I slept well but not for anywhere near long enough and made my way to the ‘Aria’ restaurant of the Crowne Plaza on the lobby level, level 4. This is the level of the vehicle access on Albert Street but there is a multi-level shopping mall open to the public below. The mall has access by foot to pedestrianized Elliot Street parallel to Albert Street at the rear of the hotel, nearer Victoria Street, Auckland’s original main street. As I’ve already commented, Auckland is quite hilly.
Multi-level shopping mall beneath the Crowne Plaza, Auckland.
An excellent American-style buffet breakfast was provided and a friendly chef at the ‘Egg Station’ produced a plain omelette in seconds which I supplemented from the wide range of serve-yourself items on offer. Before 9.00 a.m. everybody on my trip seemed to be assembled in the lobby near a huge collection of our luggage which we had to identify prior to being whisked away ready for loading onto our ship.
But before the passengers reached the ship, we were having a sightseeing tour of Auckland. Outside the hotel three huge Volvo six-wheel coaches (with two passenger access doors on the left side and steering on two of the axles) were drawn up, each with a ‘Noble Caledonia’ card in the front window. I was allocated to Coach 2, which one of our guides identified by writing ‘2’ on a scrap of paper which he added to the ‘Noble Caledonia’ card. I chose to remember the simple vehicle registration number ‘TS05’ which had the advantage that I could recognize the right coach from the rear as well as the front.
We drove in a loop around the downtown area with our driver giving a commentary on the places of interest we were passing before driving past the dock area, now largely given over to container traffic, and Auckland Rose Garden.
Coach tour of Auckland, 2020 (Tropic of Capricorn).
Auckland Rose Garden, coach tour of Auckland, 2020 (Tropic of Capricorn).
Beyond the city, our route stayed near the waterfront giving us views of a series of very pretty bays. We drove through the residential suburb of Orakei, reputed to have the most expensive houses in Auckland. We stopped briefly at the Michael Joseph Savage Memorial Garden on the hill behind Bastion Point where we explored well-maintained gardens dedicated to the respected Socialist Prime Minister who died in 1940.
Michael Joseph Savage Memorial Garden, coach tour of Auckland, 2020 (Tropic of Capricorn).
Our vantage point gave us views in one direction of the city and dock area (about 5 km away)and in the other the currently-dormant volcano of Rangitoto.
View of Auckland and its docks from Michael Joseph Savage Memorial Garden, coach tour of Auckland, 2020 (Tropic of Capricorn).
View of Rangitoto from coach tour of Auckland, 2020 (Tropic of Capricorn).
Rangitoto last erupted a few hundred years ago but New Zealand’s position on the ‘Ring of Fire’ means that none of its volcanoes can really be regarded as ‘extinct’ – a truth we were reminded of just two months before writing this when there were a number of fatalities on White Island in New Zealand's Bay of Plenty area during a visit by tourists when volcanic activity re-started. Looking at the forbidding outline of Rangitoto’s caldera, I found it hard to believe that on my first trip to New Zealand in 2006 I actually walked to the summit at an elevation of 850 feet (260 metres). There's a very short report on that Round the World Trip here.
Our coach then took the road which would eventually lead us to Auckland Museum. For part of the way, in Tamaki Drive, we were alongside the Eastern Line railway, now electrified.
View from Tamaki Drive, showing Eastern Line train leaving Auckland (Auckland's Commuter Railways in 2020)
As we neared the dock area, we passed a set of sidings, now apparently little-used, and I was astonished to see a line of three derelict, rusting steam locomotives disfigured by graffiti. There were two large tender engines, probably 4-8-2s, plus an impressive Beyer Garratt.
View from Tamaki Drive, showing road bridge over Eastern Line sidings near docks with steam locomotives (Auckland's Commuter Railways in 2020)
Auckland Museum is housed in an imposing building which, unusually, also serves as the National War Memorial and there is a Cenotaph outside the columned front elevation. On a previous trip to New Zealand, I’d visited the museum and thought the unusual juxtaposition of museum and war memorial worked well.
