R. Doug Wicker's Blog, page 77

Circumnavigating New Zealand — Auckland; Dining Options

Majestic Princess in port

Between the circumnavigation series on Australia (beginning with: Circumnavigating Australia — Starting in Sydney) and the current circumnavigation series on New Zealand (starting here: Circumnavigating New Zealand — Fiordland 2019), it’s been a long, long blog haul. And before those I did a series on the stopover we made to the Cook Islands (starting with: Rarotonga, Cook Islands — An Airbnb Rental on the Beach; Dinner with Friends) before continuing on to Sydney. A...

Fun Photo Friday — Circumnavigating New Zealand; Auckland Favorites 2

Reflecting Water

Time for more Fun Photo Friday favorites of the Auckland area:

Aston Martin Wings Auckland Reflections Scraping the Sky Fish Fry

Circumnavigating New Zealand — Auckland; Out and About in Devonport

Auckland skyline in the distance

As I mentioned Monday, Devonport is a bedroom community that acts as a ferry-accessible suburb of Auckland. So let’s begin by looking at some homes:

Devonport, New Zealand

Behind the houses pictured above and below is Takaranga/Mount Victoria:

Devonport, New Zealand

Another charming Devonport home, this one adorned with Victorian gingerbread elements:

Devonport, New Zealand

From up here let’s turn around and take a look back at Devonport:

...

Circumnavigating New Zealand — Auckland; Ferry to Devonport

Auckland skyline as seen from Devonport

I’m going to show you what a short ferry hop from Auckland will gain you. Today we take a look at Devonport. Devonport is a suburb on Auckland’s North Shore district, just a short ride across the harbor.

Devonport outing

One of the places we first visited upon exiting the ferry was Devonport’s Field of Remembrance:

Devonport Field of Remembrance

The views here are quite sobering:

Devonport Field of Remembrance Devonport Field of Rememb...

Fun Photo Friday — Circumnavigating New Zealand; Auckland Favorites 1

Waterfront Lamppost

And here are today’s Fun Photo Friday Auckland area favorites:

AM 007 New Zealand Vault Auckland Reflection Hear the song of Ngataringa

Circumnavigating New Zealand — Auckland; Viaduct Basin area

Sky Tower in the distance

Time to head back to the Auckland Waterfront, hang a left, and proceed over to the Viaduct Basin and then on to Wynyard Quarter. Viaduct Basin is a harbor for some high-end boats, yachts, and upscale residences with some fine dining as well.

Seein’ Red

It’s a very fun area to photograph, especially if you like boats and still water for reflections:

Galerna Still waters Nirvana

Continue west along Eastern Viaduct and you cross into the ASB North Whar...

Circumnavigating New Zealand — Disembarking in Auckland

End of the cruise aboard Majestic Princess

Well, this has been quite a double series. We began with a circumnavigation of Australia, as viewed aboard three ship voyages one year apart — in 2019 aboard Majestic Princess, and in 2020 on back-to-back cruises aboard Radiance of the Seas. Then I followed that up with a circumnavigation of New Zealand aboard the same two ships in 2019 and 2020. So, over the next three weeks we’re going to close out these two circumnavigation voyages with our 2019 d...

Book Review — Outside Looking In: High-functioning autism from one mother’s perspective

In August a fellow author asked me to beta-read and review her book. I was a bit hesitant, as the subject matter was something that normally would not interest me. Well, I’m glad I consented to the review, which you’ll see in just a moment. What I will tell you is this — if you have in your circle someone who is searching for information on raising a child on the autism spectrum, this is the book you need to recommend.

The book is Outside Looking In: High-functioning autism from one mothe...

Fun Photo Friday — Circumnavigating New Zealand; Rotorua and Tauranga favorites 2

Te Puia sculpture

Here are some Rotorua-area favorites:

Pathway into Te Puia Rest Stop Puarenga Stream Puarenga STEAM!

Bonus Blog, Recipes — Super Dips for the Super Bowl

Here’s my annual Super Bowl Super Dip Recipes (Jalapeño Pesto and Lipton’s® California Onion dips) :

First up: Jalapeño Pesto Dip:

The great things about this recipe are:

It’s healthy as all get out.It’s so tasty you’ll completely forget how healthy it is.It’s not as spicy hot as it sounds (although it’s definitely not for the timid of tongue, either).It goes great with anything from tortilla chips to corn chips to potato chips to even pretzels.It’s so simple to make even a husband can ...