The Lucknow Sentinel, 2015-05-20, Page 9N
UBLIC SERVICE ANNOUNCEMENT
Wednesday, May 20, 2015 • Lucknow Sentinel 9
Maureen Matchett
A view of Auckland city (including the Sky Tower) from Mount Eden, which is Auckland's highest
volcanic cone (196m).
The
Part 1
A brave person SkyJumps 328m from the Sky Tower, with a fantastic view of Auckland's harbour and
nearby island communities.
ew Zealand experience
Maureen Matchett
Recently, Maureen Matchett and
Kenton Klassen returned from a
seven week trip to New Zealand.
The next few issues will have a series
of articles summarizing their
experiences.
We began our New Zealand
experience with, what else, a very
long travel day. Most Canadians
from our area initially fly to Van-
couver, San Francisco, or Los
Angeles (about 5 hours) before
boarding their flight to a New
Zealand city (about 12
hours). We left Sunday morning,
flew 16.5 hours and waited in two
airports, but we arrived in Auck-
land at 6 a.m. on Tuesday instead
of Monday because we crossed
the International Date Line
(adjusting to the time change
took us several days)! Because
NZ is an island nation, it takes
environmental and ecological
issues seriously. If a foreign spe-
cies of plant, animal, fly, virus,
bacteria, etc. gets into the coun-
try, it can have devastating
impacts. So, after clearing Cus-
toms, we then had to clear envi-
ronmental screening, claiming
any and all food items as well as
camping gear, with serious fines
for failing to declare. Even our
hiking boots were inspected.
Although we had done some
research about New Zealand, we
had made no specific plans for our
visit aside from booking a couple of
beds in an Auckland hostel for our
first few days. We knew there were
two main islands (imaginatively
called North Island and South
Island), plus the much -smaller
Stewart Island in the south, along
with tinier islands around the
coasts, some inhabited, some not.
New Zealand is a first -world coun-
try, with first -world prices, but also
first -world wages and first -world
infrastructure. Many Canadians
love traveling in New Zealand
because it's organized, with rules
that are actually written down. It's
not perfect -there's still bureau-
cracy -but it lacks the chaos of less
developed countries. Plus, NZ
resembles Canada geographically,
especially BC and Atlantic Canada,
with lots of coastline, trees, farms,
and similar architecture. Both
countries were British colonies,
and though settlements in Canada
began earlier, both countries expe-
rienced significant settlement in
the mid- to late -1800s. Both have
kept their British heritage alive,
and both have a love -hate relation-
ship with a close neighbouring
country. Our two currencies trade
almost at par, and the money looks
remarkably similar --slippery poly-
mer bills with the same lady's face
gracing the green $20, and no pen-
nies. However, NZ prices are
higher, and we experienced "sticker
shock" throughout our trip. Food
was more expensive in both restau-
rants and grocerystores,gas is 2
$ /
litre, and alcohol is pricey. It's
understandable: NZ imports make
a significant sea journey, plus the
population is small at 4 million.
Although we wanted to enjoy our
time in NZ, we were very aware of
the need to budget! There were also
security cameras everywhere,
especially in the cities. Although
American-style fast food can be
found, cafes are NZ's dominant res-
taurant style, and could be found
everywhere with proper espresso
machines, even in tiny villages. In a
nation full of baristas, we rarely had
trouble finding a superior cup of
coffee.
We spent about a week in Auck-
land (North Island) both sightsee-
ing and planning our travels. Auck-
land (and the greater Auckland
urban area) is NZ's largest (1.4 mil-
lion) and fastest-growing city, and
its industrial giant, and thus it has
significant influence over NZ poli-
cies, even though Wellington is
actually NZ's capital city (rather
similar to Toronto's relationship
with Ottawa). Visiting the city cen-
tre as well as the "suburbs" takes a
few days! The city is visually stun-
ning, with volcanoes alongside
spectacular waterfront. Other than
in the downtown area, Auckland's
buildings are usually no more than
8 stories high. As a result, the city is
very spread out, but the bus and
ferry services are reasonably effi-
cient and affordable, and it's
pedestrian -friendly, with lots of
tree -lined streets and parks. And
the late -summer days were usually
sunny and warm with cool nights,
far preferable to the wicked cold
temperatures back in Lucknow!
Auckland is a very multi -cultural
city, with lots of restaurants serving
a wide variety of cuisines, but the
city's architecture really reminded
us of home -19th century British
colonial style, with many British
symbols (e.g. lions) and lots of
things named after Queen Victoria,
Prince Albert, and a few other
royals.
We visited the Mount Eden area,
a rather upscale part of an already
affluent city! We strolled through
the shops and ate a tasty lunch at
an upscale Vietnamese restaurant,
then hiked up Mount Eden, which
is Auckland's highest volcanic cone
(196 m). The 50m deep crater is
incredibly symmetrical and is a
sacred site for the Maori, who call it
the Food Bowl of Mataaho, the god
of things hidden in the ground.
Tribes created food storage pits
here, and several are still visible
(though no longer in use). The
sunny, 360° view really helped us
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understand the layout of the city
and its nearby islands. Later that
afternoon, we ascended the Sky
Tower in downtown Auckland. At
328m, it's the southern hemi-
sphere's tallest structure (the CN
Tower is 553m). We watched a few
adventurous people do a SkyJump
from close to the top of the tower,
jumping using 3 cables for stability
and safety! No, neither of us
jumped; if I'm going to spend $300,
I'd like it to be on something that
lasts longer than a minute!
Next article: More on Auckland,
then off to Christchurch.
.►o.... .a
Ai
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