National Memorial Musuem, Auckland 2020
This time, the Noble Caledonia group was issued with stick-on paper labels and ushered through the Grand Foyer into the Maori Court Central where the former Director of Auckland War Museum, Roy Clare, gave us a brief introduction. Although a significant gallery area was closed for redevelopment, the museum did not disappoint. The ground floor dealt with ‘Pacific People’, and included many Maori-related displays, most notably a full-size carved meeting house or Hotunui, a store house and a long boat. The first floor explored the natural history of New Zealand, with an important section on volcanoes and an interactive section called ‘Weird and Wonderful’ particularly aimed at children.
On the second floor, under the title ‘Scars on the Heart’ formed the war memorial. One long gallery lined with marble panels engraved with the names of the dead from various conflicts formed a moving memorial which was approached through a series of perhaps nine galleries each dedicated to different aspects of warfare or different conflicts. Two preserved aircraft were on display – a British ‘Spitfire’ and a Japanese ‘Zero’.
The Gallery honouring the Dead at the National Memorial Musuem, Auckland 2020
Finally, there was an apparently fairly recently-opened gallery with early photographs of Auckland. The many artefacts around the Museum were carefully chosen and sensibly interpreted and it would take the best part of a day to do it justice but our tour allowed around 90 minutes.
Then, the three coaches drove back to the city, taking the route leading to the Auckland Harbour Bridge which funnels commuters between the residential areas on the north side of Waitemata Harbour and the city. This bridge, first opened in 1959, is not as well-known as Sydney Harbour Bridge (opened 1932) but its central truss approached on either side by a series of trusses on tall piers was still a significant undertaking. Our driver explained that it originally opened with two carriageways in each direction which rapidly proved totally inadequate so, by 1969, two more lanes had been cantilevered from the original structure on each side. The contractor for this work was Japanese so Aucklanders refer to these new lanes as ‘Nippon Clip-ons’.
Our destination for lunch was ‘McHugh’s of Cheltenham’ in the desirable residential area of Cheltenham (settlers made wide re-use of English place names). Buffet lunch was enjoyed in a dining room overlooking an attractive beach. As we dined an odd-looking ship, which I could see was a car-carrier, was making its way towards Auckland creating some interest for the diners. After the meal there was some delay in rounding-up up guests who’d decided to explore the beach.
View of car carrier 'SERENITY ACE' from ‘McHugh’s of Cheltenham’, Auckland, 2020 (Tropic of Capricorn)
View of Rangitoto from Cheltenham Beach, Auckland, 2020 (Tropic of Capricorn)
We then drove a short distance to Devonport where the ferry pier has been developed as a tourist destination and we had a short stop. I watched one of the frequent, modern catamaran ferries operated by Fullers arrive at Devonport after its ten minute crossing from Auckland’s ferry terminal. In the background, ‘SERENITY ACE’ was manoeuvring astern to its berth not far from Auckland ferry terminal.
View of Auckland from Devonport Pier in 2020, with ferry arriving and car carrier docking in the background (Tropic of Capricorn).
The coach returned over Auckland Harbour Bridge using the leftmost, cantilevered lane and continued fairly slowly through the heavy late afternoon traffic until we finally turned into the cruise ship terminal next to Auckland Ferry Terminal.
We disembarked at Shed 10, a re-purposed transit shed, just a vast open space, large enough to process the thousands of passengers carried on large cruise ships. The original building framework appeared to be largely of wood but it had been re-clad using modern materials. I was in the last of our three coaches to arrive and I joined a slow-moving queue of our ship’s guests being processed first by the ships doctor, checking our Health Declarations and checking the temperature of some passengers and then passing through the New Zealand Immigration formalities before proceeding to the ship’s gangway.
At Reception on Deck 3 in exchange for our passport we received the keycard to our pre-selected cabin and a credit-card sized identity card which would be scanned each time we left the ship and returned thereafter. We were then directed to the Caledonian Lounge where welcome drinks and snacks were offered. After a while, people started to disperse to their cabins and I readily did the same, pretty exhausted after the long flights, not enough sleep the previous night and a fairly tiring, though enjoyable, day.
