Auckland Trinity Cathedral, Aug 2023

 Auckland Trinity Cathedral

View from the bus.  The original is the smaller white building.  It was originally built where I am standing, turned 90 degrees.  They moved it across the street and turned it!  The current one in use is the red brick in the back.

From the bus it didn't look too spectacular, but we figured it was on the tour for a reason, right?  The inside is gorgeous and unlike any other cathedral I've seen.

Front entrance to the modern church

Front entrance from the inside

Wow

This is delightful

The stained glass images were carefully planned.

Fancy wood organ pipes

So light and airy.

A bit like the stained glass in Le Harve

Meanwhile at the back of the church is a small chapel for intimate gatherings

Jaw drop-so good of them to use all glass to good effect.  We did get lucky with the sun this day.

Then over to the original church.  The inside has a completely different vibe, all warm wood and cozy.  The annex held artifacts from the wars and natural history. 

I do love the pattern in the roof tile.

 

This is the modern sculpture outside the front that would likely look better with water.

Auckland Bastion Point and Kohimarama beach, Aug 2023

 A beachy suburb we discovered on the hop on bus tour.

From the top of Bastion Point highlighting the Land of Low Lying Clouds.  There is a huge memorial to one of the mayors, but it looked really basic, so instead we hiked down the hill to the beach area

Delightful public art in pebble mosaics

Look at this 80s apartment architecture!   Those balconies have a view of the beach.

We ate lunch at a funky Thai restaurant, had ice cream, checked out the fountain and surrounding park.

Then we saw this soccer team taking beach pictures-is it the American Team?!?  Yes...but not the one playing, a college team that came over together to see the games.  How cute is that!

Eating well in Auckland, Aug 2023

 So much good food!  So many lovely drinks!  Almost everything we ate, at all price points was amazing.

First up, some fancy drinks

Lots of bottled drinks that were new to us.

On our fancy dinner night, we picked a more upscale restaurant that looked great online.  But then we got there and it was in an odd light industry area, and there was no one else eating!  We asked and they said Thursday night is never popular...so we basically had the chef to ourselves.  It was fantastic.  Just so good.  

On the other end of the $$, we found a Malaysian restaurant.  Uncle working, do not enter!

Dinosaur Milo!!

Great stuff I haven't eaten in years.  A comfort food place for sure.

On an outing across the bay we found a funky Thai place.  Great soup on a rainy day.

Finally the hand made noodle bar.

Not the best noodles I've had, but solid.

And note the funky spaceman coffee apparatus.   If I liked coffee at all I would have given it a try.