NZ Cruise Diaries – Day 6 (Auckland)

We awoke this morning to an absolutely spectacular sunrise and clear skies. The seas felt a lot flatter, and most excitingly, the sun felt warm through the window.

We had another buffet breakfast (urgh), then at 8.30 am walked off the ship and into the city of Auckland.

Compared to Tauranga, the docks at Auckland are smack bang in the middle of the city. You literally walk straight across the street (passing through some gorgeous wrought-iron gates, I might add) into the CBD.

We hadn’t done a lot of research prior to our holiday, thinking we would just wing it. So all we knew at this point was that we wanted to visit the local markets and a coffee shop/roastery that D had researched. I was a little disappointed by the markets; it felt like exactly the same sort of stuff at home so we didn’t end up buying anything.

On the way to the coffee shop, I fell in love with some of the street art on the side of this building.

The coffee shop was called Maeve Coffee Roasters, on Anzac Avenue in Auckland. You know you’re in a good coffee shop when you walk in, the vibe is minimalist but warm, and your husband starts getting excited about the coffee machine in the corner. Bonus points if he starts saying a lot of words you don’t understand but you smile and nod along anyway.

I also found the display of all the beans and bags very cool.

The coffee was really good. After rejecting the free watery slop on the ship, and paying for decent coffee from the onboard coffee shop, Maeve felt like an absolute luxury. Obviously D had connected well with them about the roaster out the back, because the staff even brought him out specific beans for him to look at and smell! Maeve was well worth the effort to visit.

While we were at the coffee shop, I researched what we would do next. Every suggestion I had, the boys said nope, so finally I put my foot down.

We were going to Wētā Workshop.

Now, if you’re familiar with The Lord of the Rings, The Hobbit or Avatar, you’ll probably recognise the Wētā name. Wētā Workshop and Wētā FX are separate companies, but there’s a lot of shared history there. Wētā FX is the visual effects company behind movies including those, while Wētā Workshop works on practical effects, props, costumes and design.

A year earlier when we decided to go on this cruise, we had originally looked into visiting Hobbiton, where they filmed Lord of the Rings and The Hobbit. But the shore excursion from the cruise was going to cost an insane $700 each, all up $2,100 for the day. That was a hard no from us, especially since L hadn’t seen the movies. So Wētā Workshop was going to be the closest we’d get, and I was sure there was going to be some cool stuff there.

And I was right.

(Side note: I later looked up Auckland shore excursions only to find a visit to the very same Wētā Workshop cost $171 per adult. I bought tickets for the three of us for $105. That’s insane! The only difference is you get a bonus bus trip out along a road in Auckland, and then back into town for the workshop. Still not worth paying that price; what a rort! Same deal for Hobbiton – if you make your own way there, you can save a ton of money.)

Wētā Workshop was amazing. Essentially, they’ve designed three fake movies, and you get to visit three different “lands” that are in the process of creating the scenery and props for the movies. There’s a horror film, a sci-fi film that feels like a cross between Mad Max and LOTR, and a fantasy one that’s more fairy-like and mythical.

The attention to detail is very cool. There were so many things, but some highlights were:

• The sensor that you held your hand over in mid-air, and had a robotic arm copy your exact movements (even down to your fingers curling in and out). They had the same thing for your face, with a camera detecting your movements, with a skull following along (so creepy).
• A giant winged monster that you moved levers and handles to operate the wings and arms.
• A monster that you put your head in its mouth, recorded a yell, and then used sliders to adjust the effects and have it yell back at you (terrifying; L refused to put his head in).
• Playing a game of Operation, but you’re pulling organs out of an alien in the midst of an autopsy.
• The realistic guy sleeping at a desk (fake, but incredible detail), only to scare the bageezus out of us when we went into the next room and found him awake and towering over us.
• An entire room with a model of a tower on a hill full of luscious green land, opposite the “bad guys'” barren landscape with hastily made tents.

The level of detail blew me away. There are some very, very talented people in this world.

The tour was 90 minutes, and so worth it. And while I had to put my foot down and insist we were going, both boys agreed it was very cool.

One day they’ll learn to trust my judgement on activities!

Following that, we headed further into town to grab some lunch and then take L up the Auckland Sky Tower.

We found Federal Delicatessen at the base, where L had a burger, D had a hot dog (and discovered an incredible spiced tomato sauce, aka ketchup), and I randomly decided on poutine because I didn’t want anything big. I also decided I’d get a spider (also known as a root beer float) because L had never seen one before, and I decided to weird him out. He was as amazed as I expected, and it gave me a good laugh.

The joke was on me though, because my poutine was huge.

After that, we headed into the Sky Tower and the observation deck. Amazingly, I realised that in all my photos and videos, I never actually took one of the outside looking up at the tower. Oops.

Here’s one courtesy of TripAdvisor:

Quick facts on the Sky Tower:

• It’s 328m tall
• The main observation deck is at 186m
• Sky Deck is at 220m (you had to pay extra to get up there; we didn’t bother)

L enjoyed walking around on the transparent floor, looking down at the streets below. I walked on there, but won’t lie, it was an eerie feeling. I boldly claimed that I would absolutely do the bungy jump off the side, but wasn’t paying the money for it; truth be told, I think I’d shit my pants if I had to do that. My claim impressed my son, though.

After that, we decided we’d head back to the boat. L was tired, and we’d already clocked up another 15k steps with our wandering. I reminded him that D and I enjoy walking and exploring when we travel, so there’s a good chance I’ve just scared L off family holidays in the future.

Back on board, L happily read his book while I showered and straightened my hair.

We got him some dinner, and then checked him back in for kids’ club.

D and I had booked ourselves in for the (extra cost) restaurant, Fahrenheit 555 Steakhouse. D enjoys good meat (yep, I’m leaving that sentence as-is because I’m immature and share the same sense of humour as an adolescent boy), and back at home regularly spends a pretty penny buying expensive steak. He was keen to splash out and try it.

The meal cost $70-ish each, where you picked from a set menu. We also opted to pair each meal with wine, but you get about 1/3 of a glass, so don’t expect much. As a non-seafood eater, and not loving steak (turned off when I was pregnant with L and never really gotten back to it), I was a little bummed by my lack of options. But to be fair, it’s a steak restaurant, so what did I expect?

I ended up with:

• A spring roll entree
• An amazing bread topped with parmesan (forget what it’s called, but it was like a wrapped bread, and you tore off little bits; it was so good)
• Caesar salad
• Roasted chicken (the sauce it came with was a honey vinegar, and it was divine)
• A dessert of a chocolate sphere that you poured hot chocolate sauce on so that it melted and broke open.

Did I love the meal? Yes. Would I have paid extra over what I was getting in the main restaurant included with our cruise costs? Nope. Did D love his steak? Yes.

It was fun to have a special night just for us, though, and we enjoyed ourselves. Although I’m not sure D was impressed by my conversation, which was largely about what we should do tomorrow with my parents. My brain was too much in logistics mode to think of anything else.

After that we went and had a look at the blue and purple skies (we’d missed the sunset), grabbed the little guy from kids’ club, and came back to our cabin.

I discovered that in Auckland they have a light show on some shipping containers every night, so I was keen to see that. And bonus – we can see it from our balcony! Though it’s basically the same few seconds of projection on repeat.

So my plan now is to go watch that for a minute, read, and then it’s time for bed.

When you’re visiting somewhere new, do you like to plan everything in advance, or are you more of a wing-it-and-see-what-happens person?