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Sunday, 23 April 2017

Auckland: Head Straight For The Water...

Whether it's the Tower or the sea, the views are far better than from the streets.

New Zealand’s infamous seaside city has lots on offer from dolphin and whale watching to day trips to local islands such as Waiheke, Rangitoto and Motutapu. The city itself boasts the iconic Sky Tower, from the top of which you can enjoy stunning views of the metropolitan area by night, and by day, distant views of the bay and the oceanic horizon. And whilst we didn’t venture up the tower during sunlight, I’d have been surprised to see anything worthwhile in terms of a good view before the water starts, though they would have undoubtedly been better than those at street level...

Perhaps it’s because we stayed in a Youth Hostel and were situated accordingly, but like some overgrown university campus, Auckland is infested youths ranging from their late teens to late twenties. But that said, there is a university uphill from the city centre, not to mention an abundance of youth hostels in the vicinity. For the most part though, Auckland is nothing much to write home about. So then why am I writing about it on my blog? Well, for starters I have never been before. This is my first time in New Zealand and while Auckland as a city is below average, there’s still plenty to do out on the water.

Auckland from the Sky Tower

Very beautiful. The sight's not bad either

A stunning view aided by plenty of 80's tunes

Four days in Auckland didn’t see us get up to much besides recovering from even more jet-lag, meandering around the city looking for WiFi hotspots (mega-rant coming soon) laundry, MacDonalds, some more MacDonalds, and nice leisurely walks along the seafront – in both the sunshine and the rain. The temperature there was in the high teens to low twenties; a welcome freshness compared to the inescapable suffocating and balmy vacuum that was Bangkok. But our most (and only) memorable day was that which saw us take a trip out on the “Dolphin and Whale Cruise Boat” from the harbour, during which, as you’ve probably already guessed, we were lucky enough to see dolphins and whales far out at sea.

It took some three hours before any sightings though, but once we were stood eagerly – and fearfully – at the railings while the boat sped up and circled for more intimate encounters, it was worth the wait. There’s a certain elegance and graciousness in the way dolphins in particular move beneath the water, and even more so when they surface briefly during their identifiable arched, above water glide.

The best view of Auckland (in my opinion)

Literal escapism

One of the world's most graceful creatures

Then there’s their intelligence to consider: dolphins are one of the most intelligent mammals alive, and while it's not visible during an excursion like this, it remains as appreciated and noted. And then there were the whales. There were only two or three I think, but for all intents and purposes we may as well have just seen one, as they only surface every three minutes for air and unfortunately we didn’t catch any fin-splashing activity. But, of course, one was enough. We did see their humps and dorsal fins and the sprays of water – although according to the boat captain whales do not spray water from the holes in their heads, and he seemed quite angry about them being portrayed this way in children’s books! There was something quite intimidating about the whales though, given that all we saw were “the tips of the icebergs”, with much larger masses beneath the surface of the water, not visible from the two-hundred or so yard distance at which we observed.

The sea too was beautiful and scarily reminded me of the sheer enormity of the Earth’s ocean, and also the vast world beneath it all round. But it also reminded me why I’ve come travelling in the first place: to see as much outstanding natural beauty as possible. You can find a city anywhere and they differ only so much. Sure, Bangkok was a place of intense heat and chaos but ultimately it bears no real identity of its own, much like Auckland. That’s why our Elephant Day Care excursion was the only really memorable part of that too. 

Anyway, as you can tell I felt quite positive about the sea where Auckland is concerned. But since then, we’ve travelled to Paihia, the Bay of Islands, where we spent twenty-four hours on the “Rock Boat” out at sea - and it certainly was a rocking boat. But more on that nauseating yet strangely interesting experience next time...

But before I go, unfortunately - and to the best of my knowledge - Auckland does not serve as a location to any Hollywood film. But if you’re a big The Lord of the Rings fan you might know that the Hobbiton Movie Set Tours is not too far in a place called Rotorua (which we've already visited). The tour involves commentary, a tour of the iconic movie sets, drinks at the Green Dragon Inn, a banquet, accommodation nearby, cave trips and plenty more. Sadly though, while sat in a tropical and tranquil (albeit cockroach-infested) mountainside resort in Raglan (this post will follow the Bay of Islands), we were told that our Hobbiton Movie Set Tours was cancelled. Disappointment is an understatement. I'll probably never visit now, but I’ve no doubt that like the films it’s quite an epic experience. 

A lot prettier than the leaflet I have in my bag...

It’s not all Mount Doom-and-gloom though. From what I’ve seen of the New Zealand countryside so far, this country is genuine Middle-Earth, with the best part of its landscape dominated by lush and almost-fluorescent green fields, forest-clad hills and enormous, seemingly-endless mountain ranges (particularly the South Island). 

And lastly, to turn a negative into a positive, The Hobbiton might have been an anti-climax just like the films, but we’ll at least get to save our cash for what will be the most exciting film location-excursion out of our entire three-month trip. I've already mentioned it in a previous post, but I don’t want to spoil it any more. All I’ll say for now is, hold onto your butts…

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