Woke up and had a look through the guidebook to see what was worth doing in Auckland. Nothing really jumped out at me, so I and turned my last day in Auckland into a write-off decided to follow Emad’s advice and hit up Devonport via ferry. I’d be heading out to Wieneke the next day, but I’d heard good things about Devonport too so I figured why not.
First on my list, though, was the market at Aotea Square. I had a wander through, but wasn’t really blown away by the goods. I decided I’d head to the ferry, but en route I stumbled across a store called Super $3 Japan or something to that effect. It was filled with lots of useless and useful Made-in-China items, ranging from makeup products to gardening tools. Some definitely worth less than $3, but other items that should have cost a lot more. I wandered around and marvelled at everything, but figured $3 was too much to pay when I was flying to China the following evening.
Ferry was relatively cheap. I stopped in at the tourist information booth to get an idea of what was worth seeing in Devonport and she recommended a route. I started out on it – first heading up Mt. Victoria. Devonport is connected with the North Island, but juts out enough that it sits across the harbour from the Auckland CBD, and as a result Mt. Victoria offered some nice views. I took some pictures and then plopped myself on the grass overlooking the city and read some of my book. I was tempted to finish the book and trade it in at one of the local secondhand shops (which I couldn’t find in the CBD at all), but there wasn’t much protection from the sun, and I’d forgotten to put on sunscreen. I headed back down the hill then walked along the shore towards North Head.
Grabbed a late lunch in Devonport, then headed back to the CBD for a look around. Did some more reading in a small park, then went in search of a bookstore. No luck finding anything secondhand, so I headed back to the hostel and had a shower and got ready for my evening plans.
Evening plans consisted of meeting up with Kevin and Karen at the Westpac on Queen Street at 6:30pm. To refresh your memory, Kevin and Karen were the Scottish couple from the Uluru tour. They’d been in Auckland for a month, having taken a break from travelling to work for a couple more months. They’re in Auckland till July or so, then plan on doing some travelling around New Zealand before heading to North America.
Our plan was to grab dinner at a local pub, but as Kevin was waiting in line for the cash machine, a young lady approached us and regaled us with tales of $3000 worth of free alcohol just waiting to quench our thirst at the Globe Bar – which was less than 100 metres around the corner. Our plans suddenly derailed, we headed to Globe Bar (a place Kevin and Karen had been to a few times, as it was steps away from the hostel they stayed in before finding a flat). For someone who really doesn’t drink too much, I found myself staring down yet another pint of beer in the same week. We stared down two more (since the price was so good) then we decided we were much too hungry to wait any longer. The two Ks treated me to a really nice dinner (and more beer) at a pub called (I think) the Playground in Aotea Square.
We headed to K Road (three people whose names start with K heading to K Road – go figure) to seek out the drag queens (but only saw one), then on to the Ponsonby neighbourhood, where we stopped at another bar and had another drink. Two brits, Abby and Michelle, who Karen and Kevin met when they first came to Auckland, met us there. Another bar (and beer, yikes) after that – this time at a place called the Chapel. It looked busy, but we found a table without much effort. Had another drink there, and decided to call it a night after that, which was just as well, as I think one more beer would have lead to my downfall. Shared a cab home and got to sleep early enough that tomorrow probably won’t end up being a write-off.