Auckland - New Zealand

New Zealand generally, and Auckland specifically has always been a place that I've either flown over or transited through. I've always wanted to visit here but I always put it off, because compared to the rest of the world New Zealand is next door.  So when the Crown Princess pulled into Princes Wharf in Auckland I had no valid reason not to get off and take a look around. 

The weather was far from good with the threat of rain hanging on the air for the entire day. I hooked up with a couple who came from England via South Africa and we had a wander around the downtown area. After a short consultation we spied a Eurocar dealership atop the steepest hill I have walked up in a very long time. There are steadying my heart rate and being delivered oxygen we hired a GVM Haval H6, a mid size SUV, and proceeded to tour around the environs of Auckland. Once we tired of looking at houses and having completed a small shop to buy a few necessities we fired up the GPS and headed for wine country.  

After about a 30 minute drive we arrived at Westbrook Winery, it was established in 1935 and offered a most interesting food and wine selection. We selected a grazing plate loaded with brie, blue and gouda cheese, accompanied by a plentiful variety of crackers, augmented by dried figs, two chutneys, freshly sliced pear and a mixture if dried fruit and nuts. We also ordered a chorizo and chilli pizza and had 4 by 50ml glasses of their various wines. We were told the Riesling was an annual award winner and we tried an Albarino (a grape variety I had not encountered before). In my opinion the wine was fine but not great. The food however was a revelation. Everything was of an extremely high quality and came with ample portions of everything. Lunch was a veritable feast. Our hosts then gave us a few great tips on where to go to get the sweeping views of the local beaches and how best to check out the nearby gannet colony. 

From the seaside we headed back to the heart of Auckland to visit Kelly Tarlton's Underwater World. Opened in 1985 by the eponymous Kelly Tarlton, a famed marine archaeologist and treasure hunter hailing from New Zealand. He died a few weeks after his attraction opened in 1985 and by 2025 it had clearly seen better days. The penguin enclosure in particular appeared to be run down and in need of some love and attention. The rest of the exhibit seemed in better condition and we witnessed sharks, rays, turtles, and all manner of marine wildlife throughout the facility. However it is was time to head back to the ship to plan for dinner. 

As we had the car until 9.00pm and didn't need to be back on board until 9.30pm we though we should check out a local restaurant for our evening meal. Well we thought lunch had been amazing our dinner was out of this world. Through some basic google searching and a couple of phone calls we settled on a restaurant named Onslow that had a 4.8 start rating. Two us ordered an entree of Tuna Carpaccio with a burnt butter sauce, drizzled in chilli oil. It was noting short of mind blowing. I have never tasted anything like it in my life. The mains were equally spectacular and the sommelier who paired a different wine with each of mains was knowledgeable while also being accessible and friendly, his choices were excellent and I don't think I could fault anything with the evening. 

To top the night off the car hire place was right around the corner. We returned the vehicle, walked down the hill of death, the one we had come up on earlier in the day, took a stroll through the main plaza enjoying the lights of the harbour. We rejoined the ship, headed to our favourite bar and drank the ship out of port as we gently headed for the last leg of our journey back to Sydney.