2023 m.s. Zuiderdam – Leg 3: New Zealand

Auckland is New Zealand’s most populous and beautiful city and it’s well known for its white-sand beaches, delicious seafood, and stunning modern architecture. Also nicknamed the City of Sails, this harbor city is brimming with sailboats and ferries that will take you to waterside suburbs and nearby islands.  Specifically, there are over 135,000 registered yachts in Auckland; about one in three households own a boat. The Viaduct Basin, on the western edge of the Central Business District, hosted three America’s Cup challenges (2000 Cup, 2003 Cup and 2021 Cup).  Among sailors, it could be considered Mecca.   And like moths to a flame, Tom and I are helplessly drawn towards the massive marinas to wander and wonder at the forest of masts before us.  

And it’s not just sailboats.  Here we’ve also witnessed some of the largest dry-stack storage sheds for power boats we’ve ever seen.

Since our previous visit here included the Maritime Museum and other notable downtown sights, we opted to explore the city’s fringe.  Once we reached the Harbor Bridge, our planned walking route takes us up Shelly Beach Road, through hip neighborhoods with tree-lined streets and gorgeous Victorian homes. 

The Ponsonby neighborhood is where we came upon a local gentleman who happened to be crossing the street at the same time with us.  We asked where we could find a good cup of cappuccino and he replied that he was walking to his favorite cafe himself and he’d be delighted if we would join him.  His name was Grant, and he was taking a break from repairing his 100-year-old home that suffered a good bit of damage caused by the deluge of rains this past week.  New Zealand, and Auckland in particular, received as much rain in one day as they get all year.  Grant was grateful for the distraction of meeting fellow boaters and the three of us swapped boat ownership stories for the next hour over coffee.   Back in the 1970’s, he and some of his mates built a ferrocement sailboat, not without many interesting and entertaining challenges.   He was also pleased to share the coincidence that he once owned a small sloop named Monica.  We hated to part, but Tom and I had to start heading back towards the port and Grant reluctantly had to begin removing wet soggy carpet from the lower level of his home.

We saw a lot of places carting off wet carpet, soggy sofas, etc., but the downtown area did not reveal too much damage other than muddy street gutters.  

Cutting through Victoria Park we marvel at the enormous London Plane trees which were planted in 1905 for the parks opening. The trunks are easily more than 10 feet in circumference and look like they could still easily outlive us.   

We stumbled upon the “Tepid Baths” building built in 1914, which houses Auckland’s oldest public swimming pools, still in use today.   

Back down to the Viaduct area by the harbor, we rested our tired feet at one of the numerous cafes before heading back to the ship.  Our devices revealed we walked 7.1 miles today.            

A festive sail-away is enjoyed on Zuiderdam’s aft deck, as we watch Auckland fade astern into the sunset for our overnight passage to Tauranga.

The extremely narrow passage into the shared harbor of Tauranga and its suburb, Mount Maunganui, makes for an exciting dawn arrival. The harbor pilot boards Zuiderdam in the early darkness and deftly guides her around “The Mount” has it’s known to locals.

The occasional drizzle on this breezy, overcast 65 degree morning will eventually give way to sunshine and 75 degrees by afternoon.  With all the rain that the Kiwis have been dealing with over the past week, they’re all out at the first ray of sunshine in this relaxed beach town. We made early morning phone calls to home (now an 18-hour time difference), among the giant palms that line the bay’s boardwalk.  We were startled when one large soggy palm tree plummeted a good portion of its “collar” about 20 yards from where we sat. The mass landed with a thud. 

During our last visit here in 2020, we hiked up The Mount.  The walking tracks to the top of this 760-foot-high extinct volcano provide 360-degree views which span the entire length of the Bay of Plenty.

But this time, we walked the shoreline boardwalk, through a few blocks of beach rentals, then down Maunganui Road towards the many shops and cafés which featured some of the best salmon eggs benedict and green-lipped mussels.  We could easily live here!

Gisborne, New Zealand is the Easternmost point on the date line and therefore, the first city in the world to see the sun of each new day.   It’s a quaint coastal city, with beautiful beaches, residential neighborhoods and three rivers, where rowing teams are abundant.  The Māori style, outrigger boats which have been prevalent throughout the South Pacific are still popular here.  In fact, some energetic rowers even “draft” our tender boats on the 20 minute tender ride to the town dock. 

Ashore on an 80-degree Saturday with abundant sunshine, our first find is their well-attended Farmers Market.  The produce, flowers, artisan wares are as colorful as their shoppers. 

From there we wandered through their riverside Botanical Gardens on the way to their very art deco downtown. 

The main boulevard is lined with large palms which were planted 20 years ago for their centennial anniversary. 

We enjoyed a nice cappuccino at a sidewalk café featuring a music duo.   The hilly countryside of Gisborne is also home to about 25 wineries, but we’ll have to save that for another visit.  

All aboard at 3pm for our overnight sail down to Wellington.

Wellington is located in the world’s 2^nd largest natural harbor (behind Nova Scotia). It’s the capital of New Zealand and the southernmost city of the north island.  

Our pier is next to the Wellington Stadium, home to their fierce rugby team the All Blacks, who perform their famous hacka… an intimidating, physical, full-body war dance performed by all 23 team members.  Worth googling a video!

Our visit falls on Waitangi Day, a national holiday celebrating the signing of the Treaty of Waitangi, New Zealand’s founding document.  While some downtown shops and businesses are closed, there is plenty going on with local festivities.  

We begin our morning ashore riding up the Wellington Cable Car  for a beautiful view of the city, cricket and rugby fields below.   A couple of cappuccinos to fortify our 2- hour hike through their massive botanical gardens, which is practically an arboretum. 

Cloudy, breezy 70 degrees.  Gargantuan eucalyptus trees, roses, exotic tropical flowers of every shape and color.  Back down the hill and instantly back in the city streets and onward to the boardwalk area of the shore, lined with restaurants and pubs, museums, food trucks, art sculptures and the towns public diving platform.  

Lunch by the harbor consists of my favorite, green-lipped mussels, some hearty chowder and crusty bread to mop it all up.  

Local dancers and drum corps begin their performance celebrating the national holiday and it grew into a festive scene.

We were lucky that the weather held for our six-mile walkabout today, but a strong cold front had moved in for our departure from the dock.  We watched with interest as the mighty tugboats aided our departure in sideways rain, the wind ripping the tops off waves and frothing the surface.  

Our ship heeled away from the wind as we proceeded out of the harbor and into open sea, enroute to Sydney, some 1,200 nautical miles westward.