Auckland NZ - City Bliss

(Posted late from Friday (local time)) Today we arrived in Auckland NZ and it was actually quite the shock compared to Bay of Islands (BoI), not in a bad way, just day and night different going from a laid-back seaside resort to a bustling city. BoI had such a chill vibe which is why we love Kiwi's so much. Their personalities are so fun-loving and quite chill normally. So arriving in a NZ city at first seemed like it was going to be a drastic change, especially when seeing the logos of major accounting firms, insurance companies and banks on skyscrapers. But we were pleasantly surprised to find that it was still rather relaxed and fun. While Auckland has 1.4M people, which is 1/3 the population of NZ, we found it to be a fairly small, manageable city.

When I think how to compare and contrast cities, I like to break them down by the 5 senses, and so I will compare and contrast Auckland to NYC by sense.

Sounds - NYC is an explosion of sound where taxi horns vie for the top decibel ranking but generally lose that honor to jack hammers and other construction noise. People are"yelling selling" everything from newspapers to hot dogs to lap dances. Auckland was the antithesis of NYC. Though there was some construction, it was minimal and did not contribute to any noise pollution. Similarly, I don't think I heard a single car horn or person yelling. It was a reserved city from that perspective...very aware and considerate of their impact on others.

Sights - New York is a sensation overload in both positive and negative ways. On the positive side, there's neon'clad modern architecture and classic 20s - 50s architecture. There's Broadway and Chinatown and Little Italy. There are street vendors and shoulder to shoulder people all focused on their destination and perhaps also focused on not getting mugged, hard to tell from the looks on their faces. On the negative side, New York is a dirty city by most standards, litter and soot everywhere, despite gallant attempts at maintenance with street sweepers and alike. But New York is a city of 8.5M people vs 1.4M for Auckland and a population density over 3x that of Auckland so I understand the struggle for maintaining a clean and safe NYC; but in the end, Auckland is the clear winner. Each building has some unique quality that makes it standout from all the other standouts. The use of glass, steel and stone is extraordinary. Building heights vary greatly even within the same block unlike NYC where every building seems so tall that the streets get just daily glimpses of the sun. In contrast, Auckland is a light and bright city, lots of sun (the day we were there) and LOTS of beautifully landscaped green space that was inviting you to walk barefoot in the middle of a workday. The temperate climate that never experiences a frost allows them to add enormous potted plants where the concrete wouldn't otherwise allow for lush greenery, like balconies and obscure corners. So it was a green city too. Lastly, it was clean, so clean. There was just occasional trash and a few cigarette butts here and there. There was no layer of soot on the buildings from smog and pollution; it appeared as though they had freshly pressure washed the city for our arrival. It was a city of people who clearly took pride in their city and respected the documented and unspoken rules of how we all get along. People actually waited at the crosswalks for the lights to indicate it was safe to cross. In fact, there were multiple "uncontrolled" cross walks where cars simply came to a stop and allowed waiting pedestrians to cross. Try that in NYC, I dare you ;-). I like the picture below because it shows that harmony between nature and concrete, plus the architectural variety of buildings.

Smells - That connotes a negative sense from the get-go, doesn't it? But like Sights, Smells can be both positive and negative. NYC smells are unique. It's a mix of street vendors and subway grates, car exhaust and bagels, damp loading docks and chinese food. There's nothing like it in the world. In contrast, Auckland didn't have a scent, per se. I credit this to a couple of attributes. Firstly, Auckland nestles up to a vast ocean vs a harbor which allows the city to breathe; no, not just breathe but to take big inhales and exhales like a when the doctor listens to your chest. The green space naturally filters out the air and provides its own complimentary scent. On the negative side, there is no chinatown or little italy, so there's no concentration of those aromas that practically pull you in like a vaudville hook. There were also no fish markets, which despite a "fishy" smell (what would you expect), created a memory in Hualtuco, Mexico where a side by side fish market and florist created a scent sensation that I won't forget. Did you know that smells are actually the strongest sense to evoke memory as the olfactory zone is the closest to our memory center. Though not smell related, there was no Broadway or Times Square either. I love that about NYC, distinct city sections that allowed each to celebrate its long heritage.

Tastes - We didn't eat in Auckland but I was struck by the # of cafes and pastry/bread shops. You could tell that each had its loyal customer base who stopped in every day for their scone or their sandwich. Coffee was as you'd expect popular here as well. Starbucks was in the city center but smaller "barristeries" were spotted in small little inlets no bigger than about 20 sq ft. But they were popular. While the pastry shops, bread shops and alike probably rival NYC, if you're a foodie, NYC would win hands down. That said, here's a pic of the best looking macadamia nut cookie I've ever seen.

Touch - touch is hard to describe in terms of a city as you generally don't "feel" a city, but if you think about it, you do. It's small contact points, a pedestrian crossing light button, a well-placed handrail, even clean and easily accessible public bathrooms, a must-have in your 50's. I expected NZ to be so covid restrictive still that touchpoints would be prohibited or discouraged. But it wasn't. In contrast, I never touched anything in NYC if I could avoid it......and that was pre-covid. And as Forrest Gump would say, "That's all I have to say about that.

We spent the better part of the day on the HOHO, the hop on hop off bus. For 40 NZD each (about 25 USD), we circled the city 2x. The first time to simply get a sense of the size and scale of the city, the variety, the districts, the zones. The second round, we got off in a quaint shopping district to get some leisurely exercise. There are several museums and a sky tower, like the space needle in Seattle. We just wanted a day without any deadlines or schedules and so we let the day find its own rhythm. After a few geocaches and a short stint in the audience of NZ's version of Top Chef, we headed back to the ship. We had a late lunch and then I did some work. As always, before I knew it, it was time for the evening routine of dinner, show and bar hopping. The noteworthy part of dinner wasn't the food but rather the company. We sit at a table of 10, but we're the only regulars. Others join us depending on where the Maitre'd sits them. This particular evening, I was the only man amongst 9 women. It was quite the funny scene as most people on the boat are married couples.

It was a fun dinner with some very light-hearted ribbing.

I'll bring this blog post to an end as I need to get started on today's post, which was Tauranga, NZ. Another great day!!!!!