Auckland

There are cities in NZ, they are not the reason to go visit. Nothing wrong with them, just meh. Of course a country needs strong, vibrant cities to survive. It’s just, as a tourist, a day is enough. Then on to the gorgeous nature.

We had a full day in Auckland, as we are want to do, we to the hop on, hop off bus. A good way to get a feel for a city. Of course, I got the iconic image of the Auckland skyline. Btw, this was one of the few mostly sunny days we had in NZ. Thank you Australia fires for really affecting the weather in NZ. But that is a different story, of how the earth balances itself out, but not in the way humans like.

It was Christmas time, so the alleys off Queen Street, had these large ornament decorations. Queen street is the Main Street downtown. There one finds Gucci and Louis Vuitton, with long lines of Asian tourists waiting to get in.

We turned a corner and saw this, huh? That is quite an effort for holiday decorations.

Yikes, front view, a little scary isn’t it? Also, I was told that this is permanent, has been scaring the kids for years!

Like most of NZ, Auckland is very hilly. So from far up the street, you can see this guy. I think at this point Aucklanders either ignore or actually take pride in this.

There were old buildings around. Auckland is an organic city, old, new, towers next to three story buildings. I like it that way, I have a lot to say about Christchurch, but that is a different post. Here I felt like I was in a vibrant city that is alive. It was a Sunday, so the downtown area wasn’t as busy as it would be any other day of the week.

The sky tower, very reminiscent of Seattles’ space needle. Might have been designed by the same guy.

Street murals. This is a huge trend all over the world. I’m not sure how I feel about this massive trend. I liked what I saw here in Auckland. I follow an account on IG #streetart_official. So I’m seeing the huge sides of buildings are being painted with murals. Sure, many of these buildings have large blank walls, and maybe viewed in the landscape and not small photos, it works better.

I LOVE this image that I captured. The textures, the shapes, the colors. I hear all my quilting friends saying – turn it into a quilt! Simplified that actually might work. But I doubt I’ll do that. I think I’ll just enjoy this image that I captured with my camera.

Visited the largest Anglican Cathedral. The Stained glass is truly impressive.

I’m biased, not Judson Studio impressive, but lovely glass. I only captured a few images, there was a lot more and each window was huge.

Parnell street, where old Victorians have become lovely shops and restaurants. We were there too early on a Sunday, so things weren’t really open and busy. Sundays are slower in NZ, and that is not something I will complain about.