We’ve been to Auckland several times.  Each time we’ve visited Devonport.  We’ve walked the waterfront, visited the Maritime Museum, strolled through the Central Business District (CBD), sailed on an America’s Cup yacht, and visited local wineries.  But we really hadn’t seen much of Auckland outside downtown and the Harbor.  We remedied that with a ride on the hop on hop off bus.

Walking in the Central Business District was much easier this time than on the other visits.  The streets were torn up then but now the project is completed, including a wide pedestrian mall leading from the Ferry Building on the waterfront into the CBD.  Before it was a rat’s maze.  I thought it was a fiendish experiment designed by the Auckland University Psych department as we wove through the construction zone crossing the same street several times.  The finished product was worth it.

We got onto the bus, climbed to the open top upper deck, and held onto our hats.  I took pics as we went.  Here is a gallery of pics.

It was St. Patrick’s Day.  We spotted some Irish pubs from the bus and rather than ride a second loop and get off at a museum or look out we stopped into two of the pubs celebrate.  I have a whole different post on that here.