Looking from the ship towards
Shopping along Queen Street. This is a youth Hostel building.
Stores along Queen street included Prada,Rolex,Scotch &Soda,and every upscale store you could think of. We stopped at H & M which had reasonable prices but couldn’t find anything to fit…Scotch & Soda had very nice clothes and a 40% off sale. But 40% of a T-Shirt for $189.99 NZ was way out of my price range.It was on sale so would be less but still… a T-shirt!!!!
We finished our shopping and headed back to the ship for lunch
After lunch we headed out on our bus tour. Because of the flooding, the route Meandered along the hillsides of the city. I tried to get some pictures of the bay. It was impressive and I can imagine the cost of the houses with this view. Auckland has the 4th or 5th highest housing prices in the world. With views like this, I can understand! There are 1.6 million people who make this city their home. Our bus driver mentioned that unless a young person has “the bank of dad” there is no way they can afford to buy a home in the city.
After so many gray rainy days the sun shine was glorious.
The architecture here is quite interesting. Victorian, Art Deco,traditional,and modern. Above were buildings that Im assuming are apartments/condos. Round,triangular,square the variety is immense. Here’s a few more
Above is a church that was moved across the road when a new church was built. It originally was tagged for demolition but the citizens vehemently opposed that option so the church was loaded up and moved across the street in one day. Not a single window broke! Must have had Devine intervention!!
This building is on the campus of the University of Auckland
From all over the city this tower (the sky tower) can be seen. It is said to be the tallest tower in the Southern Hemisphere. We noticed it the day we came into the harbor and it has continued to be a beacon for our navigation daily.
Of course there is a restaurant up at the top that revolves plus you can don a suit and jump off or walk outside on a mesh floor. I politely declined Al’s offer to film me doing either of those two things.
Auckland is named the city of sails due to the large yachting community. The harbor is perfect for yacht racing and the Americas cup has been held here. The TeamNZ if housed in this building. The hope is for the team this year to keep the cup again away from America this next cup race in Barcelona. It cost gobs and gobs of money to run such a team and they are fortunate to currently have sponsorship from Emirates. Tomorrow we will get to climb into an Americas cup yacht and sail the harbor. We are told we can be as active as we want with participation.. more on this story tomorrow! I just want to stay in the boat and not fall overboard.
The final activity tonight was another local cultural presentation for our ship. A Māori group came to explain the culture of their people in song. They explained the HaKa and its significance to the Māori. If you have ever seen the Rugby team “All Blacks” preform their HaKa before a game you will remember how much yelling, eye bulging and sticking out of tongues. It was quite impressive. And informative.
Looking from the ship towards
After lunch we headed out on our bus tour. Because of the flooding, the route Meandered along the hillsides of the city. I tried to get some pictures of the bay. It was impressive and I can imagine the cost of the houses with this view. Auckland has the 4th or 5th highest housing prices in the world. With views like this, I can understand! There are 1.6 million people who make this city their home. Our bus driver mentioned that unless a young person has “the bank of dad” there is no way they can afford to buy a home in the city. 
Of course there is a restaurant up at the top that revolves plus you can don a suit and jump off or walk outside on a mesh floor. I politely declined Al’s offer to film me doing either of those two things.
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