you. There’s also an Antarctic display with penguins and a replica of Captain Scott’s hut that he used in his ill-fated attempt to reach the south pole in 1911.
A king penguin. They have a large area of snow to walk on and water to swim in.
My camera struggled to take good photos through the curved perspex. This snoozing ray is the best one.
Kelly Tarlton’s is one of the stops on the Auckland Explorer bus route. As I left the aquarium one of these buses rolled up so I hopped on it. The route is a good one; past the cathedral and the Auckland museum then into the city centre and down to the harbour.
I got off at the ferry building and walked to the Viaduct Harbour. This area was recently redeveloped when New Zealand hosted the America’s Cup. Auckland is called “The city of Sails” and the marina was full of expensive boats! I went into the Maritime Museum. It has a good collection displaying the development of coastal shipping around New Zealand. Before the road network was built boats were the easiest form of transport. There is also a good display on the America’s Cup and the yachts that New Zealand has entered into the competition.
This is one of seven replicas produced in 1986 to raise funds for New Zealand's first America's Cup challenge.
“Rapaki” - A huge steam crane moored outside the museum. Built in Scotland in 1925 she cost £42,000 and was in use until 1988.
Viaduct Basin.
After that jet-lag was beginning to catch up with me again so I made my way back to the hotel via Albert Park. A good job too as it rained heavily just after I got to my room.