New Zealand and Australia Wondrous Holidays
Holland America Line
14 Day Cruise plus extensions
December 19 to January 7, 2007
Under TRAVELS, click under CRUISES, NZ/AUS 06; and, on Australia 06 for other parts of this vacation. This part contains only the Auckland extension of the trip; the cruise portion covers much more of New Zealand.
To speed up downloading time I have used small pictures in place of larger ones. However, please "Click" on any small one and larger pictures in the same group will appear. Click the "Back" button to return to this story.
This trip began on Tuesday afternoon with a departure from Dulles International Airport on United Airlines direct to San Francisco. There we had a quick change over to an Air New Zealand 777/200 aircraft for the less than 13 hour flight to Auckland. It is a 6,531 mile trip but we slept well and the time passed quickly. Air New Zealand was great to fly with and had us at the terminal at 5:50 a.m., 25 minutes ahead of schedule. Crossing the International Date Line we lost the 20th of December so it was Thursday the 21st upon arrival.
By 6:30 a.m. we were in our room at the Heritage Auckland Hotel, right near the center of town.
Click below to see a larger map and flag and for demographics of the country. New Zealand is about the size of Colorado and it's population is just over four million (CIA 2006 estimate).
We had a quick nap at our hotel then began our exploration of Auckland, population about 900,000. First stop, and just a couple of short blocks away, was Sky Tower standing at 1,076 feet. It is taller than the Eiffel Tower! The views were spectacular! Comments accompany the larger pictures. Take a look.
Dotty is poised to take the elevator. A family of four young boys having the time of their lives stopped long enough for me to take their picture. Dotty by the Christmas tree in the Sky Tower lobby. Incidentally, Christmas decorations were sparse by comparison with the U. S. On our way up the tower I asked this young lady, with Dotty, in Japanese if she spoke Japanese. She immediately complimented me on mine and answered yes. We had no idea why she, and her boyfriend, were dressed the way they were but found out after we got to the top. The pictures in the next sequence will explain.
The individual about to make the jump of 630 feet is not the Japanese girl. After seeing her fall we were escorted to the launch point where I took the first two pictures. It takes approximately 14 seconds at 53 miles per hour to reach near the bottom (bulls eye picture at right) when the brakes are applied. Our Japanese friend is about to be released for her journey downward. They pause the jumpers at the observation deck for pictures. Wish I could have captured one as she approached the bottom though I doubt it would have been any more frightening. Me jump; no way!!
Auckland is hilly and filled with many different nationalities. Once down from the tower we walked around a bit then caught an "Explorer" bus to check out the city highlights. These four were shot as we walked.
The double decker "Explorer" bus; we had front row seats on the upper level, stopped at key points where one could leave and explore then catch the next bus, or remain on. Since our time was tight we elected to stay on and take what pictures we could from inside the bus.
There were lots of boats, nice looking houses, trees with beautiful blooms and open spaces abundant. Check the Sky Tower in the background of the first picture.
Homes like this demanded a hefty price as did the boats in the marina. The rose garden was in full bloom and one would think they were in the middle of summer the way this woman was dressed. Hey, the end of December is near middle summer down there!
The bus paused at Holy Trinity Cathedral and Rectory and then headed for the popular Auckland Museum. Back in town we departed the bus at the Sky Tower and headed for our hotel to freshen up for dinner.
Friday morning we leisurely gathered our belongings, enjoyed a continental breakfast in our room, then caught a taxi to the wharf about 11:30. Since the distance was short we were there in no time. Porters took our bags and we proceeded to go through the embarkation procedures. By noon we were on board, seated near the ship's pool enjoying lunch while waiting for our stateroom to be readied. It was by 1:30 which is impressive since the ship has to be cleared of all old passengers before much can be done to prepare for the incoming ones. We were pleased to be settled with our bags unpacked by early afternoon.
Please join us and continue the journey along the coast of New Zealand. Our pictures will give a better view of the country; you can see them under "Cruises" at NZ/AUS 06.
Posted on the Internet on 1/30/07.