Travel Blog: A Weekend in Auckland

That was the last time we'd spent a weekend in Auckland - February 2009, just before boarding Crystal Serenity on a single segment of another World Cruise.

Has it changed? There are more tall buildings along the waterfront; there seem to be more ferry docks blocking the view of the beautiful old Ferry Building, and the parking lot that we drove across to board the ship is now a proper cruise ship terminal. There has also been a lot of redevelopment to the west of the harbour, especially North Wharf and Silo Park. The old silos are still there; one of the smaller ones has been converted into something accessible (we didn't find out what). There are lots of restaurants, a park area with a wading pool for the kids, an elevated promenade with three levels, and even an area for food trucks and little pop-up stalls. One of them sold plants, pots and soil to encourage people, especially children, to grow their own gardens. This is the kind of thing that would be great for the Toronto waterfront - too bad we aren't likely to get it.

On Sunday we walked a fair distance in the downtown, through Albert Park and all the way up to Symonds Street and back. On the way we found:

Albert Park

St. Paul's Church, and the oldest municipal cemetery in Auckland, dating back to the mid 1800s

The corner of Queen and Wellington (who knew?); but here they don't run in the same direction like they do in Toronto

We also rediscovered that Auckland is one of the hilliest downtowns we've ever walked in! Maybe second only to San Francisco. Certainly walking down and then up the hill on Bowen Ave. from Queen Street over to Albert Park felt like walking from Hyde Street to the Coit Tower on Telegraph Hill.

On our way back to the hotel, we stopped at the Ferry Building and made a reservation at the Harbourside Restaurant. We remembered having dinner here in 2009, so it seemed fitting to see what it was like 10 years later. It was delicious - green lip mussels and John Dory (even Larry liked it, and he doesn't care for fish)

On Monday morning the first excitement was watching Crystal Serenity sail in. We were hoping our view wouldn't be spoiled by Carnival Spirit, which would be docked on our wharf, butted up against the side of the hotel. Fortunately, they turned her with bow pointed out, and she's not quite long enough to take over the whole wharf, so we still had a lovely view of Serenity's approach.

We had booked a tour on Waiheke Island before we left home, and we had to be on the 10 o'clock ferry to get there on time. We actually made the 9:30 ferry, and our guide arrived a little early, so we could get away to start our tour before the next ferry, with tour groups from Carnival Spirit on board, could dock.

We did see a couple of wineries on the way. One of them, Peacock Sky, is owned by a Canadian - from Toronto! - and her British husband who had even worked for TD for a time (talk about a small world). We had a nice chat with Connie and then continued on.

Set up for a wine tasting. Peacock Sky is the
only winery that does food pairings. Sure looks nice!

How's this for a picnic view??

Our tour company had arranged a reservation at a well-known winery with an equally well-known restaurant for lunch. Tantalus is owned by a couple who met while snowboarding in Whistler, (is there some kind of a theme developing here?) and they have owned the winery for about the last 10 years. Lunch was absolutely superb, sort of new-agey, but delicious!

Larry's filet mignon with jasmine rice foam (rice that's been
turned into a creamy foam)

Monica's snapper

Larry's dessert; dulce de leche with some orange ash on
top to cut the sweetness

There is a chocolate tart under there! Served with cherry and
plum gelees. Delicious!!

So was the garden around the main building, surrounded by vineyard

We made another few stops for some great views, and then Greg, our guide, dropped us back at the ferry dock. It certainly was a great day to visit Waiheke. This is a must-do for anyone with a couple of days in Auckland. And of course, we have to add a few photos from the ferry ride back to the city: