Sailing in the City of Sails

April 18, 2011

A trip to New Zealand would not be complete without sailing in the city of sails. Nancy and I went down to Auckland aka the City of sails this morning to take a sailboat around the harbor. We successfully boarded our bus to Auckland and found the pier where the sailboats were, which is pretty good for us. It was a nice clear day with a light wind, the perfect day for day for sailing. We boarded the Pride of Auckland at 1 o'clock and sailed for lunch. We got lunch and hot chocolate on the boat as we were pulling out. It was just perfect. We set sail around the harbor having a gorgeous view of Auckland, the sky tower, Devonport, Rangitoto, Waiheke island, and the harbor bridge. We sailed by a racing sailboat preparing for America's World Cup with sailing. It was pretty cool to watch and see how those boats work. We sailed under the Harbor Bridge over near the largest sailing harbor in the southern hemisphere.Seeing the city by sail is one of my favorite sights. It just completed my trip to New Zealand. I had the opportunity to take the wheel and steer the sailboat around the harbor! So cool. I definitely didn't expect to have the opportunity to drive a sailboat in New Zealand. I loved every minute of it. We sailed around the harbor for about an 1 1/2 before sailing back into Auckland. I love how my first experience on a sailboat was in the city of sails.

After sailing around the Harbor, we took a bus up to Parnell Street and walked through some of the shops. Parnell is like the high rise of Auckland. There were so many cute little boutiques with cute things. The weather turned on us while we were there and it started raining heaps. We stopped at the chocolate boutique and shared a waffle with ice cream and passion fruit sauce. It was so good. I really have acquired a taste for passion fruit over here. I wish it was more accessible in the states.

Nancy and I really had a perfect relaxing Friday sailing the harbor in Auckland. I could not have asked for a better way to spend my last Friday in Auckland.