Waitangi Day Bay Walk, Auckland
First Glimpse of the Auckland skyline, New Zealand
First Visit to Auckland
Waitangi Day
On Waitangi Day in New Zealand, they commemorate the signing of the Treaty of Waitangi, regarded as the nation's founding document. It is a public holiday, Josh had the day off and offered to take us into Auckland to have a look around.
Josh is the son of our friends Leighton and Sharon, and he and I share a love for photography. Josh almost exclusively photographs in black and white and is an excellent street photographer and documenter of life.
Since we were hanging out with Josh the bulk of the photos in this post will be black and white. You can check Josh’s photos here:
Joshua Duley a.k.a Manfred Leightonson
Bay Walk in Auckland
Instead of heading for downtown Josh suggested a walk along the bays a few kilometers east of the downtown core. It was a gorgeous day with a light breeze and a shifting cloud cover. A perfect day for a stroll along the water.
Signs of New Zealand being an island nation were everywhere. The large cranes at the shipping terminal, ferries crossing the strait headed to and from the city center, large sailboats with white sails contrasting blue skies with puffy clouds, and a beautiful lush coastline with gorgeous beaches, even in the city.
Walking along the seawall at Mission Bay by the Tamaki Yacht Club
A quick search on Google reveals that New Zealand has between 15,000 and 18,000 kilometers of coastline, 9,300 and 11,200 miles. We decided we would start out with 5K, but only if lunch was included.
As far as I recall we parked at Okahu Bay Beach and walked along the water heading east. First, we strolled through Michael Joseph Savage Park where countless families were gathered for Waitangi Day.
The paved pathway at Mission Bay along the waterfront in Auckland, New Zealand
There were all sorts of ball games were in progress, kids on skateboards, and roller skates, and a festive atmosphere in the air. The smell of barbequed lunches being prepared instantly made us hungry.
We did find a cozy spot for lunch by St. Heliers Beach and coffee, later on, to keep us going. We decided to turn around and took the car out to Achilles Point to get enjoy the view from a higher vantage point.
Achilles Point is named after the ship, HMNZS Achilles, which defeated the German pocket battleship, Admiral Graf Spee, in 1939.
Mission Bay in Auckland, New Zealand
Achilles Point was a perfect way to wrap up the day with views of the bays and peninsulas north of Auckland.
Our walk along the bays in Auckland reminded us of our hometown of Vancouver, BC, Canada. We live by English Bay and the paved seawall along Stanley Park is somewhat similar and yet the climate of Auckland is milder than Vancouver with lush trees and foliage along the shores.
Thanks, Josh, for the introduction to Auckland.
Much more to come from New Zealand.
Auckland skyline, New Zealand
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The photos in this article are made using a Fujifilm X-Pro2. Lenses: XF 14mm f/2.8 R - XF 23mm f/1.4 R - XF 35mm f/1.4 R - XF 90mm f/2 R LM WR (links to my camera and lens reviews). Editing was done in Capture One Express. I mostly used the Acros Fujifilm film simulation in this post.
