Auckland (Tamaki in Maori) is by far the largest city in New Zealand. The University of Auckland, founded in 1883, is the largest University in New Zealand. The city’s total population is about 1.5 million making it home to 1/3 of the population of the entire country (population 4.5 million). It also has the largest Polynesian population in the world. The city is clean and has some dazzling architecture. In short, it is modern and very livable, but one of the most expensive cities in the world.

Outside the city proper nature once again reveals itself. Among other things, while in Auckland we visited a mountain that houses a large Gannet Bird colony that overlooks a beach on the Tasman Sea. People go there to fish from the rocks as well. Then we went and visited a sheep station (sheep farm) that also raises cattle and deer. And we watched a trained sheep dog team manage the flock by having one dog stare them down while the other barked at them. It would work on me.

Some shots below.

And that brings our time in New Zealand pretty much to an end, so we’ll be headed off to Polynesia soon. That journey will include Fiji, Tonga, Tahiti and Bora-Bora.

JFB

Originally, we were supposed to make a port call at Gisborne, but the weather intervened. The waters were too rough for us to take tenders in from the big ship, so we steamed straight through to Tauranga and had an extra day there. Tauranga, settled by the Maori late in the 13^th century, is the largest urban area in the Bay of Plenty region of the North Island. But that is not very urban—the population is about 138,000. It is one of New Zealand’s main centers for trade, culture, fashion and horticulture.

While there we made two interesting visits. First, we took a sail on a catamaran along Lake Rotoiti, which like the rest of New Zealand is quite beautiful. As the Kiwis put it, New Zealand does nature well.

Then we went to a geo-thermal reserve once visited by George Bernard Shaw. Upon visiting the place Shaw named it Hell’s Gate, which is what it looks like. The heavy smell of Sulphur hangs almost everywhere; steam pops up to the earth’s surface from between fissures in the rock, to say nothing of the bubbling pools covering much of the landscape. Those boiling lakes reach temperatures as high as 200 degrees. Not very hospitable to say the least, but fascinating to see. It looks like the land-that-time-forgot.

There is a wooded area in the middle of all this with trees that absorb all the chemicals the lakes emit, and there the air is fresh and clean. But the second you get out of the forest, hold your breath.

Here are some shots that give a sense of the place.

JFB

Napier (Ahurin in Maori) is located on the eastern coast of the North Island of New Zealand. It has a population of about 68,000 people. Most notably it is set in the famous wine producing region of Hawke’s Bay.  Needless to say, that’s where we went and visited the Abbey Cellars Winery, which is a small family boutique vineyard that makes some fine wines. Since it is pretty small, it doesn’t have a distributor in the U.S. but, not surprisingly, you can order from them online.

Not only do they make very good wine, the vineyard is in a stunningly beautiful setting with an outdoor tasting area that looks down over a valley and river. Across the way more mountains are visible in the background. Here (below) are a few photos from the trip.

JFB