Jetlag heralded another early start to the day, but you have to stay positive about these things. Although Ashling and I had made plans to head out for dinner I accidentally fell asleep and so dinner never happened. Still, everything worked out fine. Bright and early, I walked to her hotel then we headed out in search of breakfast. We went to a nearby supermarket and bought ourselves some goodies for breakfast and snacks to see us through the day. We also each bought a super healthy juice drink to make sure we didn’t go un-nourished. We walked to Albert Park and sat by the fountain to eat. We made friends with some very inquisitive sparrows before setting off to properly start the day.
After a brief wander exploring new streets of the city, we decided on doing a tour of some kind. Luckily, we had both picked up a free Auckland A-Z guide from the airport and so we could easily have a flick through to see what tickled our fancy. We settled on the Devonport Explorer Tour and so we headed towards the ferry terminal to buy our tickets. For the grand total of $40 we got our return ferry trip and a bus tour which would take us to North Head and Mount Victoria. Due to our lucky timing we didn’t have long to wait for the ferry. We sat at the terminal then boarded. When we flew into Auckland it was dark so you couldn’t really get a scope of the city. Even walking round, it didn’t feel a particularly big city – like London for example. But when we were on the ferry looking over the skyline, you appreciate the size of the city.
The ferry only took about 15 minutes and we walked down to where the tour bus was waiting for us. We met our guide Steve, a Devonport native who had great knowledge about the area and a fantastic sense of humour as well. There were only 3 on us on the tour, Ashling and I and an American tourist. We headed towards North Head and Steve began to tell us of the history of Devonport.
Settled in 1840 by Europeans, Devonport was originally called Flagstaff for the fact there was a flagstaff raised on Mount Victoria which was used to communicate the incoming ships to Waitemata Harbour. The water of Waitemata Harbour is very deep which offered navy vessels suitable anchorage and so Flagstaff was established as a navy base. The suburb of Devonport was built for tradesmen and their families to live. There were separate ferries running to the navy base and Devonport, however due to financial difficulties, the ferry company operating out of Devonport was bought by the company which ran the ferries from the base. People boarding from Auckland would ask to go to Devonport, and over time the name stuck and the settlement in its entirety was renamed Devonport.
On King Edward Parade the site of Devonport’s only public execution is marked. Joseph Burns was in the navy and by all accounts, not a particularly agreeable man. He left the navy and worked with a local boatbuilder. 3 murders were committed not long after Burns’ arrival – one victim was a navy officer. Burns, whose place of employment was a mere stone’s throw away from the scene of the crime, was found guilty and hanged for the crime.
Steve told us the houses on Devonport rarely sell as most of them are tied up in family trusts and handed down through the generations. With a population of 15,000, there is a real sense of community which clearly values its heritage. There is only one police officer on the island as crime is virtually non-existent. Devonport is 94% surrounded by water with a thin strip of land connecting it to the rest of the North Shore peninsula.
The houses are primarily all made of wood in Devonport. Due to there not being any white ants or termites, there is nothing to rot the wood. The only issue is UV – which Devonport gets a lot of. This means that the houses simply require repainting every 8 to 10 years in order to maintain the wood. Steve said there are trends in the colours used when it is time for the repainting. This time many of the houses are white, while previously blue was a popular colour, and before that a sort of beige, tea-colour. Many of the houses were built by shipwrights – when they weren’t building ships of course. Once the houses were built, the shipwrights were given the opportunity to live in them, cementing a culture of all things nautical in Devonport.
We walked around North Head at our leisure, taking in the spectacular views across the water to Auckland in one direction, the rest of Devonport in another, and out over the Hauraki Gulf. There were lots of sparrows about, and like the ones in Albert Park we had encountered that morning, they were very friendly. As we walked, we spotted swallows which was a nice reminder of home as the swallows had recently arrived there as well. What took us by surprise was the number of kingfishers sat perched in trees. Initially, I spotted a bird, unsure of what it was, and once I switched over to my big lens on my camera I could see exactly what it was. Given kingfishers are a favourite of mine, I was really over the moon.
The New Zealand kingfisher is much bigger than its European cousin we all know and love. The plumage is quite different as well – a dark, inky blue back which turns a brilliant, bold blue when the light hits it right. Its chest is a pale cream and its beak is very dark. It has a small run of white around it’s neck – similar to the European kingfisher, but doesn’t have the speckles on its head and back. We saw at least 3 kingfishers at Mount Head, and a good half a dozen more as the tour took us around Devonport.
Mount Victoria is the highest volcano on Auckland’s North Shore at 87 metres tall. It was here where the flagstaff was based and the Signalman’s house where he would have lived with his family was built on one of the slopes. Today the house is used as a base by the Michael King Writers Centre which hosts numerous programmes, some of which are supported by Creative New Zealand and the University of Auckland. If I’d been braver and applied to do a semester abroad back at uni, who knows – maybe I would have had a writer’s retreat here.
We had some time to kill before the ferry arrived to take us back to Auckland so we took Steve’s advice and headed to Devonport Chocolates. It was only a short walk away, down a road which was almost opposite the wharf. The smell of chocolate hit us as we walked inside and there was a vast selection of chocolate on display in and assortment of shapes and sizes – not to mention flavours. Ashling went for a shot of hot chocolate and I bought 2 chocolate dinosaurs – one milk chocolate and one white. I thought about taking a picture but I was hungry so ate them instead.
I noticed the occasional mural on the side of buildings around the streets of Devonport. While we were on the bus I saw one which was incredibly beautiful of flowers and a swallow and next door to Devonport Chocolate there was a mural of a bird. Luckily I was able to get a snap before we then needed to head back for the ferry.
We headed to Ashling’s hotel to chill for an hour or two with the arrival of Ashling’s friend Charlotte imminent. Charlotte had been travelling around Australia and the South Island and was flying up that morning to meet up with Ashling so they could then travel around the North Island together.
We headed to the Skytower to get yet another view of the city. There are 2 viewing platforms – the main observatory level is 186 meters above street level with the Sky Deck at 220 meters. The view was amazing, even if the weather wasn’t as fantastic as it had been earlier in the day. It was amazing looking over the city and the Gulf beyond.
We rounded off the evening with dinner at an amazing restaurant called Mexico. Ashling and I had passed it on our morning walk and it was pure happenstance that we walked by it again in the evening with Charlotte. Seeing as we were all hungry, and all love Mexican food, we thought it was a good choice. There was a great atmosphere inside; interior was fabulous – the red walls were adorned from top to bottom with an array of art and photos and there was a lit candle on every table. We sat down and ordered drinks – Sangrias for Ashling and Charlotte, and I went for a white cola seeing as the menu stated it was unmissable. I’d never had a white cola before and it was really good – infused with a ginger and cinnamon taste. It was weird, but a good weird. Charlotte had a taco and Ashling and I ordered quesadillas then we shared churros for dessert. Afterwards we said our goodbyes as the girls were moving on the next morning to Paihia with the Kiwi Experience bus while I was staying on in Auckland for another few days.
amateur adventurer 