After a long southern summer on the docks at Nawi Island Marina, in Savusavu, Fiji, we had reached a point where we were convinced we may never be cool again.   The relentless heat – you wake up sweating, you sweat all day, you go to bed sweating, surrounded by 4 fans and praying for just a moment of relief – was finally getting to us.   We also needed to renew our visas and rather than just submit the paperwork to do so, we thought it would be easier to just leave the country for a brief time, thereby resetting our visas.

After some thought, we finally decided on a quick trip to Auckland.   We would have loved to have spent several weeks in New Zealand, perhaps renting a camper van and exploring some of the country, but our funds were starting to dwindle and we didn’t really want to leave the boat too long during what was still cyclone season.   With that in mind, we booked an 8 day getaway, flying from Savusavu to Nadi – where we overnighted, on to Auckland and then back via a night in Nadi. 

Our evening in Nadi on the way down did not give us much time to explore but we still managed to get out for a short walk-about before retiring to the small condo we had booked for the night.   The next morning, we were up early for a quick breakfast and then an afternoon flight to Auckland.  While we didn’t have the time to explore, we could see that Nadi was a bit more bustling than Savusavu, but no less friendly and welcoming.   We would have loved the opportunity to explore a bit more, but our respite from the heat was awaiting in New Zealand and we were excited to get there!

We landed in Auckland late afternoon, and immediately realized that we may have gotten more than we bargained for!   It was cold – like really, really cold – and windy!   As I frantically dug through my bag to find the long-sleeved hoody I had thankfully thrown in at the last minute, Owen looked into our options to get to our hotel.   A cab or an Uber would have been ridiculously expensive but a quick search revealed that the bus/train options were excellent.   And so, we bought ourselves transit passes, downloaded the app, and, after a brief wait at the wrong stop, found the bus to take us to a train, which deposited us at a station right at the waterfront, a mere ten-minute walk from our hotel.  The walk to our hotel took us along the waterfront, around the inner harbour marinas, over a lifting bridge – it all felt so – so – like home!   It was like walking along the seawall in Vancouver.   We immediately fell in love!!!

We could already see that we would have no shortage of restaurants to try out while we were in New Zealand.   One of our very few complaints about Savusavu has been the lack of variety in the food – most restaurants have the same menu of stirfrys, hamburgers and fish and chips.    As we walked to our hotel we saw all manner of restaurants and bars, discovering a wonderful Italian place just a half block before our hotel  – we were happy to return there after we checked in. 

Our hotel was located in the Wynyard Quarter – an area filled with lots of restaurants but just outside the edge of the action.   As a result, it was a bit quieter – if we wanted the nightlife or action, it was just a short walk across the bridge.   This was exactly how we liked it.  We did have a slight misstep when we first checked in – we had booked, and been very excited about, a room with a king-sized bed.    When we arrived in our room we found two twin beds pushed together.    I had been dreaming about a big, cool bed to stretch out in – I nearly cried.    We immediately went back down to the lobby – the attendant was extremely apologetic – their system had been down and they had been checking people in using an excel spread-sheet.   He immediately changed our room and upgraded us to a room that had a view of the harbour and of the tower – and of course, it had a big, comfy king sized bed!!  Keep in mind that our bed on the boat is, at its widest, a double bed – that king sized bed was EVERYTHING in that moment!

Our first day in Auckland, we set out do some boat part shopping.   We started at Sailor’s Supply – a short walk from our hotel and scoped out what was available there (so much!).   We then walked along the seawall, finally coming to the Westhaven Marina.   Westhaven is apparently the largest marina in the southern hemisphere and it is not hard to believe that – it is a small city of masts!!!   Auckland is definitely a sailing town!  We finally made our way around the marina and found Fosters – one of the oldest chandleries in New Zealand, and Burnsco – seemingly one of the biggest!!   We spent several hours and many dollars, stocking up on items we had not been able to find since leaving Canada!   We had to keep our luggage limits in mind – it was hard to not buy even more!!  We finally headed back, again walking along the seawall and back to our hotel, but not without a brief stop at a marine bookstore.   Our feet were so tired by the end of the day, we could barely drag ourselves out for dinner!

Our next day we decided to do ALL the touristy things – at least that is what it felt like!!   We started at the War Museum, spending the morning there and then headed over to the Maritime Museum.  Both sites were excellent – we probably should not have tried to do both in one day – it did feel like we might have shortchanged ourselves a bit.   After spending the entire day walking, we didn’t quite feel we had covered enough ground, so we took ourselves off to the train station and caught a train out to the Rugby stadium – we watched a New Zealand v. Australia match and given we were seated square in the middle of groups cheering for each team, we hoped things didn’t get too rowdy!!!  It was a fun night and by the time we made it back to our hotel room we had put 18,000 steps on our poor feet.

We had intended to have a much more chill day the next day but decided to go to the Auckland Sky Tower – it seemed closer on the map – and we didn’t realize the big hills involved, so of course we walked there – oof!   The walk was worth it though – the views from the Tower were spectacular – walking over the glass sections in the floor was not my favorite however!!  After the Tower, we did a little bit of shopping, hunting for some electronics we hadn’t been able to replace and then had an early dinner and early night it.   We were starting to realize that 4 months of sitting at the dock does not prepare you for 4 days of non-stop walking!!  