My cabin, 257 named ‘Drum Castle’, was on the Castle Deck, deck 2. The ship had been re-fitted since my last trip when I was on deck 3 so I wasn’t quite sure what to expect but I was delighted with what I found. The cabin was spacious and well-equipped, described by the operator as a ‘standard suite’ which seemed an accurate description. Deck 2 cabins had portholes, rather than windows but with three portholes in my cabin I was perfectly happy. The bed was set up as a wide double, which suited me, but the bed frame and mattress could be re-configured as twin beds. The majority of the walls and ceiling were panelled in a rather dark imitation wood grain with a gloss surface which wouldn’t have been my personal choice but was fine. There was plenty of storage space, a writing desk, a smaller desk with a large mirror for make-up and two armchairs facing a large flat-screen wall mounted television offering various on-ship and satellite channels.
Views of my cabin on 'Caledonian Sky' (Tropic of Capricorn)
We were not finished - there was then a mandatory safely briefing in the lounge, followed by a simulated emergency where all guests moved to the muster stations, lifejackets were donned and crew conducted groups, single-file, to the appropriate lifeboat station. My cabin was allocated to lifeboat 1 (there are four).
As it was a glorious evening, we were recommended to watch the ship’s departure from one of the outside decks. In addition to vessel ‘SERENITY ACE’, sister car carrier ‘COURAGEOUS ACE’ was also docked. At the next wharf, container ship ‘SOFRANA TOURVILLE’ (length 143m, beam 23m, 12,502 deadweight tons built by Dae Sun Shipbuilding in South Korea in 2009) currently works regularly between New Zealand ports and Brisbane, Australia. General cargo ship 'RUBY ENTERPRISE' (length 177m, beam 29m, 33,415 deadweight tons built 2016) was moored nearby.
Auckland Port viewed from 'Caledonian Sky', L: 'Sofrana Tourville', R: 'Ruby Enterprise' (Tropic of Capricorn)
'KOTA LIHAT' (266m long, 32m beam, 51,822 deadweight tons, built in China by Dalian Shipbuilding in 2013) was being attended by three on the massive container cranes on Fergusson Wharf.
Leaving Auckland on 'Caledonian Sky' showing Fergusson Wharf and container ship 'KOTA LIHAT' (Tropic of Capricorn)
Looking to port, there were views of Devonport Pier which we'd visited just a few hours earlier.
View of Devonport Pier from 'Caledonian Sky' (Tropic of Capricorn)
The last activity of the day was dinner, taken either at the inside restaurant or on-deck in the Lido area. Then, at last, I was able to retire to the very comfortable bed.
Related posts on this website
This is the second post in the series labelled 'Tropic of Capricorn’. The first post is here.
Clicking on the 'Next report' link will display the post describing the next events. In this way, you may read about the trip in sequence.
Next report
Alternately, clicking on the 'All my Tropic of Capricorn reports' link (where shown) displays all the posts on this trip in reverse date-of-posting order.
All my Tropic of Capricorn reports
My pictures
This blog post was first published on the ship via a satellite link with limited capacity so picture links were added later. Pictures in this post can be viewed uncropped, where necessary, by clicking on the image. Selecting from the albums below allows viewing or downloading in various resolutions:-
This blog post was first published on the ship via a satellite link with limited capacity so picture links were added later.
Albums from 2020:-
Auckland, 2020
Auckland's Commuter Railways in 2020
National Memorial Musuem, Auckland 2020
Crowne Plaza, Auckland
'Caledonian Sky' in 2020
Leaving Auckland on 'Caledonian Sky'
Earlier albums for comparision:-
Auckland, New Zealand, 2007
National Museum and War Memorial, Auckland, 2007
[Links to pictures added 4-Mar-2020: Minor edits, pictures embedded 01-May-2020]
