Devonport and Auckland

I jumped out of bed so quickly this morning because I thought I was late for something and couldn’t think of what it was. As I stood there, mind racing, I looked at the clock and it was 6:45 a.m. “Oh no,” I said aloud. I missed the sunrise! I wanted to go down to the beach and watch the sunrise with all the beautiful colors because it was going to be an awesome day temperature wise. However, I did take more pictures because I cannot capture the beauty enough. It’s just amazing. As I walked to the beach, I noticed my surroundings a bit more to try to give my lovely friends and family an idea of where I am staying. The houses are very close together, unless you are in the country and own your own land. When I arrived at the beach, the tide was in, so I couldn’t walk on the rocks. I don’t know if people who live here realize how incredibly fortunate they are that they have these fantastic surroundings and can go to any beach, at any time, and find something new. Maybe someone who doesn’t have the farmland of Kansas says the same thing…however, I can’t imagine the dirt or flat land being as mesmerizing as the ocean. I decided to go to Devonport and then take the ferry over to Auckland to check out the Viaduct and Queen Street.

Here I am, before journeying out for the day. I was thankful I left when I did because there was very little traffic and I knew there was a road that took me straight through Takapuna to Devonport and traffic would’ve just made my travels a little more difficult. Not much, mind you. Just a little. It’s amazing how when you go off on one road, you remember very quickly the shortcuts you used to take to get back to the main road or to miss traffic tie ups. As I drove down into Devonport, I thought..hmm, which road did I take when I lived here…and there it was. Calliope. And off I went to check out my old stomping grounds. This is the small beach that Sammie and I would walk to when we didn’t have enough time to go to North Head or Cheltenham Beach. She loved this one but LOVED the others because there is more room to race around. And dig. This is a picture of a lookout point two houses up from my old flat. I couldn’t go up my drive to take pictures so this was the best I could do to show you my backyard. There is a huge cliff (Stanley Point is where I lived) that I was always concerned Sammie would fall off or something…but she never did. I tried to capture it here – not sure if I did it justice. And voila…way in the back, the brown house with the flat roof, was my flat. Do you see how one driveway is shared by 3 houses? Crazy! I did love living here. After my trip down memory lane, I was so excited about where I wanted to go and what I wanted to do, I almost felt like a child in a candy store! (Which they have Willy Wonka BULK “lollie” shops here!) Here I am driving in "downtown Devonport, on the wrong side of the road. And car. One thing I love about Devonport/Stanley Point is that the look and feel of it is historic. Most of the houses/buildings were built in the late 1800’s to early 1900’s, although I did see a building with 1846 engraved on it. I ventured to North Head first. This “hill”, if you will, was significant in WWII and still has an extensive collection of military tunnels, which are open to explore. There are still guns positioned all around the hill that guarded the port. I will spend more time there, however, EMMA, should you choose to accept, your assignment for New Zealand for school is to do a report on North Head and give me a full report. Here’s a little more to get you started: North Head became the site of the first pilot station in 1840, to guide ships into the harbour. It was also used for defense purposes when it was feared that the Russians were ‘on the way’. It was a growing fear from the 1870’s onwards, that New Zealand would be attacked and during 1885 when the fear grew, three large gun batteries were built to defend the Rangitoto Channel and harbour. I will provide the pictures. (smile). The history truly is amazing though. These are the two beaches Sammie and I would come to and I would take my tennis racket and some tennis balls, hit them out into the water and she would swim out and get them! I had to use a tennis racket because I was not able to throw a tennis ball. Well, any ball for that matter. Some things never change as I am still unable to throw “properly”. Cheltenham is the long one, which I will be exploring, and the North Head one was our own little cove. They’ve built a walkway across much of it, which was good. On my way down to the small beach, I didn’t realize the stairs were so deep, and dark. As I took my first step, I tried to rest my right hand on the side of the hill and instead of gaining balance, I shoved a splinter into my right pinky. Under my fingernail. That was a lovely bonus. As I was going back up to depart, I actually found the trail we used instead of the steep one. I didn’t think I’d gone up and down stairs. (smile). I parked in the ferry parking lot and walked up and down the main street of Devonport, which is always filled with people. The ferry is working nonstop bringing travelers and locals to and from Devonport to Auckland. Cafes everywhere! So I stopped and had a small hot chockie and some fruit. I was starving! Walking and climbing take a lot of energy and I cannot seem to locate any protein bars anywhere. The closest thing I can find are Museili (sp) bars in the grocery store, which from experience, are not tasty to the palate. Icky. I love the marshmallows they serve with it. The “large” hot chockie/coffee option is about 2x the size of the small cup. And so, you HAVE to sit and drink it there. No carry out/takeaway for the cafes! After my refueling, I headed to the ferry, which has shops inside as you head to the gate area. I stopped in one shop to begin getting some ideas for gifts and of course, struck up a conversation with the shop owner, Bev. I believe that wherever people are around on my journey, having a chat and getting to know them is a very natural thing. Of course, it helps to hear the American accent and the first thing they ask is, “Oh, are you on Holiday?” And then we’re off. She is a very kind woman. We talked about NZ and American politics, lightly, and then she was telling me about the MLM venture she is part of with a company founded by Donald Trump. Even though I wasn’t interested in that, getting to know her was a pleasure. The ferry ride takes about 10 minutes and it all looked the same. I even got a picture of the America’s Cup yacht that takes people out into the harbour for a “tiki tour”. Obviously, it’s windy on the water. (smile). After deboarding the ferry, I headed to the Viaduct to check out what was going on and was disappointed to find that the main area where all the activities are setup is now a parking lot. Maybe they will change that when summer is in full swing. It was good to see the big yacht by the Maritime Museum was still there though. I turned and headed up Queen Street to check out the shops to sort out where I was going to purchase gifts. The funny thing is that I walked all the way up one side and down the other and the shops I will do my shopping in were the ones I entered first. Everything seemed to look the same and when I got to the top of where the iMAX theatre is, I started smiling. Why? Because I knew there would be one Wheaton resident who will be happy to know that when he and Velvet come over with me, he will not be without his favorite hot beverage. In the place where Planet Hollywood used to be, now resides Starbucks Coffee. (smile). I realized on this little excursion up Queen Street that t-shirts are very difficult to locate. Not as readily accessible as they are in Hawaii. I’ll have to do some asking of the locals or go into more shops…hmm, maybe Sky City (Tower) has more options. I’ll be checking that out soon! Oy. I am having some major issues uploading more photos so I will do "photo posts" later. Just give you photos without all the commentary because I have so many photos and so little space! And here I am, at the end of the day, after feeling like I walked miles and miles. I am looking tired and wind blown, however, absolutely content and pleased with the day.