It was a busy day in Waitemata Harbor. "The Fleet's In."

Today maked a red-letter day in my time here in New Zealand. I had recently turned 65 (a red-letter day by itself), had applied for and received my super-gold card, and was now in Auckland to purchase my Gold AtHop card. This wonderful card would allow me free travel on all  buses and trains in Auckland. After buying my card (only $10) through the customer service people in Britomart, I thought I'd take a quick look at the harbor and see if any cruise ships were in port.  I like to do that because sometimes ships of a really montrous size are tied up. They're impressive. The harbor is just across the street from Britomart and I had about 20 minutes before the next train. 

As I exited the building and looked up Queen Street, I immediately saw this guy walking along. I assumed that he was the captain (or something) from a cruise ship. 

 He looks like a cruise ship captain, right?

And sure enough, when I looked toward the harbor, there was a cruise ship. Not all that big, but a nice enough one. 

At this point, I was still convinced that I had spied the Captain of this vessel.  

but then, 

I spotted this ship tied up right across the harbor from the cruise ship. I asked a guy standing near me on the wharf if he knew what that ship was and he replied that it was a training ship from Chile. 

Hmmm, I thought. How unusual. 

I was on Queen's Wharf at that point, and decided to see if anything interesting was happening on the next wharf over...As a matter of fact, quite a bit was...

I discovered that there were ships from all over the world tied up at every available wharf, and a bunch anchored out in the harbor as well. (The U.S.S. Sampson was out there.) 

As you can see, the ships are here for the International Naval Review.  They are celebrating  The Royal New Zealand's Navy's 75th anniversary.

http://nznavy75.co.nz/

As I walked around the waterfront, I ran across all sorts of Officers

and crewmen, and even more officers.

Looking to my right from where the ferries tie up...

and to my left, I saw these ships.

I walked out on to the next wharf and along side ship 208 (see the picture above this one.)  I found that security was everywhere. Here are a couple of city security on Segways. 

And here are two that look like they could mean business.

This is the ship I was walking along side

And this guy was guarding the gangplank. He is dressed as if he's ready for action too, but he looks like he needs to bulk up a little for that uniform. And I was curious about what that ring thing is...

He and his ship are from India. 

Farther on, I saw some other ships with a very different look. 

It was getting late, I had stayed in town much longer than I had planned to, so I didn't walk over to find out about these last two. 

Apparently, all these war ships had been in Auckland a couple of days already, and would be staying at least through Sunday. (I saw them on Friday.) I would assume that at least some of the sailors would get shore leave during this period, and who knows what excitement they might find?  

To close out this post, I thought I might tack on a poster I found from this 1941 Musical. McKenzie, I know you're a student and fan of musicals but I don't know if you have ever ran across this ancient one. From my jaded perspective, the clips of this movie I saw on Youtube look pretty sappy. I doubt that it paints an accurate picture of today's sailors on shore leave, especially if they make it up Queen Street's mile long hill to 'K' - Road. 

I once explored a section of Karangahape Road during the morning hours before most of the businesses were open (most open after 9 a.m., way after), and felt safe enough to be doing so. However, based on some of the slumbering businesses I saw, I decided that the area was probably a little wilder after dark than I would like.  As I approached one nightclub for example, it's front door opened and a person came out of it. He stood about 6' 2", had a weight-lifters build, and had on a short-skirted nurses uniform.  He took a seat on the bench along the street and lit up a cigarette. I figured if this business was the type that needed to keep nurses on staff, especially nurses capable of bench pressing 300 lbs., then that was not a joint I wanted to hang out in. (My pace may have accellerated just a bit at this point)

I've read that the city has been working hard to encourage a 'gentrification' of K-Road and it does now have many art studios, boutiques, and trendy cafes besides its many 'nightspots', but it just doesn't call out to me in the least. I'm thinking though, that a bunch of sailors might find all sorts of interesting things to do there...  And, after they're done with touring the sights along K-Road, it's all downhill back to their ships.  And I know the City Loop buses run pretty late. I'll bet the drivers of those buses have all sorts of stories to tell about when 'The Fleet's In.'            -djf