Tuesday
Mark is off Christmas week, so we wanted to get out of town for a little while. We still had a free hotel night that was about to expire, so we decided to use it at the Crowne Plaza in Auckland and see a little more of the big city. But first we had to get there. The traffic going into the city was pretty heinous, and Sherry needing a toilet break seemed as good an excuse as any to get off the jammed motorway and try to get to the Auckland Zoo via the city streets.
We ended up getting lost, as we were still outside the detailed blow-up of central Auckland in our atlas, and the regional map wasn't detailed enough. We nearly got killed more than once by JAFAs who decided to stop their cars right in front of us on fast, busy roads nowhere near an intersection. WTF!?! We got turned around somehow (there are no compass directions on the road signs) and started going in the wrong direction, and since it was close to noon the shadows weren't very helpful for navigation. We did get to see some of the more, ahem, "ethnic" parts of Auckland. At one point, while stopped at a light, Mark tried to grab the map away from Sherry and she playfully bit at him, prompting Ro to intervene, "Hush, parents!!!" Let's just say it was a true test of marital harmony.
We ended up losing an hour on our scenic tour of South Auckland, so we had to disappoint Ro when we told him we'd save the zoo for tomorrow, knowing we wouldn't have enough time for it today. Fortunately, the MOTAT (Museum Of Transport & Technology) was also nearby, and after a little convincing, Ro agreed to give it a chance. He was understandably impatient after our ordeal just getting there, but a little food brightened his mood considerably. Sherry had packed ham & cheese sandwiches for Mark and Ro, while she's acquired a taste for Vegemite with sliced cucumbers.
Picnic in the park
Ro hurried us through the historical displays of huge steam engines, coal-fired boilers, old cars and motorcycles, fire engines, and an exhibit on Kiwi hero Sir Edmund Hillary's exploration of Antarctica. Ro finally stopped to look at something for more than 5 seconds when we got to the Challenge Zone, a series of interactive displays. He enjoyed the crank-powered light bulb, radio, and fan, but even Mark had trouble powering all three at once. The earthquake simulator was a big hit with Ro, probably because he's never experienced the real thing. The mirror maze actually freaked him out a little bit, though; he was afraid we were getting lost, never to return.
Sherry with a 1928 Chrysler Imperial
Cool as!
Whoa, trippy!
Where are you, mummy?
A bit Disneyland-ish compared to the rest of the museum, the motion simulation theatre looked like a moving spaceship from the outside, so of course Ro wanted to go inside as soon as he saw it. The show we saw was an incredible 15 minute ride through New Zealand's Southern Alps. We skimmed over fjords, snowfields, and craggy peaks, but the real treat was when we followed a speeding Shotover jetboat down a river, watching just how precariously it comes to huge boulders before spinning 360 degrees in a spray of water. The film obviously had to be shot by one heck of a helicopter stunt pilot.
We stoked Ro's competitive streak at the sports technology area, where we all raced against the clock, shot baskets (netball and basketball), pitched and kicked balls as fast as we could, and checked our reaction times. Mark got his tennis ball throwing up to 74km/hr, not sure if that's good, but his shoulder was sore for the rest of the day. Sherry denies cheating in the sprint since she didn't cross the starting line until the light turned green, but Mark maintains that it's not kosher to get a running start from behind the line. Ro was getting a little frustrated with his lack of success...until we got to the balance board. Mark and Sherry couldn't manage more than five seconds, but Ro was able to balance a board with his feet on either side of the narrow fulcrum for almost a minute!
How do we make the train go?
The airplane hangar was separate from the rest of MOTAT, so we boarded an antique tram for a ride past Western Springs Park and the Auckland Zoo to the Memorial Aviation Collection. The densely packed hangar featured more planes than we could count, clustered around the two big boys: the only Solent Mk IV Flying Boat left in the world (the initial trans-Tasman workhorse of what became Air New Zealand) and a rare WWII Avro Lancaster heavy bomber. There was a little gift shop at the front of the hangar, and Ro wanted a plane (almost all of which are available at Wal-Mart back home for a third of the price), but we informed him there was no way we were buying impulse toys three days out from Christmas. He was a little dejected until Sherry talked him into getting some freeze-dried astronaut ice cream instead (one of her favorites).
The Flying Boat Aranui was BIG
How the other half lived. TEAL eventually became Air NZ
Ro's favorite was too small even for him
Mark dwarfed by a Lancaster bomber
Catching the complimentary tram
We got back to MOTAT just in time for Ro to have a play on their climbing frame, then we walked back to the car and drove into the CBD to check in to our hotel. Ro really liked the room, claiming the settee for his bed (mind you, he had a double bed all to himself) and making it up with pillows and blankets until it was boot-camp perfect. By this time we were famished, so we walked out of the atrium at the back of the hotel onto quaint Elliott Street, where there were loads of restaurants to choose from.
It's beginning to look a lot like Christmas
Ro always knows how to make Sherry nervous
Some unintentional forced perspective caught Ro shoulder-perching in angelic mode
Captivated by the energy of the city below
Sherry was craving jasmine tea, so we ended up back at the Dragon Boat (where we ate on our first visit to Auckland). The food was even better this time. The only imported thing we've found in NZ that's cheaper than in the States is shark fin soup, so Mark couldn't resist, slurping up every last politically incorrect drop; Ro kept wavering on whether or not to try it (he didn't, but decided to just tell all his friends he did). Mark's seafood combo was delicious (and huge), while Sherry stuck with some fried tofu that even Mark grudgingly agreed tasted pretty good. In lives past, when Sherry was a much stricter vegetarian, she would have instantly sent back her Hot & Sour Soup, but now she just picked out the meat and kept eating, letting Mark and Ro have a go at the discarded prawns and pork. Ro was a little hesitant to eat his Sweet & Sour Pork at first, but once he got the first piece down he realized that it was really good and dug in. After cleaning half his platter, he loudly announced in the quiet yet crowded restaurant, "I need to poop!"
Good, eh?
After dinner, we walked over to SkyCity Metro to see what was playing at the cinema. Unfortunately, the last showing of A Christmas Carol had already started, we'd already seen all the other kids movies, and Avatar was sold out. We consoled ourselves with some ice cream (Rainbow for Ro and Kiwi Pavlova for Mark - Sherry just got a coffee) and riding up and down the glass rocket-shaped elevator. Sherry stopped in the $3 Japanese Store, where nothing was even worth $2 let alone $3, but Ro talked us into buying a pack of cute vegetable shaped erasers and some markers (we'd forgotten to bring his). While Sherry took Ro back to the room for a bath, Mark did a little Christmas shopping. He brought back some wine and chocolate, grabbed a couple wine glasses from the bar downstairs, and we all settled on the bed watching The Santa Clause 2 until Ro fell asleep.
Ro breaks into an impromptu haka. Benefits of a Kiwi education
Ro made us ride this glass elevator at least 5 times
View from our room
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