Auckland

Our plane to Auckland leaves Christchurch at noon.  We returned our rental car to the lot.  It was such a chill process it was hard to believe we had actually done the right thing.  We checked in and turned in our bags, no request to show ID.  We found a place to get something to eat and relaxed.  Then we realized that we were in the regional section and not the international section.  We hurried to the upper gates and went through security screening, feeling like we had made it just moments before boarding began.  Then came the announcement that there had to be an evacuation of a plane on the runway in Auckland and we would be delayed.  They solved the situation within a half hour and we boarded the plane.

We were picked up at the airport and driven to M Social hotel directly across from the Princess Wharf, facing the harbor.  I messaged my friend Jacki and she and her husband, Eric, picked me up within a half hour.  Their family moved to New Zealand two years ago.  They were taking me for some quick sightseeing and then out to dinner.  Gayle stayed in the room to rest.  They took me to Maungawhau (Mt. Eden), a volcano that last erupted 150,000 years ago which now offers 360 degree views of the city and harbors.  We hiked up numerous steps to the top.  It was absolutely stunning.  It was in the 60s and people were enjoying the day.  We looked down into the crater, now covered in grass.

And out to the city.  

Our next stop was to a city park so I could see some pukekos, birds of New Zealand with a blue chest. They look a bit like a small blue chicken.  They were everywhere at this park, we didn’t have to search.

We walked down to the stream that runs through the park in search of swans.  

I was more fascinated by the number of eels swimming below the swans.

Today is a holiday in New Zealand.  It is Anzac Day (Australia New Zealand Army Corp), similar to Memorial Day in the US.  There are observances everywhere at sunrise.  There was one in Christchurch this morning that took place in front of the damaged cathedral and included the prime minister.  There was a sunset observance happening near Jacki and Eric’s home and we went to be part of it.  It began near the parking lot with a bagpiper.  As he played additional songs to stall for time he played the theme from Outlander. 

Then shortly before sunset we followed the bagpiper and a woman carrying a flag with poppies and soldier on it to the point of the park, right above the beach.  At a specific time a trumpeter began to play.  Then he read the Ode of Remembrance and ended with “We will remember them, lest we forget.”  Then in unison the crowd responded with “We will remember them.’  One more trumpet song and a lament on the bagpipe.  It was simple and solemn.  Australians and New Zealanders were slaughtered at Gallipoli.  They remember that history.

Now that the sun had set and it was getting a bit chilly.  We headed to dinner.  Eric and Jacki’s two daughters joined us.  I was curious about what they all remembered from their first visit to New Zealand and what surprised them most after they moved here.  Then the girls headed off for other activities and the rest of us went for a walk.  There are art installations everywhere.  This one changes colors and the eyes actually blink.

Jacki wanted me to see Waimahara, an interactive artwork under a nearby bridge.  It is designed to describe the memory of the stream that flows under this underpass towards the harbor.  Like the stream this artwork responds to the environment by changing light patterns and sound.  A mike, that looks a bit like a pine cone, sits at one end.  You are encouraged to learn one of two songs about water composed for this artwork.  If you sing the song correctly, the artwork comes alive and sings to you.  Jacki had practiced on of the songs that afternoon so I would get the full experience.  She sang the song correctly and it responded.  I wish I could post a video here because the experience was beyond description.

As we headed back to their car we came across this piece of street art.  It memorializes the women gaining the right to vote in 1893.  New Zealand is the first country in the world to give women voting rights.

When I got back to our room I headed straight to bed.  Tomorrow we leave for French Polynesia.