It’s Auckland Anniversary Day!

Well, sort of. The “anniversary” date is officially January 29th (today), the date decreed in 1841 by then Lieutenant-Governor William Hobson, marking the day in 1840 when he arrived in the Bay of Islands. However, it is celebrated on the closest Monday in order to create a long weekend – the same way Canada’s Victoria Day is on the closest Monday to May 24th. Clearly both countries value their long weekends!

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Opening our curtains in Auckland this morning reminded me of being in port in Vancouver, or even San Diego, where we can walk right off the ship into the city centre. We’re docked at Queen’s Wharf beside a curvy white terminal, right in the city, with a beautiful view of the Auckland skyline.

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The architecture feels very Vancouver/Victoria as well, with a mix of Victorian influence and glass and steel, although there are definitely not as many towering condo and office buildings near the waterfront as in Vancouver. (We certainly saw lots of tall buildings in the university district.) It initially felt somewhat counterintuitive; Vancouver has around 600,000 people, while Auckland is home to 1.4 million, but the big difference is that Auckland’s growth is not limited by a mountain range, which allows for more horizontal spread. Both cities have “reclaimed” land along their waterfronts.

Our Viking excursion did not start until 1:00 p.m., so we had a couple of hours to simply stroll around in the morning.

Our first stop was at the World War I memorial on the waterfront promenade. Each of the 4 sides of the obelisk portion features a “Roll of Honour” of Aucklanders who fought in the first World War.

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Each side of the base has one word in Latin, forming the phrase “Meruit qui palmam ferat”, that translates to “Let him who has earned it bear the palm,” essentially meaning “let the one who deserves the reward receive it,” with “palm” symbolizing victory or achievement in ancient Roman culture. 

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For me, the most moving feature of the memorial was the plaque under the word “MERUIT”, which read: “RESTORED & RE-ERECTED IN THE YEAR 2000 BY A GRATEFUL REFUGEE FROM NAZI GERMANY”

After paying our respects we walked along Quay Street and up into the Queen Street pedestrian mall, where lovely old buildings house designer shops like Louboutin, Gucci, and more.

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The Auckland ferry building (below) is a lovely example of English Baroque architecture, and particularly interesting when seen from the waterfront, juxtaposed with the modern construction.

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The Britomart Train Station has kept its beautiful 1910 exterior, but been completely modernized inside to look like any other modern transit station, with the exception of a beautiful ceiling.

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Ted and I already have plans to spend almost two months in New Zealand next January and February, including at least 2 weeks back here in Auckland becoming really immersed in its culture and history, so all we really needed today (beyond our walk) was the included 3 hour panoramic tour to view a few of the landmarks and visit the Auckland Museum.

Our driver/guide took us along the waterfront and through several of Auckland’s neighbourhoods before taking us to Bastion Point on Mission Bay.

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The park is one of New Zealand’s national preserves, and the location of a monument and garden commemorating Michael Joseph Savage, an Australian-born New Zealand politician who served as the 23rd prime minister of New Zealand, heading the First Labour Government from 1935 until his death in 1940.

Above the park was a Māori village with its marae visible from the park grounds. It was private land, so we could not enter, but Ted was able to,zoom in on the marae.

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The park and its panoramic view over ocean waters reminded us a lot of the Presidio in San Diego.

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Then it was on to the Auckland Museum, located in the Auckland Domain. New Zealand has several different kinds of public use lands: domains, which are large city parks; preserves, which are natural landscapes; and parks and playgrounds. The Auckland Domain is the city’s largest park. Within its 75-hectare grounds is the Museum, home to the world’s largest collection of Māori and Polynesian artifacts, including an 82-foot-long Māori canoe carved from a single tree, and a complete Māori storehouse as well as a Hotunui, an ancestral meeting house of the Ngati Maru people. In Mãori culture, these houses are representations of ancestors and held in the highest regard. We were allowed to take photos of the storehouse (below) , but not inside the Hotunui. We took off our shoes, as requested, and went inside to marvel at the incredible artistry of the building’s design, where every carving and every woven pattern has significance.

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There were 3 huge floors of exhibits, encompassing history, the natural world, and war. Even though we had almost 2 hours allocated in the museum, we barely scratched the surface. The stories and exhibits sbout the New Zealand Wars alone deserve a much more thorough look. I’m glad we’ll be back here next year.

Ted took lots of photos, but this was a one of my favourites:

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The museum started its life as a War Museum, and its architecture reflects that. The building is constructed of Portland stone imported from England. Its columns are replicas of the Parthenon in Athens.

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Above the main entrance are the words “THE WHOLE EARTH IS THE SEPULCHRE OF FAMOUS MEN. THEY ARE COMMEMORATED NOT ONLY BY COLUMNS AND INSCRIPTIONS IN THEIR OWN COUNTRY BUT IN FOREIGN LANDS ALSO BY MEMORIALS GRAVEN NOT ON STONE BUT ON THE HEARTS OF MEN”

Above each window is incised the location of a WWI battle in which the New Zealand forces fought.

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Outside the museum is the New Zealand War Memorial. I found it particularly touching that surrounding the memorial itself was an area bordered by the words “Remember this is holy ground. Tread not upon it except in reverence.”

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We returned to our ship after the tour to another special culinary event, this one in honour of the Chinese Lunar New Year.

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Our arrival in Auckland also meant crew and enrichment lecturer changeovers on our cruise. We’re especially excited to have an astronomer/physicist join the ship who has already promised to do deck 9 star talks.

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After dinner, we thoroughly enjoyed the evening’s performance by Lucy Kay, another of our Viking Vocalists, featuring operatic and musical theatre numbers. We continue to be absolutely blown away by the calibre of talent that Viking hires.

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We finished a perfectly lovely day with a nightcap and dance in the Explorers Lounge. While we were sorry to see guitarist Paolo leave the ship today, we’re already enjoying his replacement, Allen, who has a wonderfully mellow vibe.

Tomorrow we visit Rotorua!