Known as the city hugged by two harbors, Auckland, New Zealand is a bustling metropolis on the North Island. It’s the country's most populous city and is a multi-cultural hub of food, music, arts and culture. Also known as Tāmaki Makaurau, Auckland sprawls over volcanic hills and its twin harbors, serving up an exhilarating mix of natural wonders and metropolitan adventures. The city offers an urban environment where most people live within half an hour of beautiful beaches, hiking trails, and a dozen enchanting holiday islands. Add a sunny climate, a background rhythm of Polynesian culture and a passion for outstanding food, wine and shopping, and it’s easy to be charmed by this South Pacific locale. Auckland’s retail scene features everything from top-end designers to open-air street markets. It’s also known for its bustling nightlife and is home to a diverse range of cafés and restaurants offering cuisine from around the globe.
I was anxious to start exploring this world-class city upon arrival after my seventeen-hour flight from Dubai. Once I cleared the necessary customs formalities, I met my chauffeur in the arrivals hall for the brief, ten-mile transfer to the seventeen-story Cordis Hotel which was to be my home for the next two nights. With contemporary rooms and suites numbering 640, the five-star Cordis, by the Langham Hospitality Group, offers accommodations for business or leisure travelers as well as those for families. I was booked into a king-bedded Executive Club Level room on the 15th floor of the Pinnacle Tower. My 380 square-foot room featured a large window that helped to brighten the room with natural light. The soft textures of the drapes and bedding, along with the modern furnishings created a pleasing and relaxing ambience. The bathroom was equipped with a rejuvenating rain shower and, at the end of the day, I appreciated the hotel’s signature Dream Bed for a great night’s sleep. Since I was staying in an Executive room, I was granted all-day access to the exclusive Auckland Club Lounge on Level 14 of the Pinnacle Tower. With wonderful city views, I enjoyed a number of Club privileges, including daily breakfast and afternoon tea, as well as evening drinks and a daily assortment of canapés.
The first order of business on that Wednesday afternoon was a visit to the famous Sky Tower. This city landmark is a telecommunications and observation tower. Located at the corner of Victoria and Federal Streets within the city’s Central Business District, it was about a fifteen-minute walk from the hotel. Standing at 1,076 feet tall as measured from ground level to the top of the mast, the Sky Tower is the tallest structure in the Southern Hemisphere and the 28th tallest tower in the world. It has become an iconic landmark in the Auckland skyline due to its height and distinctive design. The tower is actually part of the SkyCity Auckland casino complex, completed in 1997 for what is now known as Caesar's Entertainment. Several upper levels are accessible to the public, attracting an average of 1,150 visitors per day and over 415,000 each year!
It has three observation decks located at different heights, each providing 360-degree views of the city. The main observation level is 610 feet in the air with a floor consisting of 1-1/2” glass sections giving a view straight down to the ground. It’s a bit unnerving but gave me a feeling of walking on air. The top observation level is called the “Sky Deck” and sits just below the main antenna at 720 feet high, offering views stretching more than fifty miles away in the distance. The Sky Tower also features the "SkyJump", a 630 foot leap from the observation deck, during which a jumper can reach speeds up to 53 miles per hour. Although I’m a big fan of heights and the attraction is guided along a cable-control to prevent jumpers from colliding with the tower, I prefer to be enclosed so that wasn't something that interested me in any way, shape or form! The upper portion of the tower contains two restaurants and a cafe, including Orbit, New Zealand's only revolving restaurant, located 620 feet in the air and turning 360 degrees once every hour. On my way back to the hotel, I walked along Queen Street. It’s the main street running right through the middle of Auckland’s CBD and home to some high end shops and designer brands, including Louis Vuitton, Gucci, Dior and Hugo Boss. Back at the hotel, I soon ran out of steam and, after a few canapés in the Club Lounge, settled down for a good night’s sleep.
The hotel concierge recommended I visit the Auckland War Memorial Museum which was only a short walk from the hotel and certainly worth a visit the following morning. It’s one of the country’s most important museums and war memorials. The collections here concentrate on New Zealand history (especially the history of the Auckland Region), as well as natural history and military history. The ground level was fascinating. Here, the artifacts and exhibits told the stories of Pacific People by examining the diversity of Māori and Pacific Island cultures. The Māori are the indigenous Polynesian people of mainland New Zealand. They originated from Eastern Polynesia and arrived in several waves of canoe voyages between 1320 and 1350. They’re well known for their distinctive and traditional full-body and facial tattooing. They also have a unique status in the world as indigenous people who have full legal rights. The Museum’s first level was devoted to natural history unique to New Zealand, including specimens from the fields of botany, entomology, geology, land vertebrates and marine biology. As the name implies, the second level featured exhibitions covering wars, both within New Zealand and the country’s participation in overseas conflicts. A British Spitfire gifted to the people of New Zealand is on exhibit, along with a Japanese Zero long-range fighter airplane which was damaged and recovered at the close of WWII before it was able to complete its kamikaze mission. It’s been lovingly restored and on display in its own gallery which has viewing platforms that gave me a bird's-eye-view of this historic and iconic airplane.
After lunch, I was ready to leave the city center and decided to enjoy an Auckland Harbor cruise so I walked over to Pier 4 of the Downtown Ferry Terminal for the Fullers 360 ninety-minute boat ride with live commentary. Cruising Auckland’s harbor proved to be a wonderful way to see the city and its surroundings from a different perspective. Fullers 360 has been the leading ferry operator in Auckland for over thirty-five years, connecting locals and visitors to the most sought-after coastal and island destinations. We first passed the Bean Rock Lighthouse situated at the harbor entrance. Built in 1871, its small hexagonal cottage provided accommodation for one light keeper and it’s now considered one of the area’s best recognized landmarks. Next up was the Devonport Naval Base that dates back to 1840 when William Hobson, a British Royal Naval Officer and first Governor of New Zealand, arrived on the HMS Herald and established Auckland as the country’s short-lived capital city.Today, the base is an important administrative center for the Royal New Zealand Navy. The highlight of the cruise, however was our crossing under the Auckland Harbor Bridge. Opened in 1959, I learned it took over two hundred workers nearly four years to build but the best part of the cruise was the thrill of watching several intrepid souls bungee jumping off the bridge!
On my way back to the Cordis Hotel, I discovered the New Zealand Maritime Museum, located nearby Pier 4 on Hobson Wharf, adjacent to the Viaduct Basin. I thoroughly enjoyed my visit to this museum as it gave me a real sense of place. The museum houses exhibitions spanning New Zealand's maritime history, from the first Polynesian explorers and settlers to the nation’s modern-day triumphs in four America’s Cup Races. New Zealand is one of the most maritime nations in the world and their history was so affected by the sea through immigration, trade and leisure activities. The museum is a hub for all of these stories as expressed in their galleries, programed events, and special exhibitions. The Maritime Museum houses one of the nation’s most important heritage collections, which covers the breadth of the nation’s relationship with the sea; from the Great Pacific Migration a thousand years ago to the cutting edge of today’s technology used in modern yachting.
Folks in Auckland were friendly and very welcoming to me and I'm glad I had an opportunity for a visit, albeit ever so brief. My itinerary called for me to depart the city for Christchurch on the South Island the next day. I’ll tell you all about my visit there in a future post.
Until next time...safe travels.
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