Onto Auckland! November 10 & 11

 November 10- Flight from Sydney to Auckland

    We had a 4 a.m. wakeup and got the airport shuttle. We had to get our boarding passes in person. We had to prove to the New Zealand authorities that we had tickets to leave the country, so we had to dig into our bags and procure the evidence that we will leave in a month. They are very careful; we had to fill out an online declaration about what we were bringing in, too. They protect their flora and fauna and there are many items you cannot bring in- nuts, soil, meats etc. This includes any hiking gear that you may have used in the wild - walking shoes, walking sticks etc that may have picked up something. We knew we didn't have anything like that as we have stuck to pathways in Australia. The sniffer dog ignored us, but stopped a man behind us.

     The flight was just under 3 hours and pleasant with about 20 minutes of turbulence. The pilot was awesome as he predicted when it would come and how long it would last and was very reassuring.

     Air New Zealand was great. The seats are all equal in size. There are no class divisions. The seats were comfortable and everyone had adequate legroom and the food was also the same for everyone.

   

 We took a shuttle into town; we are on the docks on Princes Wharf in quite a lovely, modern apartment. The building is meant to look like an ocean liner. We have a HUGE balcony with comfy furniture. The 5-step directions to get in were a little complicated, but we managed easily. It has rained off and on and is cool. We got a quick meal (burger joint) and went to a grocery store for provisions. A good start to New Zealand!

November 11

     So nice to wake up with such a nice view - Auckland Harbor. Today may be the only sunny, non-rainy day of our time here, so we decided to get out and about early. With intermittent clouds, it got to be about 73 degrees. A lovely day to walk about.

     We took a bus to the Auckland Art Gallery and spent our morning there. It has quite a lot of Maori art and history. 

Paul Gauguin 

A Manet of Giverny we had never seen - this one was especially about capturing light

      Portraits of Maori people painted by Gottfried Lindauer were stunning. An entire gallery was devoted to them. Lindauer was friendly with his subjects and portrayed them with dignity and gravitas.  As the paintings are under glass, it is hard to get good photos of them. They were mostly painted in the late 1800s.

     

A photo of the art in this exhibit from the Robinson's estate

  We also went through the Robinson Collection -  several galleries of Impressionists, post-Impressionists, Fauvists and Cubist painters which takes people through a nice summary of the various periods.

       Lastly, we went through an exhibition on loan from the Louise Bourgeois estate. She was a French-American artist and influenced by Henri Leger. We watched a film about her rather unhappy childhood, feeling betrayed by her father who openly kept his mistress in the family under the pretense of governess. 

"Couples" by Louise Bourgeois

         Then - lunch at a Thai restaurant. We both had red curries which were delicious.

         We decided to walk the mile or so home and, en route, we went to the  "All Blacks Experience" about the history and culture of New Zealand's rugby team, both the men and the women (Black Ferns.) 

         It was pretty kitschy and not something we'd normally do, but it was quite fun. There were only 5 of us on the tour with a very nice Maori guide.

        The team formed in 1879, and initially wore blue. But, in 1893, it changed to all black, possibly because black was cheaper. A pounamu (greenstone) is sacred to them. It is normally at the All Blacks Experience, but travels with them to every game. Unfortunately for us, it was with the team. The team has an unbelievably successful record - winning about 77% of their games and the women with an impressive 83% win record. The All Blacks are considered amongst the most successful teams in any sport. And, the fact that they are from a small nation, they are important to New Zealand's identify and pride.

        We heard a lot about their traditions. The locker room for the men is completely silent before a match. The women, on the other hand, sing and dance.

      The "experience" included some corny digital games but rather fun.

      Both teams perform the haka at the outset of a match. The hake is a traditional Maori challenge and meant to unify the team and intimidate opponents.

       The "experience" had us stand in front of a huge screen where the men and then the women performed the haka. It was a bit corny, but effective. 

        Afterwards, rather than take the bus 'home,' we walked back to the apartment, stopping to get a few nibbles for dinner. Then, we relaxed on 'our' huge deck on a huge round couch and read and caught up with emails etc.