Flexibility is the word of the day!

Today we were scheduled to stop at Waitangi (Bay of Islands) New Zealand. Last night  the captain notified us that due to high winds and torrential rains the port would not be available for us to Tender into.  Viking has a fabulous tender operation and I have never been unsure of their capabilities to get us into the port. The tender ride would have been almost a half hour long and due to the rough,very rough seas it would not have been a safe ride for any of us. So instead, the Captain made arrangements for us to head straight to Auckland and dock before the winds become a problem in their harbor. Of course we were told we must stay on board till after 5:30 when the work being done on the dock is finished and then freedom (after 6 days at sea, although we did cross the dateline and lost a day).  

Gray skies as we enter the harbor.

Even on a rainy cloudy day the Auckland skyline looks pretty cool!  Notice the whitecaps on the bay!

As soon as we could, we headed out to find Oysters!  We’ve thought about them for days, had plans on finding them in our cancelled stop and tonight’s the night!!

We found a restaurant “the Shucker Brothers” and off we are going! Leaving this lady behind..

Within a block we found this

We didn’t hesitate..one dozen oysters, 4 cooked oysters and fish and chips! I wish I could share with you how fresh and salty they were! We wolfed them down but then I remembered to take a picture

Above: cooked with bacon,bourbon and chipotle butter yummmmm

Well take it from me.. three large pieces of white flaky tasty fish that practically melted in your mouth! And chips of course!! Along with a Sav Blanc from Marlborough it was heaven!

After all that, we needed to walk a little to not feel so guilty.

One of the buildings near our dock. The center business district is right at the dock so it’s going to be real easy to explore on our own tomorrow.

This area is a unique mix of old and new

We made our walk without getting hard rain, just light sprinkles.  The harbor terminals are surrounded by beautiful red iron gates that seem to look very old. This was the insignia on them

And with that picture I will bid you all good night! Tomorrow we will explore in the morning and take a bus tour of the area to see those sights that are not within walking distance. So far the extra night in Auckland has been worth leaving Waitangi behind. ( even though it meant we missed the GlowWorm caves)