Auckland, 3 days

We are here in Auckland for 2 nights and 3 days. Five and a half million people live in New Zealand. The Great Explorer, James Cook, first visited here in 1768 on the Endeavor, commissioned by the Royal Crown

Auckland is vibrant! There is no shortage of luxury brands, while McDonalds, KFC, and Taco Bell dot the landscape, both in and out of the city.

Today, we took a coach circling Auckland and a second coach over to Devonport, a cute little berg located across the bay. Late in the day, we ferried from Devonport back to the Auckland-side of the bay.

In the morning, we visited the Auckland War Memorial Museum which included floors dedicated to Auckland, the Māori culture, the offshore live volcano, and the wars where "kiwis" lost their lives in defense of the homeland. This was a beautiful, high quality, and informative experience, to say the least.

After returning to the ship and after dinner, we walked into Auckland, where we shopped for new shoes and picked up a pair of Sketchers for each of us!Read more