We cruised overnight from Tauranga to our final destination of Auckland, New Zealand. We debarked the ship around 0830 and took the bus transfer to our hotel, the Sofitel. Since we got in so early our rooms were not ready so we asked the hotel to hold our bags which they did. Part of our hotel package was a private car tour of Auckland so we also had the hotel call the driver to come get us. Our driver/guide took us across the Auckland Harbour Bridge to Devonport on the North Shore where we toured Mt. Victoria and the Torpedo Bay Navy Museum. We then came back across the bridge back to Auckland proper and went to our last stop of the day which was Cornwall Park. Our driver ultimately dropped us off on Quay Street in downtown Auckland where we had a nice lunch at an outdoor cafe with a view of the harbor. We strolled back to our hotel after lunch, our rooms were ready so we got our bags and went up to our rooms to prepare for tomorrow's looooong trip home!
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| Pulling into Auckland harbour... |
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| Our hotel in Auckland, the Sofitel |
Angela posing at the entrance with her new friend... :) |
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| A view of downtown Auckland and the harbour from Mount Victoria. Tall towner in the center is called the Sky Tower, it is visible from virtually everywhere in the surrounding area. |
Another view... spectacular weather continued to the very end of our trip! |
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| Gun emplacement at the top of Mount Victoria. |
Gun carriage works... give me a target! |
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| Another large exhibit focused on the New Zealand navy contribution to the ultimate destruction of the German cruiser Admiral Graf Spee in WWII. |
Post-battle parade in Auckland... |
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| On our way back from the North Shore... Look, there's the Sky Tower again... :) |
Stopped for some critical bag shopping, we had apparently acquired more booty than expected... :) |
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| Entrance to Cornwall Park. |
Cornwall Park is apparently also a working farm, we came across these smart cows hanging out in the shade. |
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| On our way up to the One Tree Hill monument. |
Rod posing in front of the Maori obelisk on One Tree Hill... |
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| View from One Tree Hill, John and our driver/guide taking it in. |
John, Rod, and driver/guide with downtown Auckland in the background. Sky Tower near our hotel is just barely visible... |