Saturday, we were again up bright and early to catch the ferry to Waiheke Island.   Waiheke is an Island in the Hauraki Gulf – just a 45 minute ferry trip from Auckland.   It started out as a bit of a hippy village but is now home to dozens of wineries, high end restaurants and some of the most expensive real estate in New Zealand.   We did a “hop on, hop off” bus tour – first taking the bus around the entire Island to get the lay of the land.  On our second loop we started off with a stop at an olive oil factory.   We enjoyed a tasting and came away with a bottle of olive oil and some delicious herb dip.   After that we stopped in the village for lunch.   The bus stopped directly across from a gelato shop that the driver had told us was excellent.   Given that the village is on a fairly steep hill, and the restaurant we wanted to go to for lunch was down the hill, with another bus stop even further down the hill, we did the only sensible thing and started lunch with dessert.    After devouring our gelato, we wandered through town and had a delicious lunch – possibly the best burgers we have had since leaving Canada – topped with nearly a salad-worth of fresh, glorious spring mix lettuce! –  before jumping back on the bus.   We got off at a winery for a tasting and then continued on to a stop at a gorgeous white sand beach – after wading out into the water, we confirmed that it was nowhere near as warm as the waters we had been swimming in the tropical destinations we had been visiting!!   We finally made a stop at one more winery before heading back to the ferry and back to Auckland – another wonderful day!! 

Apparently, we didn’t yet feel we had covered enough miles as we again set off around the seawall – we had determined that weight allowances or not, we still needed a couple more items from Burnsco.   Owen had also discovered that the America’s Cup Trophy was housed at the Royal New Zealand Yacht Club, also located at Westhaven Marina.   We made the long trip around, found a few missing items at the boat store and then went over to see the trophy.   It is stored behind glass and is really quite an impressive object!!!   It does manage to stand out, even amongst the cases and cases of trophies.

When we had first started to look at what we must do in Auckland, one of my “must do” stops was a deli that served “Montreal style” poutine – I was determined that we must give it a try.   Unfortunately, it required back-tracking around the marina, and up the hills, as it turned out to the street directly beside the Tower. We also wanted to head over the bridge (in the opposite direction) to visit yet another boat store as we were still missing a part that Owen was hoping to locate.    Given that, and the fact that it was pouring rain, we finally opted to take an Uber to the deli.   We thoroughly enjoyed our deli lunch (the poutine was ALMOST Montreal good) and then headed back to the bus stop to get ourselves over to the north shore.   After a couple of transfers and a bit of walk, we finally found ourselves in the area of the boat shop.   We first made a stop at a hardware store to find aluminum tape (for wrapping hoses in the engine room), as it was on the way to the boat store.   We paid for the tape and I handed it to Owen to put it into the bag that contained the rather expensive stuff we had bought at Burnsco that morning.  It was only in that moment that he realized that he had left the bag on the hook under the table at the deli!!!   I panic called the deli to be sure it was there, and to let them know that we would very hopefully be able to get back for it before they closed.   We made a quick stop to the boat store that we had come all that way for – they of course did not have the part – grr.   After that we made the return trip back on the bus, this time with a bit more urgency.   We got off the bus at 10 to 3 – the deli closed at 3!!   Thankfully I was able to hightail it the couple of blocks back, just as they were ushering out the last diners and getting ready to close!!    As we were leaving at lunchtime the next day, and as I needed to figure out how to get everything in the suitcase, we were happy to have been able to recover it!

After a last dinner in Auckland, we went back to the hotel to try to figure out how to fit all the stuff we bought into the bags we had available.   We had actually bought a new gear bag to replace my sailing bag – the old bag had a ton of zippers and nearly every one of them had seized up – I had spent days, soaking them in vinegar and trying to slowly pry them open.   Finally, I had one zipper left to get open and asked Owen to give it a tug while I held on to the bag – unfortunately it was a bit too good of a tug and the zipper slide had come right off.   It was a sign to give up – my new bag is basically a big dry bag, with just clips and no zippers – much smarter – and thankfully big enough to apportion out much of what we had bought!  

We flew out from Auckland mid-afternoon, landing in Nadi late afternoon.   This time we were staying at a small resort directly across from the airport.   During our first stop in Nadi, we had come across a Cost-U-Less – sort of a miniature version of a Costco – and Owen had found a giant container of iced tea mix.   Iced tea is one of his favorite things and he decided that we must figure out how to fit it into our luggage – along with a big bag of cinnamon toast cereal!!    The challenge we had faced with luggage on this trip was that our weight allowance on the flight from Auckland to Nadi was 25kg per person but our weight allowance on the little commuter flight from Nadi to Savusavu was 15kg – we were at 14.8 and 14.9 when we checked our bags in.   Thankfully they didn’t weight our carryon bags by themselves (instead they make you get on the scale with your carryon!) as I am pretty sure they were over the 7kg allowance for those!!  

We did finally make it back to Savusavu and immediately were hit by a wall of heat!!!   We also felt almost like we were coming home!   All was good with the boat thankfully and by the next day it almost felt like we had not left!!

We had only a short time in Auckland but enjoyed every minute of it. We came back with sore feet, full bellies and a desire to see more of New Zealand!