January 30, 2018 Auckland New Zealand – Day 2

Today is our second day in Auckland. It is going to be hard to top yesterday, but we are going to try. We started out after breakfast and caught the ferry that is next to the ship to a town called Devonport, which is on the north shore. Devonport is one of Auckland’s most historic suburbs, with European settlement dating from the mid 1800’s. Marori settlement goes back much further, to around the mid 14^th century.

Devonport was named after the Devonport naval base in England and the Royal New Zealand Navy still contributes significantly to the flavor and prosperity of the local community.

When we got off in Devonport (about 15-minute ride) we were at Victoria Road. In the 1860’s they developed a wharf and hotel at the beginning of this street. By the 1880’s, Victoria Road had become the leading commercial center of the North Shore. By the 1920s the western side of Victoria Road was lined with fine Victorian and Edwardian commercial premises. Today Victoria Road has one the most intact collections of Victorian and Edwardian commercial buildings in Auckland. Since we did not realize till we got back and read the brochure, we did not have a lot of these buildings in our pictures.

We had gone there to see two inactive volcanos that the Maori had used to fortify the city from their enemies. The first was Mt. Victoria. Mt. Victoria features the highest volcanic cone on the Davenport isthmus. The Mount was fortified by Maori long before the arrival of the Europeans. It became part of the coastal defense system established in 1885 in fear of attack on the British Empire by the Russian Pacific Gleet. In 1899 the 8-inch caliber, breech loading, Armstrong Elswick “disappearing gun” was mounted here, and is the last of its type in New Zealand.

More than 40 years ago, one of the military bunkers on Mt. Victoria was converted to become the home of the Devonport Fold and Music Club, which meets every Monday night.

At the top were all of these mushrooms. They are steam vents for the water that is stored underneath.

We then came down and walked across the island headed for North Head, the other volcano. As we walked across the area we saw a lot of beautiful homes and flora.

Guess what, I then found a church. Steve waited outside as he is not that into churches. It was the Holy Trinity Church of Devonport. I walked in and there was a woman who told me all about it. The Anglican parish of Devon port was begun on May 18, 1856 with the appointment of the Rev. Edward H. Heywood as Vicar.

The first building on this site was where the church hall now stands. It was used as a school on weekdays, and the first Minister was also the school master. In 1860 at T-section was added to the building to be the living quarters.

The establishment of the shipbuilding yard in Devonport led to a great increase in its residential population, and in 1865 a second church was built, on the site where this church now stands. They built the church use Kauri wood, which was the wood at that time.

We also went by the Watson Memorial Clock which was erected to commemorate the former ferry terminal and cargo facilities construction on this site.

Then we passed the Tainui Memorial. This memorial commemorates the arrival of the Tainui canoe from Polynesia, over 500 years ago. Erected in 1959, the orb and bird on the top of the memorial were donated by King Koroki. The text on the memorial reflects the view prevailing in 1959, that the Tainui was part of a ‘Great Fleet’ of canoes that arrived in 1350 AD.

Next up the road was the Naval Museum. We did not go in, but did get a picture. 

Finally, we got to our destination, North Head Maungauika. North Head played an important role in the defense of the Auckland Harbor form the 1880s when it was fortified as part of the harbor defense system established in response to fears of a Russian attack. Between 1888 and 1914 prisoners were incarcerated at North Head where they were put to work digging a network of tunnels to link the defense facilities.

This is also an inactive volcano, so when you get to the top the views are outstanding.

We are now ready to make our way back to the ferry. Here are some of the pictures we took walking along the water. Also, the one that has the graffiti, call The Attack. was taken after we got back to the village and we had to find a post office. This was commissioned for the Devonport Arts Festival in 2014. It is done by a local artist Cinzah.

We were then off to the ferry. However, one more stop for a local beer. It was a bar right at the ferry terminal.

While we were sitting there this really cool boat came up. It is like a zodiac in the water, but when it got to shore it put its wheels out and went along the beach. There was a photographer on board and may have been taking marketing photos.

Thus, ended day two in Auckland. An uneventful trip back on the ferry and here I am finishing up this blog before the afternoon is done. Hopefully I can get these two posted today. Tomorrow is another New Zealand port.