Days 76-78, November 9 - November 11
Our travels on November 9th from Wellington to Auckland were uneventful. The 7 hour road trip was mostly traveled on roads through small towns. We were able to avoid much of the road construction based on past experience as we were backtracking through some areas where we had already traveled. The parking garage for the apartment was another experience in maneuverability.
After getting settled into our high rise apartment, we headed out to explore our neighborhood. We are in the middle of various University campuses which gives the area a very youthful vibe (hmmm… do we really fit in? lol)
We found this great place for dinner (called Apero) with a very European flare. One of the owners greeted us at the door, his wife is the owner/chef. She is a classically trained French chef with influences from the Basque Country of Spain. Their specialty is a homemade sausage which was outstanding (and I’m not a big fan of sausage in general).
On Saturday, November 10th, we explored the city starting at the Sky Tower.
Nearby, there are two permanent exhibits that we checked out. First, the All Blacks (the New Zealand’s Rugby Team) exhibit and store. Mickey found a couple of great rugby shirts.
The second is the Weta Workshop Unleashed experience, a 90 minute movie-making tour where you explore interactive and immersive make-believe film sets, focusing on worlds of horror, fantasy and sci-fi. It was a great experience because they have created the premise and some special effects for the 3 different make-believe movies. They take you through how they create the idea, research and then create the creatures through make-up, animatronics, sculpting (using modeling clay and even foil!), computer graphics and computer-generated effects among other methods. There was a voice simulator - you would choose the effects, speak some words and listen to how it changed your voice. You could stand before a computer screen and see different effects (see picture of Mickey below). Because the 3 simulations are not real movies, there are no copyright infringement issues and we were able to see, feel, touch and better understand the many behind-the-scenes techniques used. Here are a few pictures, but they truly don’t do the experience justice.
We walked through Victoria Park, which is still used as a park and sports field. It opened in 1905 and was named after the queen who had died 4 years earlier. It lies on reclaimed bay land, which is why it is flat (nothing else is in Auckland), and is surrounded by huge London Plane trees which look very similar to American sycamore trees.
We continued walking towards the wharf and got some shots of the skyline, the wharf, the drawbridge and especially exciting, a picture of the New Zealand’s team for the America’s Cup sailing race.
These are images of the New Zealand America’s Cup hangar and hoisting one of their boats to the water for a training run. Mickey had a chat with 3 of the team members.
Our lunch spot was pretty sweet, especially considering there’s snow at Moore Haven. We had snapper wings, which are battered, fried dorsal fins with the meat where the fins connect to the fish. There’s a first time for everything! They were actually quite good, just not much to them.
Why is there a picture of a public toilet? Carol had to comment on this experience that she had in both Picton and Auckland. You enter the toilet (which is super clean) and a voice tells you to “push the button to lock the door”. You move towards the toilet and voice lets you know that there’s a 10 minute maximum time you can use it. Then music begins to play as you do your business. The voice requests that you wash your hands, push the button to open the door and to have a nice day. It’s a full-on toilet experience like no other!
Our final dinner was at Orbit, a 360 degree rotating restaurant at the top of Auckland’s iconic Sky Tower. It’s a 3 course meal with a set menu. We arrived a little early and enjoyed a drink at the SkyBar. The SkyBar doesn’t rotate and fortunately we were seated facing the harbor. It was fun seeing where we had walked earlier in the day. Then we were lead upstairs to our table for dinner. The restaurant rotated as we got a full view of the entire island. We got some shots of our apartment and of our last sunset.
The final sunset from our 80 day adventure.
Today, Saturday November 11th, we are meeting Xavier for coffee and a final good-bye. He and Kanoa are in a nearby harbor. It is “get out of the hemisphere” day. We were able to reduce from 6 checked bags to 4 checked bags. We are making final preparations and saying good-bye to what we have found to be a most amazing and enticing part of the world.
BTW - our flight home departs Auckland on Day 78 at 7:55pm Saturday November 11th and arrives in Grand Junction on Day 79 at 7:52pm Saturday November 11th, three minutes before we had taken off. Talk about a Time Space Continuum paradox. Day 80 will be unpacking, washing clothes and recovering from jet lag.
Happy Holidays to All!
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