Caught up with Aidan today. Definitely been looking forward to that for a long time. We did catch up briefly last year, but we were busy gaming at Phenomenon. It’s always fun to visit people in their home town. You get a bit of a local’s perspective on the place, but also discover new things together.
Piha Beach
Piha beach is one of Auckland’s more famous beaches, due to its dangerous rips and reality TV show about the local live saving club, similar to Australia’s Bondi Rescue. We drove there from Auckland city in about an hour, hoping to get a good view and a good lunch.
While no culinary delights were to be found, I do have to admit that Piha is far nicer than Bondi. While it obviously wasn’t summer, we couldn’t have picked a sunnier day. There were a few people enjoying the black sand, but there certainly wasn’t any crowd. Definitely great for photos.
Luncheon Interlude
We returned to the city and partook of two fast food chains I hadn’t eaten at since leaving Jakarta. Unfortunately, Wendy’s doesn’t seem to server waffle fries in NZ, but everything else was its greasy, unhealthy best. And oh my God! Dunkin’ Donuts with their icing-sugar jelly donuts! I fail to see how Sydney, with its larger population cannot support an extra fast food chain in the way that Auckland can.
Ghost Tour
I had a great time on this walking tour of Auckland city. It focuses on the waterfront and goes as far back as the University of Auckland. The guide, Anthony, is a great storyteller and is quite knowledgeable about the city’s history from pre-colonial times to more modern murders and suicides.I won’t mention which ones so as not to spoil the tour for you.
I do regret leaving the Ghost Tour til my last evening. It would have been the perfect primer and given me more familiarity with the streets and layout of Auckland for subsequent touring.
We dined at the Queen’s Ferry Hotel, one of the older pubs in Auckland. I finally had a good opportunity to sample some of the local lamb. The slow cooked shanks here are to die for. Very tender, and full of flavour.
I also tried some of the local grog. Monteith’s Original Ale and apple cider are both fine brew and I highly recommend them.
And so concludes my very brief tour of Auckland. It was a blast, both that I had fun and that it was too short. I’m really keen to go back. There are plenty more photos both on daedalist.com and flickr.