Birds on the Thames shore It was a 2 hour drive to Auckland. Like any city, the closer we got, the more traffic we encountered. Auckland is 1.4 million in population, and looks like any other city. We said good-bye to our friends and checked into the Hilton on Princes Wharf -- we decided to spoil ourselves on our final days on vacation. We stayed free, but rooms go for $600+. It was lovely. Steve got us upgraded to a harbor view - which went on forever, at least for the first day. We ate an amazing meal at the hotel's harbor front restaurant. It was Friday night and the harbor was full of sailboats, it was beautiful to see. Unbelievably, we missed the picture opportunity. Auckland is known as the City of Sails, and now we know why. Our suite came with a huge tub, so we had a soak and turned in early.
Hilton Hotel
Ferry Terminal
View of Auckland from our Hotel The next day the weather was descent, not yet raining. We visited Kelly Tarlton's Antarctic Encounter and Aquarium. They had King and Gentoo Penguins, who just happened to have their babies! By riding a snow cat, we were able to get within 6 feet of them. They were little, fuzzy and adorable. They have a replica of Scott's Hut and accoutrements of the 1910 British attempt to reach the south pole...all the party perished on the return trip. We saw stingray feedings, their shark tunnel, and the oceanarium. Because the waters are cold and deep off of New Zealand, they don't have the small, colorful fish associated with tropical areas.
Look at the Baby Penguin! 
Bug (aka NZ Lobster)We took the city bus back to downtown and did some shopping. It was difficult finding a restaurant because it was Saturday night and there was an All Whites soccer game on, so we had a quick dinner at a kebab shop.
A cruise ship showed up at 6:30am the next morning, docking next to our room and completely obliterating our view of the harbor. Instead, we got to stare directly into 2 floors of staterooms and a bar. And they got to stare back. Lovely.
Yes, our hotel is behind the ship....Anyway, from the restaurant, we were able to see several flotillas pass us by on their Sunday sail. The sailing club seemed to be on an hourly sailing schedule and sponsored by Hyundai, since their name was on every headsail. It was a very rainy day so we weren't in a hurry to get out and about. For lunch we went into the America's Cup bay, where they have the Voyager set on a pedestal at the entrance. For a mere $125, you can sail on New Zealand's America's Cup sailboat for 2 hours. We saw them motor in and out several times, but didn't actually see them hoist the sails. These boats have some serious mast heights. Very little boat, heaps and heaps of sail. After lunch, we walked across town to the Auckland Domain, their version of Central Park. It was a nice park, but we're not sure it was worth the long and challenging hike there -- Auckland is not pedestrian friendly. It was great exercise, all the same. Because it was raining, we grabbed a quick Mexican dinner and turned in for the night. Oh, and as the sun set, the cruise ship left...so our harbor view was restored.
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