Pure Kiwis - Nov 10

I am going to jump ahead several days because I want to document our OAT trip and I am afraid I won’t remember as much if I always write ten or twelve days after the fact.

Our OAT tour is called “Pure New Zealand.”  It starts today for us, because we (obviously) did not use OAT for our transportation to New Zealand. Those who did use OAT arrived yesterday morning or this morning. Today we all had a chance to meet each other and our guide, or Trip Experience Leader, as OAT calls their guides. “Guide” is easier to type. Our guide is Gavin. He is 27 years old, and was born and raised in New Zealand. He majored in music in “university” but went into the travel business. He is tall and chunky, and he will need his size in order to “lead” 16 seniors who have been everywhere and done everything and know everything.

We met Gavin and some of the members of our group when we were at breakfast. Three of the women in the group had already left on an all-day excursion to an island known for bird-watching.

Last night had been an awful night for Ken because he got food poisoning last night (most likely from a grocery store sandwich). It was an awful night for me by extension, but certainly much worse for Ken.  

I decided to go with six other group members who wanted to walk around Central Auckland. Ken went back to our room to rest. I did not take very many photos because I am used to Ken being there and taking the photos. I really thought I had taken many more photos than I actually did. 

We walked down to Queen Street, which is the main shopping street in Central Auckland. We crossed over and walked down Vulcan Lane towards the University of Auckland.

We passed a charming building called University House. It was built as a synagogue in 1885 in the Romanesque style, with Gothic and Moorish elements. The congregation moved to another location in 1967, and the building is now used by the University of Auckland to house the department of Alumni Relations and Development. 

A gorgeous clock tower across the street also demanded attention. The tower was finished in 1926 and is an Auckland icon.

As we continued walking along the edge of the campus we came to Albert Park, which boasts some beautiful flowers and trees.

Bear’s Breeches

The University of Auckland has a wonderful coat of arms

After walking through Albert Park, we came to the Art Museum. Since I had already been there, I decided to go back to the hotel and check on Ken. 

On the way back I found a sculpture that I love. It’s called “8 Acute Unequal Angles,” or maybe it was another number, by Bernar Venet.

Back at the hotel, we were both so tired we fell asleep until housekeeping knocked on our door.

We went down to the lobby to hang out while our room was cleaned. I decided to run out to the nearest grocery store to get some yogurt for Ken. That became another challenge. There is an odd little grocery store on the corner (store #1). It’s not part of a chain. I went in to look for strawberry yogurt. They only had a few types of yogurt, no strawberry, and they were charging NZ $5.50 for one 4 oz cup. While I was deciding what to do, a group of 5 or 6 young toughs came in, and I quickly decided to leave. No one else was in the store but the cashier. 

I thought I would just pop into the Japanese grocery (store #2) across the street from our hotel. No yogurt at all there. 

So I ended up going to a “real” grocery store (store #3, a chain, not the one the poison sandwiches came from), down the hill and then one block down Queen Street. They had many sizes, flavors, styles and brands of yogurt and yogurt-adjacent products. I got a six-pack of 4-oz strawberry yogurt cups for NZ $5.20 for the six-pack. (NZ $1 is worth approximately US $0.60.)

A large department store on Queen Street has about 8 windows with cute little multicultural elf marionettes doing different things in each window. The way they moved was very clever.

By the time I got back to the hotel lobby, Gavin was there and we chatted for a bit while Ken ate one of the yogurts. We went back to the room and soon it was 5:00 pm and time for the briefing Gavin had scheduled. Finally the entire group was assembled. Gavin did a good job with the briefing. I think he has a really good personality for a tour leader. However, the tour has been really laid back, so far. Our whole day was “free time.” Lunch was on our own, dinner was on our own, breakfast comes with the hotel room. The only part of today that felt like a tour was the briefing. However, tomorrow sounds like it will be a busy day, with a lot more content, so I am hopeful that this is just a function of people arriving at different times + jet lag + wanting us to have choices in a big city like Auckland.

Gavin had promised that after the briefing he would lead us on an orientation walk down to the waterfront area. By this time, everyone had already been to the waterfront, and very few people wanted to go again with Gavin. I joined a group who was heading out to dinner. Ken was not yet ready for solid food, so he went back to our room to rest.

We went to the Occidental - a place Gavin recommended, that was famous for oysters and mussels. I don’t really like oysters or mussels, but it was nice to have people to talk to. I ordered a Caesar salad. I was craving something green. The restaurant was more of a sports bar than a restaurant. It was so noisy no one could hear much of anything. No, that’s not true - it was much noisier than that. I couldn’t wait to get out of there.

Oaties in the Occidental

Everyone in our group seems really nice. We have 5 couples (including Ken and me) and 6 solo women. (OAT is famous for not charging solo travelers extra.) All of the group members are from the US. They are all white. At least half of them appear to be in their 80’s. I would guess the rest are in their 70’s. Nobody has any mobility issues. 

I’m excited. I am feeling fine. I think this is going to be a great tour. Shabbat Shalom!

The sun reflects off the bottom of the clouds. New Zealand is known for its spectacular cloud formations.

Today’s fabric is Hand-Drawn Retro Inspired Abstract Kiwi Scallop Print in Lime Green Large, by olive+light.