Having been here several times now, we knew that wandering around locally, before a big day tomorrow was the best bet. It goes without saying that we had a Vodafone signal and we were berthed on the port side.
Now a warning here for future cruisers. Blogs like this should only ever be used as a guide as to what was current at the time. We got caught out here, as what was current and valid two years ago has changed. What hasn't changed is that there is a free shuttle from the berth to the port exit, or to be clearer, A port exit, as unlike previous visits, we weren't dropped off near the 'Forte Michelangelo' (number 5 on the map pic if you can read it). The shuttle was a no-stop shuttle but that particular exit is still accessible if you walk from the ship, but if heading for the railway station, there is another option. The shuttle dropped us at a newish drop off area about half a kilometre to the west of the Forte, so half a kilometre further away from the railway station. The good news is that there is now also a shuttle from there to the railway station. Whether or not that is also free I don't know, but I suspect it is.
We made our way on foot from the shuttle stop to the market. On the way, we ducked into a shop where Paula bought a hair slide and I noticed through the window, June and Elaine from our dinner table, approaching fairly slowly, so I stepped into the doorway, donned my sun glasses, bent over and held out my hat "€1 for a poor, blind, old man?" June whacked me with her map. Some of these cruisers aren't at all charitable.
Last time, either all of it or part of the market was in the car park and this time, the car park was full of cars. It was a bit of a gamble, (although we could have consulted the map) and although Paula hates fish markets, we walked through it and out the other side, only to find the large market there. What a pity Auckland doesn't have a market like this with everything from fruit and veg to a fantastic range of meats and cheeses – and even live snails, not that we'd be buying them. We normally pick our own – then lob them over next door. Plenty of clothing and the usual market fare which these days seems swamped by 'selfie sticks'. The African street vendors seem to have added selfie sticks to their usual wares of rip off electronics, sunglasses and hats. (Absent this time though were rip off designer handbags.)
Cherries were either €2.50 a kilo or €3.50 depending on which stall you found.
We bumped into Teri and Alex down on the front and then we wandered a back street (behind Subway) to 'Caffeteria', a small corner café frequented by locals. There we had a Coca Cola, a pineapple juice and two delicious warmed Danish pastries for €6.10 – which is more than reasonable. In fact, many of the shops were more than reasonable with their pricing. We found one tiny shoe shop and for the first time on this trip, I found a pair of shoes I liked, locally made, €39, but they didn't have my size.
An ice cream on the walk back of course. Lemon for Paula – which was bit too tart for her and I had delicious strawberry, with chopped fruit in it.
Back to the shuttle stop OK. Although we had photo ID as requested, only the cruise card was checked at the gates. It was about 4pm and a bit too late for lunch, so we settled for a toasted sandwich and a glass or two of lemon squash.
Open dining so we went to the buffet for dinner, then to the theatre once again for the show, 'Dance'. It is not often that we enjoy a show so much that we'll go twice, but we enjoyed it just as much the second time. The Ukrainian girl dancer Uliana (and Oleg, also from Ukraine) were just brilliant as she was acting like a wide eyed wooden doll. We just love this troupe. Lead dancer Katie (UK) and George (Wales) did a very energetic (and long) samba.
A long hot day tomorrow and an early start as we are off to Cinque Terre. A Princess tour we are looking forward to, with a mix of coach, boat and train. Once again, the forecast is for a hot day so we expect to be rather tired on our return.
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