Auckland - Tahitian Treasures Cruise Diary Part 9

Day 15 Auckland, New Zealand.

Peter feeling a little better, I'm feeling sick. The ship sailed into Waitemata Harbour and docked beside the Hilton Hotel at Princes Wharf. The wharf was built in 1929 and was redeveloped in the 1990's to what it is now.

We had a walk up the main street and around the block, found a chemist, and wandered back along the waterfront. We decided to do the hop on hop off bus, which was good. It cost $45NZ each for a day pass on two different bus loops. It took us out along the water to the aquarium and up to a lookout and back along the water and up to the Cultural Centre and Museum.

This is where we changed buses to the other loop. We drove through beautiful gardens and duck ponds, up to Mt Eden, the highest volcano in Auckland, past the zoo and motoring museum, back to the Cultural Centre to change back to complete the first loop.

 On the way back to the wharf, we drove through Parnell Village, New Zealand’s oldest suburb, with pavement cafes and boutique shops and galleries. Back at the wharf, we went for a walk to look at the boats and ended up in Viaduct Harbour, next to Princes Wharf, where the America Cup races were held. New Zealand is the second country to win the America's Cup, outside of America. Australia was the first.

This shows how close we were to the Hilton.

..and the view from our cabin.

 The show in the evening was Greg Andrew – Elton John Tribute. He was very good. We ran into him at breakfast on the last day of the cruise and he is a really lovely man, so friendly and easy to talk to.