Auckland is Awesome!

Our first stop in New Zealand was Auckland, the capital and home to 1/3 of the country’s population. We visited Auckland once before in 2013, at the start of a cruise from New Zealand to Australia. So we’ve already seen some of the most noteworthy sights, such as the War Museum, Winter Garden, the Sky Tower, the Sea Life aquarium, and the zoo. 

The centerpiece of this visit was an all-day wine tour on beautiful Waiheke Island, a 40-minute ferry ride from downtown Auckland. It was a wonderful way to celebrate Valentine’s Day. We also visited the Auckland Art Gallery and the Museum of Transport and Technology (MOTAT).

As we walked around downtown Auckland, we were pleased to see pride flags on display. One of the banks changed its logo from its usual all-red to the rainbow flag colors, and the city had mounted rainbow banners on poles. The pride parade was the following weekend, February 21, and the festival was February 28.

Here’s a brief video of the Auckland harbor and skyline from our ferry.

When we reached Waiheke Island, we were greeted by our tour guide, Cami, from The Wine Tasting Company.

Cami was friendly, enthusiastic, and informative. She was born and raised in Santiago, Chile, and came to Waiheke Island with her mother when she was in high school. She has now lived on the island for 26 years.

We were glad we chose a small group tour, rather than a larger tour on a full-size bus. We had three other delightful and interesting people on our tour: Ashleigh (from Australia) and James (from the UK), a couple who now live in Queenstown, and Eugenio, a nomadic entrepreneur who is also from Santiago, Chile. Everyone was very friendly; we had wonderful conversations and enjoyed getting to know each other.

The weather was overcast, and there was a 50% chance of showers. We lucked out and got very little rainfall. The dreary weather couldn’t put a damper on our enjoyment of the day. Even under cloudy skies, Waiheke Island was beautiful! Here are some photos of the views from the wineries we visited.

We visited three wineries (Postage Stamp, Awaroa, and Mudbrick) and tasted 4-5 wines at each, and ate lunch at a fourth winery (Batch) along with a glass of one of their wines.

The wines were exceptionally good. Dave especially enjoyed the Syrah, a variety he was unfamiliar with. Sniffing the Syrah was almost as good as tasting it! Jeff found some Chardonnays he particularly enjoyed. We bought some of each at Mudbrick and had them shipped home.

The Auckland Art Gallery, while not one of the more impressive galleries we’ve visited, was still worthwhile.

While downtown Auckland is attractive and has an appealing, livable vibe, we had trouble locating a decent restaurant for a sit-down dinner. Although there are plenty of apartments and hotels in the Central Business District, most restaurants were designed for grab-and-go lunches, with only a few basic tables or counters for in-house dining. One evening, we ate sad, disappointing grocery store pizza in our apartment. On another evening, we ate mediocre, end-of-the-day sushi at a restaurant that was about to close. 

Thankfully, on our last evening, we found a decent restaurant on Ponsonby Road, a road known for its funky, eclectic shops and restaurants. The Broken Lantern could best be described as a gastropub – a bar that also serves decent food. A starter that piqued our curiosity was the cheeseburger spring rolls, so we tried them. They were surprisingly good! Our entrees were delicious, as were the wines we enjoyed with our meal.

We loved Auckland the first time we visited in 2013, and we loved it again on this visit.