The City of Sails

Auckland, New Zealand, is sometimes called the City of Sails (not Sales) because of the large number of people who own sailboats.  It was also the home base of the America's Cup Yacht race in 2000 and 2003.  They are preparing for the race to be held here again in the next couple of years. Even the pedestrian walkway has a lift bridge to let the sailboats out into the ocean.

This is another vibrant city with the old buildings keeping company with skyscrapers and ongoing construction.






















The Ferry Building still sells tickets for the ferry which goes to remote islands, but it also houses boutiques and fancy restaurants.










The Sky Tower, the tallest tower in the Southern Hemisphere, looms over the city.  You can go up to the 88th floor to see the city and watch people jump off the 90th floor, attached to some sort of rope which lands them gently on the roof of a neighboring building.  It is expensive, but if you are over 70 you can jump for free!

I chose to taste "The Flavors of Auckland."  About a dozen of us met a local guide who pointed out landmarks and restaurants while we walked to 3 different places.  The first place was a famous bakery.  We were given our choice of beverage, such as tea, coffee, fruit drinks or soft drinks.  Then we were served both a sweet and a savory treat.  The sweet was a small slice of a custard tart with plums.  The savory was a dough filled with spicy ground meet.  Our next stop was intended to give us energy to walk the mile to the fish market.



We had our choice of a bonbon or a macaroon, but there were lots of tempting items, all very pricey.

Sanford and Sons is a large wholesale and retail fish market.  If we had been there at 4:00 in the
morning, this room would have been full of tubs of fresh fish.  Buyers walk up and down the aisles examining the fish to decide what they want to buy.  At 6:00 everyone goes into the auction room and sits at a desk with a computer connection.  The auctioneer will call out a "lot" of fish, describing it by the type as well as where it came from and its location on the viewing room floor. The process is called a Dutch Auction, there a high price is listed on the screen in front of the room. A dial starts the price going down.
When a bidder thinks that the price has reached a price he wants to pay, he presses a button on his desk indicating that he is willing to pay that price.  The trick is to let the price go down, but "ring in" before anyone else does.  The bidder then enters how many bins of that lot he wants.  the dial starts again and other bidders ring in until the whole lot is sold.  If you are the first, you pay a higher price, but if you wait for a lower price, there may not be any left.  It sounds complicated. You would have to know a lot about fish and the process to make the best deal. This continues until all the fish, or at least most of them are sold.  Leftover fish is sold in a fish market open to the public.  Anything that lasts too long becomes fertilizer or animal food.

Notice the price for Red Snapper.
That is for 2.2 pounds.

Get your mussel by the scoopful.

Squid is quite popular

After seeing all that fish, we were not really ready to have fish for lunch, so we headed to a local restaurant for a cheese tray followed by a selection of meat and vegetables and a glass of excellent New Zealand wine.

 

Darrell went back to see the penguins at the Auckland Aquarium and then to the Sky Tower.  You can read all about them by clicking on the title above.  This will take you to the actual "blogspot."  On the right side you will find a listing of posted blogs.  Click on 2018, then February, then on the last post for the month, Penguins and Towers and More.  That should bring up what I wrote about Auckland last year.