Mimi & Jacques’ Bon Voyage 2

Auckland

Planning a three month trip takes plenty of time to coordinate. I started a year out to educate myself and to snag those choice lodgings, seatings and excursions. The great ones go fast. One big takeaway from our Bon Voyage 1 trip to Europe and Turkey: build in some no agenda or do nothing days. Days to do something last minute, regroup, repack, chill…and maybe do laundry!

Our chill day started out with a nifty sunrise from our downtown Auckland Hilton. The one cruise ship that was here left and the downtown got decidedly more mellow. We’re not cruise ship types. We’ve watched as they descend on a place and overtake it and just skim the surface and leave. Maybe good for some local merchants but you can’t get a great feel for a place just dropping in quickly and leaving.

Unless you’re between jobs, crazy rich, or retired planning 90 days away from home and family can be impossible. But, you can always dream. We fall into the retired bucket. We can decide the pace, the place and the plan, not the corporate time off regulations.

Half our day we went at a slow pace relaxing on the veranda and taking our time before going out.

Hotel review

We’re wrapping up back to back to back Hilton stays using points. As the trip’s pace picks up steam we’re shifting to lodging snagged through Booking.com. Other than the Hiltons lodging for the whole trip was built through that platform that offers both hotels, homes and rentals. I like it much better than any other platforms snd we’ve tried AirBNB, VRBO and HomeAway.

Again using a 5 point scale here are our lodging thoughts:

HILTON/Auckland

(Our room)

Accommodations- The upgraded harbor view room was nice and large. King size bed, window on the harbor and a large deck overlooking the water. We’re not fans of the shower which had no lip- the bathroom floor was same as the shower floor (with a bathroom drain) and the shower head was the hand wand type instead of offering both kinds. Small issues. The small “lap” pool was just ok but could be seen from the street below.

The gym had all the basics to help us start the day. Breakfast was amazing and the lobby lounge was laid back with plenty of seating and great views

RATING: 4.5⭐️

Location- Full on Harbor view and an easy walk to ferries, top quality restaurants and bars. One of the best Hilton’s we’ve stayed in, and we’re Hilton people. RATING: 5⭐️

All Blacks

If you don’t know rugby, and we knew very little, you don’t know All Blacks.

Their posters are everywhere as they are the revered national rugby team with an impressive history.

Obviously, they get their name from their uniforms- they’re all Black. And, yes I had to snag me one.

We spent part of our afternoon at the All Blacks Experience learning about the team’s history and having plenty of fun with the games they offer to learn about rugby including the agility drills.

Ok performance, I suppose, for a guy 5 months from total knee replacement. Mimi did it too sharpening her agility skills while she waits to return to pickleball. And she has bulked up!

FYI to our pickleball friends, she is ready for the bangers, now!

Unfortunately, we’re not here for All Blacks season, but it did get us curious to see a match so we’ll see if we can catch one somewhere in our three months in ANZ.

Auckland

We meandered through downtown for the afternoon. Under the Sky Tower, which again reminded us of Seattle. This place really is like a mini Seattle.

Love to see a downtown full of trees…big gorgeous trees.

The nearby University of Auckland has a beautiful campus.

It’s summer here- think early July- and flowers bloomed everywhere in the low 70s weather.

This is not an ancient city but it does a good job of integrating slick modern skyscrapers and buildings either 19th and 20th century architecture.

It’s a scooter kinda city with lime green scooters available throughout downtown. This one with a seat was more my style.

Again, I’ll remember Auckland and think mini Seattle with a smidge of Boston mixed in.

Food

Never had a bad meal, in fact all were memorable! In our last dinner we went to Ahi. It’s semi open air and downtown. Listening to many reviews I was curious about Ahi. OMG - food was as amazing as Advieh, which is practically next door.

Mimi got the blue cod which looked like scallops and melted in your mouth. For our foodie/vegan daughter Suzanne that vegetable is caulini- a cross between cauliflower and brocollini- a less intense version of the cauliflower. All of Ahi’s food is locally sourced and they even have their own farm in south Auckland.

I got the succulent red deer smothered in some berry sauce and supplemented with a blood pudding. Just delicious!

I asked where the Ahi was on the menu. Turns out Americans think of tuna when they use the word Ahi. But in Māori it’s the word for Fire. 🔥

As we make our way through New Zealand we plan on seeing and talking plenty about the Māori as they are a sincere and overt part of culture here.

Final rankings on restaurants:

1. Advieh - spectacular food

2. Ahi- Locally sourced and unique

3. Oysters & Chops- great open air water location

Auckland Rating

Along the trip we’ll use the same 5 point system to rate locations.

Great location and scenery, quiet and easy to get around. Phenomenal food and eating options. Very multicultural and summer weather perfect. Its nearby islands made it a lovely spot for a few days.

Ranking: 4.5⭐️

For now poroporoaki- Goodbye from Auckland🇳🇿

On the road to Bay of Islands tomorrow…