Today I'm going to show you a very small part of Auckland's harbour. In the past, this area was all industrial, with fuel storage tanks and rough edges everywhere. You'll see that the harbour and especially the portion known as the Wynyard Quarter has been reborn, or rather rebuilt, into a lively, beautiful part of the city.
This is the boat we once took out into the Hauraki Gulf and the Firth of Thames on a whale watching tour. We saw lots of dophins, and finally, a fin whale. We were told that our whale was about 60 feet long. Not a huge one. Fin whales are the second largest species, next to the blue whale, and can grow to be about 80 feet long.
The harbour is criss-crossed with bridges
This is the view from the middle of a pedestrian draw bridge.
That's Rangitoto of course in the distance. It's about 4 kilometers off shore.
ASB was formerly known as the Auckland Savings Bank. The Auckland Fish Market building stands beyond it. (to its right)
The Event Center hosts conventions and shows of all sorts.
These are water benches.
This little reflecting pool and sculpture is not far from the Auckland Fish Market. The AFM was THE place for fish in the old days. The fleets would supply it and it distributed fish to the area. I get the impression though that this area was a tough part of town.
Today, the AFM has a culinary school, trendy restaurants galore, and live jazz. It's currently under renovation so much of it's glory has been quieted, but it'll come back by the end of the year I'm told and be better than ever.
That's the Auckland Harbour Bridge in the distance. It was the scene of a Guiness Book World Record attempt on or about May 16, 2017.
Kiwi Mike Heard just set a new bungee jumping world record with 430 jumps from the Auckland bridge in 24 hours. On the left in the picture, you can see what I think might be part of his bungee line dangling below the bridge. I had read that he would be attempting his record the day I shot this picture, but clearly he and his crew must have been on a break. And I know that he did a lot of jumping during the night. (I had a video of his jumping here when I first wrote this post but I checked today and it's been taken down. Sorry)
On my way back to the train, I realized that I wanted some lunch when I passed this interesting special. The beef cheek I found out, was roasted slowly overnight and shredded in the morning like pulled pork is produced.
This was a surprise. What's he doing on their wall? That's Samuel L. Jackson, aka 'Jules' in Pulp Fiction. In one scene from the movie he tasted and commented on a 'Big Kahuna Burger.' It was not a Burger Boy Beef Cheek Burger. Like him though, I did find my burger to be tasty. -djf
(This link takes you to an eleven second long clip from that movie. There is no violence in this clip.)
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ecc0nbg9m-8
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ecc0nbg9m-8
I know you and Jeanne took me here in 2014 - I remember the AFM, lunch at a trendy outdoor café (Jeanne had soft shell crab), seeing the same or similar whale cruiser boat, and many of the buildings, skyline and Rangitoto.
ReplyDeleteI'm not sure why I don't remember the Auckland Harbour Bridge - and if the water benches and reflecting pool were there in 2014 I'm sure you would have taken me there and I would have oooood and ahhhhhhhd and likely embarrassed us all by bouncing on the benches and splashing in the pool!
It's cool that Mike Heard set a Guiness record for NZ! I'll bet that Kiwis in general set more per-capita records than many other countries!
Finally I'm glad you put the food part of your post at the end cause it neatly coincided with the end of my lunch. Otherwise you would've had me drooling for a tasty cheeky beef burger.
The water benches are a recent addition to the area and lots of people take their shoes off and bounce around on them. Kids too. You would have fit right in. The reflecting pool has always been there but it is past the AFM. The harbour bridge too, is easier to see if you walk well past the AFM.
DeleteI always get hungry when I read your blogs--I wonder why? I have never had a beef cheek burger but I would try it. It is wonderful that there are so many places that families can explore and enjoy in NZ. McKenzie
ReplyDeleteYeah, I do tend to go on about the food don't I? Well, I think it is a big part of travelling, or in our case, living in a new country.
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