Auckland, City of Sails

16.5 hours on a plane in a mask is not conducive to maximum brain power. It seems I've forgotten how to post here, so let's chalk it up to reduced oxygenation and have a day in pictures. 

The welcome-to-Auckland landing package: free covid tests (with a 40% reinfection rate here, a good thing), the business card of Nimbus, who capably sniffed everyone's luggage, and a large flat white from the first vendor we saw.

1.6 million people crammed into a tiny stretch of land, surrounded by oceans and islands. Auckland is the largest and fastest growing city in New Zealand. Calling it multicultural would be an understatement. Auckland has also the largest Polynesian population in the world.

The famous nickname “Auckland, City of Sails” comes from its iconic location. Located on a small land tongue in the center of the Auckland region, locked in by the Tasman Sea in the west and the Hauraki Gulf in the east, Auckland has plenty of access to the water. There are several large commercial and container harbours as well as multiple large marinas and yacht harbours within the City. And the latter are responsible for the City of Sails part of the name.

 

 

Walking off jet lag on a sterling day, looking at water and sailing ships.

More than 500,000 sailboats and yachts in various sizes are anchored and moored at marinas within the city. No matter from which side you are approaching Auckland, there is somewhere a marina in sight with rows of sailboats.

We're staying on one of the wharves that juts off Auckland's central business district in the gulf.

It's an easy walk to downtown, which has grown considerably since our last stay here in 2017.

 

 

Art needs a new t-shirt