Aucks Clears Out For Good Friday + Albert Park

A full day ahead of Chicago and a flipped season (autumn) make for some moments. Yesterday morning, a somber bell tolled periodically and I glanced out our balcony to see a convergence of Good Friday church-goers.

We had some banking business to do and left the hotel late morning to discover a city that felt almost post-apocalyptic, with scant traffic on the streets and the sidewalks. Still not getting it, we walked to the bank and found it closed, along with virtually every eatery and shop lining the CBD and Queen Street.

Ever-helpful Nick at the front desk told us Auckland shuts down on the Friday before and Monday after Easter, giving New Zealanders a luxurious holiday break at the peak of fall's warmth.

Nothing for it but to get back out and explore.

Also on our agenda was a visit to the Britomart Transport centre, which was virtually deserted. This is where trains and buses depart.

We got some info just walking around though.

We'd also scoped out Albert Park nearby, perfect on a glorious 70-degree F day. Along the way, a hostel...with a hemp store on the first level.

 

Albert Park beckoned...

We like travel to unfold, rarely making much of a plan. And this walk delivered as we spotted the Auckland Art Gallery perched elegantly adjacent to the park. Immediate diversion and what's showing?

Billy Apple was at the heart of British art when it went 'Pop' in the 60s. In the 70s he opened an alternative space for conceptual art in New York. In the 80s his canvases revealed the behind-the-scenes of the art market. And he has been here in Auckland since the 90s, testing the system to show how art infiltrates life.

Auckland Art Gallery is staging the largest and most comprehensive retrospective exhibition of Billy Apple's fascinating career. Featuring everything from his early Pop and Conceptual works to his latest investigations into branding, intellectual property and biomedicine, this show proves the extent to which Billy Apple® has made art his life and life his art.

 More here on "redefining art’s relationships with advertising, science and technology."

 

Time for a smoothie in the museum's relaxing open-air cafe...

 

And back to the park. 

 

A perfect day for reading (but, then, what day isn't?)

Oak with elongated acorns?

These trees seem surreal

Sorry--tilt your head. Chard growing in the public gardens. We approve.

Dinner tonight at Vulture's Lane pub: fish sammie and assorted tacos.

Warm atmosphere, old R&B on the box

This one's for you, Marc...