Getting to know you, Auckland. . .

The Ferry Building downtown

 The Lonely Planet Guild to New Zealand describes Auckland as follows:  "It's hard to imagine a more geographically blessed city. It's two harbours frame a narrow isthmus punctuated by volcanic cones and surrounded by fertile farmlands. From any of it's numerous vantage points, you'll be surprised at how close the Tasman Sea and the Pacific Ocean come to kissing and forming a new island".

It is very green. And we've had significant rain (lovely) since we arrived a couple of days ago, but it's beautiful and sunny now. The range in temperature between day and night is minimal, so far, between 65F and 59F. We spent a good bit of time yesterday (Mother's Day) exploring the downtown, and I'm happy to report that while busy, it's not overly crowded. There are many cool shops, and of utter delight to me, many many things made here in New Zealand. A yarn shop showed off locally grown and milled luxury yarns (merino, alpaca, NZ cashmere and possum), a shop has wonderful items knit from said yarns, and there are very fiscally accessible shops.

Shoes 1

I sent images of these to our friends K and C, who grace Boise with The Chocolate Shop: Chocolate Shoes, almost life size. Unfortunately the shop was closed yesterday, so I could only take photos through the window. Rest assured that I will investigate this matter further. Likely with red wine deployed.

Shoes 2

Shoes 3

The public transportation system is less than transparent, but we stumbled around until we figured it out. The downtown area is actually close enough for us to walk, but my ankle remains unreliable, so we didn't want to over-do the walking.

We were lucky enough to score 2 really excellent meals out in as many days. The first was on Friday evening, when I really thought all was lost. We had walked around (me, on said ankle) amid tons of restaurants, but all were packed, didn't serve wine, lacked romance, or were suspect in some other way.

Then, just as we were ready to give up, we found Carmen Jones, on the K-road.
see http://carmenjones.nz
What a refuge. We had a 2 hour dinner, spent too much, and left with the promise to come again.

The second place was downtown, in an area that looked all-shop-no-food. But when we peered tentatively through a couple of doors  labeled "Elliot Stables" there it was. Food! It was packed, but huge, with about a dozen eateries all under one warehouse-sized-old-building roof. It wasn't a food court. They were all sit down tables. Ahoy mates. . . civilization. Unfortunately, it was quite crowded. We were just about to leave due to the crowds, when a handsome young Hispanic man approached us and said something like "Ah. We have a table back here for you." Pleasure Island, right? No. It was an off-to-the-side Mexican restaurant toward the back of the building. The young man is indeed from Mexico, and they had a photographic exhibition of Diego Rivera and Frieda Kalo on display. The tacos were fabulous; the nachos terrible (who uses doritos for nachos?), the beer terrific and the wine Just Right. What a score. Smile. And best of all, a little sanctuary and sitting down for the not-so-nimble-right-now me.

Here is another interesting thing, though. Our waiter told us that the fish and the guacamole were not available today. The fish, because they can't get fresh fish on Sundays, and the guacamole because the fruit they had wasn't quite ripe. Can you image? All I felt initially was disappointed, but John pointed out that when we come back, we will a) know the fish is fresh, and b) they aren't using guacamole-in-a box from Cisco foods, or whatever the equivalent is in New Zealand. Ponder that, young Grasshopper. . . (I still wanted the guac, though. . .).

I'll finish up by sharing some downtown shots. The last one is another view from our balcony at dusk, and The Fox sign is for the Grand Sons. Welcome to New Zealand.

Old Building with New.

 

 

 

Part of an old Art Deco Theater

Ferry Building Detail

Dusk from the Home Balcony

What does the Fox say?