Our next stop was Auckland, New Zealand, which is the largest Polynesian metropolis in the world. It’s the only way to leave French Polynesia that qualified for our Around the World airfare.
New Zealand is a beautiful country. We’d love to stay there for a month or more. Unfortunately, our trip was already getting very long, and we didn’t have time to enjoy all that there was to see. Someday we might go back.
Shortest Day of My Life
At 1 am on Friday, we took a taxi to the airport. Our flight to Auckland departed at 4 am. Shortly after takeoff, our plane crossed the International Dateline. Suddenly, it was Saturday! (We gained back the lost day a few hours at a time as we circled the globe.)
When we disembarked from the plane, it was immediately obvious that we were no longer in paradise. It’s a lovely city reminiscent of a New England town. But it’s not paradise!
Hop on / Hop Off Bus
Since we had so little time in Auckland, we decided to take the Hop-on / Hop-off bus tour. For $10 extra, we converted our 24-hour ticket to a 48-hour ticket. We walked the short distance from our hotel to one of the tour stops and boarded the bus. We stayed on the bus for the entire trip, disembarking at the same place we boarded. We treated it as a $10 bus tour of the city and a chance to learn where we might stop on Sunday, our only full day on the island.
Sky Tower
After our bus tour, we visited the Auckland Sky Tower. I couldn’t convince Alice to take the bungee jump from the top. 🤣 Instead we stood at the bottom and watched several brave people take the plunge.
In our short stay, we ate at a Vietnamese restaurant, a Chinese restaurant, and a Denny’s. Nothing I would consider Kiwi (New Zealand).
Auckland Museum
The next day we took the same hop-on / hop-off tour but stopped at interesting places along the way.
We spent a lot of time at the Auckland Museum.
New Zealand soldiers suffered heavy losses in World War I. One entire floor of the museum held the Auckland War Memorial.
In another section, the museum had an “earthquake” room. We filed into the room and took our seats. An elaborate simulation started with lights and sounds. Then the lights went out, and the entire room shook violently. Gave us a healthy respect for earthquakes.
Just as European settlers disenfranchised Native Americans and Australian Aboriginals, the colonialists took land from the native Māori inhabitants of New Zealand. There were long and violent battles in the 19th century. More recently, the (almost entirely white) National government passed laws widely seen amongst Māori as a pākehā “land grab”, resulting in widespread protests. The museum has a section devoted to these protests. While we were visiting, a gentleman was explaining the exhibit to his grandson. He pointed to the video and exclaimed, “That’s me!” He spent 9 months in prison for his part in the protests. Sometimes you learn a lot from the locals!