down under / nz

View from the Sky Tower






Prince Andrew and I are in Auckland for a few days. He's opening the newly restored cenotaph and visiting the naval dockyards. I'm just doing the tourist thing. Whatever.
Actually Auckland got off to a bad start. I checked into what I thought was a delightful Victorian guest house but turned out to be a backpackers' hovel with communal showers and dorms. The other guests peered at this old codger arriving with his big suitcase with curiosity tinged with (I thought) menace. So I promptly checked out again just before midnight and with the assistance of a friendly taxi driver found something with at least a few stars.
The first day the weather was heavy grey clouds, heavy winds, driving drizzle (you'll know what I mean if you've ever been to Edinburgh) and cold. Cold! I haven't been in cold for three months. I had to buy a garment that I believe is called a 'fleece'. Very popular here apparently - must be all those sheep. And the cold.
Auckland felt like a bad black and white reduced reproduction of Sydney.It has a harbour, but it's less enclosing. It has a harbour bridge, but less impressive. It has a commercial centre, but the buildings are dull. It has restaurants by the docks, but they are empty. It has redeveloped quays, but not impressive. It has a Sky Tower but - OK it's taller than Sydney's but only because the top third is a comms mast.
The next day the weather bucked up and I started to see it in a better light. I went up the Sky Tower and saw the whole place laid out before me in briliant clear sunlight. Auckland is on an isthmus - North Island is almost cut in two here - with harbours north and south. It is peppered with conical hills, evidence of recent volcanic activity. In fact the whole place is a series of dormant volcanoes that could blow at any moment.
I later visited the wonderful Auckland Museum (next to the Cenotaph - Andrew was doing his stuff as I came out but I left him to it). This has a really clever simulation of what would happen if there was a new eruption.
It also has a lot of information and art from the Maori culture of New Zealand and from the Pacific islanders. A fascinating exhibition showing how they spread across the Pacific is now on. Systematic exploration using skilled navigation techniques led to the last great human wave of original migration, by sea rather than by land. New Zealand was the last to be discovered and populated. See
http://www.aucklandmuseum.com/vakamoana/
I have now left Auckland and am in the Bay of Islands in Northland - the far north of NZ. I can hear the waves crashing on the beach below as so often on my trip - a sound I love. Actually Auckland wasn't that bad. I feel very content tonight after travelling through wonderful countryside and I think my 2 weeks in NZ is going to be really good. Tonight I've checked into a spa/resort with probably too many stars for my budget, and had a great dinner in the restaurant and a few glasses of rather good NZ wine. All's right with the world (and the trip) once again! I hope Prince Andrew's OK...