Auckland, City of Cranes, er Sails

We knew that the city of Auckland, with coastlines on both the Pacific and the Tasman Sea is called the City of Sails, but it also became immediately apparent this is a city in a frenzy of construction. We were told there are 90 active cranes in the city, more than in any city in the U.S. as of last count (Seattle is the highest, at 65). For one thing, they are getting ready to host the Americas Cup in 2021.

It’s a little hard to fully capture the flavor of a city with a barely-started sure subway tunnel bisecting the main boulevard, and some boarded-up shops as a result. However, we got to see beyond that on our guided city walk through an Airbnb-organized experience.

Our guide walked us through some of the small shop- and restaurant-filled pedestrian lanes, and pointed out architectural and historical highlights. We saw where the Maori had come to fish and gather shellfish, long before that part of the harbor was filled in for building. We hiked up a steep grassy hill that is just one of the 53 ancient volcanoes of the Auckland volcanic field.

After morning tea hosted by our guide and two fellow tour members from the UK, we spent the rainy afternoon in the Maritime museum. The museum features exhibits on early Maori wakas (dugout canoes), all the way through time to the winning New Zealand yacht in the 1995 Americas Cup.Read more