The Blues in Auckland

Well not really we had a great time. We arrived in Auckland late afternoon and walked from our Bavarian B&B the “2.5” kms into the city. Must be something in our understanding of German as it took well over an hour! Mind you it did give us an insight into the city. Much of the top part of the main street was frontage to a range of Houses of God. When we got closer to the waterfront the buildings were largely financial institutions – it seems this other God can get better real estate.
We had a great meal overlooking the harbour, watching the sun go down and then caught a cab home. We had had an early start having driven from Canberra to Sydney and were up at 5:00 so did not feel too guilty in not walking back. The next day we (well Helen) had a late start and we took a cab to the waterfront where Helen had her favourite breakfast. Some diet…

We spent the day exploring the waterfront and SkyTower, the main city attraction. It was the tallest building in the Southern Hemisphere when it was built (yawn).

but it did give some great views.

There was also the opportunity to jump off the building which many did. The plot was they would let you go for a short distance so that you could be seen from the main viewing floor and then when you were relaxed and waving at the crowd pulled the switch so you could scream your way to the bottom. Being inside watching was the best value.

Areas of the floor use glass which can carry “30+ Tonnes and is as strong as the concrete”. However, the nib of concrete it rests on at its edges… It’s a shame the toe colour has not come out as well as hoped for.

The waterfront area remains superb. Calling Auckland the City of Sails is fully justified. The international Louis Vuitton Trophy was being held. It is fiercely competed between a range of international teams at a number of venues throughout the world. The teams use one of two 12 metre yachts similar to the Americas Cup. They alternate between the two boats in the races so winning is mainly down to skill and a lot cheaper (though hardly cheap) than owning your own boat.

Of course the boats are sponsored, in this case Emirates and Oracle met the bill.

There were also some extraordinary yachts. Some built for speed and

Some built for show…Mind you there was nothing but the best for the Louis V people.

Some things are little different to Australia. There is virtually no difference to the earlier blogged Perth seagull

Here Helen and Kate are having sex on the beach. It certainly raised their spirits.

We had a great meal and then we were joined by the paid Brumbies groupie Peter from the Canberra Times. Later we headed to the Brumbies hotel bar and saw a couple of the players.

Day 3 saw a late start followed by a bus tour of the City and visit to the museum. No photographs of note until the evening when we went to Eden Park to watch the game against the Auckland Blues. The stadium is undergoing a substantial refurbishment for the 2011 World Cup (yes we plan to be back). The light only allowed pictures of the warm up.

What was pleasing is that there were a few more yellow caps in the stands so we felt a little less intimidated. The match was very exciting with the Brumbies having the lead at half time. However, the first 15 minute of the second half were less than pleasant as the Blues ran in 3 quick tries. The final score was a disappointing loss 39-34.

For completeness for those following our travels the intervening home game results were:

5 March Brumbies defeated the Lions 24 - 13
13 March Brumbies defeated the Sharks 24 - 22

The following day saw a very early (4:00 NZ time) start as we took off to Sydney and went to Michelle and Francoise’s son Julian’s wedding to Belinda. The wedding was at a school chapel on the North Shore. The view from the gardens was great with the bridge and opera house (better out of focus for this shot).

Joe and Graham Slip were good enough to put us up for the night. After such a long day Helen could have fallen asleep in the pool.

On the way home we detoured via Gerrigong to catch up with Mum and Dad. Mum loves a visit to the beach to see the sea so off we went. I suspect both slept well after this little adventure - we certainly did!