More of Mollie's common areas...can't take pictures when people are in these rooms....so happens at odd hours. The dining area on the left is where breakfast is served. We had a lengthy walk in mind for the day, found in a guide book. Murray, the owner of Mollie's, welcomed us at breakfast and completely planned our day....out with the guidebook!!! on with his personalized tour on foot!
Off on another walk.
LOVE this picture. This is the day care center noted above....TWO wonderful things about this picture: everyone is wearing a hat and MEN are the caregivers!!!! Fabulous! We met another chap along the way who had retired from teaching the primary grades for 35 years!
Don't think we have ever seen so many sailboats in one marina....and this is only one of the 3 marinas in Auckland....it is called the "City of Sails".
We are on foot this whole way....noting that the city is going to widen the sidewalk....and also, which we did not picture, build a boardwalk connecting this vast marina to the downtown area.
NZ is huge in fishing. And they have some wonderful seafood as evidenced by this market.
The fresh baby octopus looks delicious. Many of the kinds of fish are strange to us.
The green-lipped mussels may be from the farms that we toured out of Havelock. Calamari raw materials.
Many new restaurants, bars, and cafes on the waterfront -- many were due to NZ hosting the Americas Cup race in 2000 and 2003.
Carved wood seating like we have seen elsewhere in NZ.
For the oyster lovers. However, I wouldn't know -- they are $4-5 each in NZ!!!
The Emirates is the NZ team preparing for the next Americas Cup Challenge. Prada from Italy is also preparing in Auckland very near the Emirate Team. They will be competitors in the 2013 Challenge in San Fransisco, September 7-22!
Lot of creative ways to use retired containers -- this one is a combination toilet, ATM, and information screen.
This one is an information site for all the new construction going on along the waterfront.
And an ice cream stand.
And a bookstore, complete with chairs.
Plenty of space to lounge, enjoy the marine traffic, before crossing the pedestrian bridge to even more eateries, bars and pubs.
This is a new fangled entryway....rather than a gate, the "bollards" are retractable. The driver uses a coded keypad and the 3 middle bollards sink, allowing the vehicle to pass. We assume a truck would have a different code to enable his larger vehicle to pass. If you look very carefully, you can see that the bollards have a red light....which, of course, was green as they were ascending.
One of the many, many vessels protected by the bollards....several of them had this grey steel polished gelcoat on the bottom....so shiny that it reflected whatever was next to it. To my (Kathy's) eye, much prettier than the dull white, green, blue or brown.
Apparently, someone from the QE II placed this wreath on the WWI memorial when we were in port on February 20, 2013.
Two of the many restaurants, cafes, bars on the waterfront side, the other side of the bridge.
Reminds me of our dining chandelier....only much more ornate.
Hung up on toilet rooms again....this is a faucet in the ladies' toilet.
Returning to Ponsonby by way of Queen St.....the main thoroughfare for shopping, dining, being seen!
The Town Hall.....but only half of it is the Town Hall....the side with the flags of many nations, which is shown, is the government office side. The other side is used for receptions, concerts, plays....and is managed by the Aotea Centre, pictured below.
The interior of the Aotea Centre is filled with natural light and ultra contemporary....right next to the Town Hall.
A respite from the crowds and noise is this tiny park, tucked in a kind of valley between the high rises.
Smith and Caughey has been family owned for the past 100 or so years. It is the sole surviving department store in central Auckland. Everyone else has moved out to suburban malls. The area where the Myers Park is located used to be a very bad part of town...even dangerous....The city council decided to clean it up. This is the result some 30 years later. The Smith/Caughey family donated the Michelangelo replica to the city to beautify the park.
The NZ government provides free TV, free health care, free education (although now they pay a stipend for university education).....and the resulting high taxes and high cost of living. However, their government is SHRINKING, not growing....remember the school buses? They have gone a major step further....recognizing the diminished need for postal services, they turned everything over to the private sector. The government still prints stamps, but sells them through the mini post shop (as pictured above) which is privately owned. And the private sector ships all the packages!
A reminder that many Aucklanders live downtown....and the Council, as the local government is always known, is urging people to stay downtown to live and shop....
We would never have stopped at this place, St Kevins Arcade, were it not for Murray, who told us that this is where his wife buys the linens for Mollie's.
The interior of the arcade is very lovely and inviting....Murray's wife must be adventuresome....This arcade is not in the best part of town, but the prices were good....at least for NZ!
A tiny glimpse of the ethnic neighborhoods we traversed back to Ponsonby. New Zealand has 15% Maori, 10% Asian and 7% "Pacific Peoples"....we think that is Polynesian? Auckland, however, is home to 19% Asian, 14% "Pacific Peoples", and 11% Maori. Doing the math, the "Caucasian European" is a SLIM majority in the Auckland region.
All the above in just two city blocks!!!!
After walking, we think, 5-6 miles during the day, we still had a bit of energy to walk another mile or two to find two tapas places to stop on our way home. Dida's and another one....forgot to take pictures at either one...just quite happy to sit down!!! Good night!
