Auckland & Start of the cruise to Perth

03/02/2014

It's wonderful when you don't really have to do anything. I'm considering doing a hop-on-hop-off tour, but it costs $40 and there aren't any compelling sights in Auckland. So I'm packing everything up to take to the ship this afternoon and I have the essentials in my hand luggage. My bag is almost bursting now that both jackets are in there. The advantage of the new packing is that I found the second leg of my zip-off pants. One was in the bag, and one was in the backpack. I thought that one leg had blown out of the car when I was driving to Rotorua with the window open.

So I don't need to amputate my left lower leg, and I have a use for the second leg that has been packed away for days because its brother was missing.

Equipped in this way, I now walk up Queens Street and up a hill on Victoria Street to Sky City (observation tower). You can go up to 220m here by elevator. And if you want, you can also abseil from there. Not bungee jumping, but still.

Sky City Auckland

Surprisingly, the ticket only costs $28, and with the travel agency reduction, it's only $18. There are two observation levels, but both are behind glass. At least the upper level doesn't cost extra.

I can see my ship from above, I can see the city volcanoes, the Harbour Bridge, and I realize that I am further away from Berlin than I am from Toronto. Otherwise, the view is beautiful, but it also shows me that there's nothing special to see. I walk briefly to Aoteroeon Square and now at 2:00 pm I'm looking for something to eat... It's going to be a lamb burger at Burger King!

Aotearoan Square

Pronunciation :-D

I sit in front of my hotel from yesterday for half an hour to use the Wi-Fi, which also works outside on the bench. Then I walk towards the ship to check the way, and then I pick up my luggage from the hotel and head off to the ship. It only takes about 10 minutes with all the baggage, and then I'm already rid of it. Fill out the New Zealand departure card, provide health information, and go through a security check like at the airport. Then check-in with a credit card, take a photo, get a key/payment card, and within 20 minutes, I'm on the ship. When I think back to Vancouver, where it took us nearly 4 hours to exit Canada and board an American ship, this entry onto an American ship is a joke. My cabin is amazing.

Balcony cabin MS Celebrity Solstice

But I go out into the city once more and buy something to drink and send the last photos via WhatsApp. The departure at sunset is beautiful. Somehow it feels like traveling with a skyscraper.

I go to the self-service restaurant and get grilled fish, fruit, and an ice cream. It's all very tasty. When it's still not there at 8:45 pm, and we left Auckland 45 minutes ago, I ask about it. A message on my phone tells me that security found something suspicious and I have to go there. So off to Deck 2. I'm not alone there, they're confiscating lots of corkscrews, I even see multiple sockets on the list of confiscated items. For me, it's a knife that I always carry when traveling. If I had meant it as a weapon, I'm sure I could borrow a steak knife here too... To find the knife in my compressed bag, I have to unpack everything – and I mean EVERYTHING – and just throw all the junk on the floor. I'm pretty annoyed by now. This isn't an airplane! After finding the knife, I stuff everything back into the bag without sorting it and carry what doesn't fit back up on my arm. So much for trying to transport my 'good' clothes wrinkle-free for about 3,500 km on New Zealand's roads since leaving Stuttgart. The somewhat presentable result has just been eliminated here on Deck 2.

After 2 weeks, everything is finally unpacked, and I don't really care how wrinkled everything is now. I fall into bed at 10:00 pm with the balcony door open and the sound of the ocean.