From my hotel, I took the bus and got off at the Auckland harbour. From the bus stop, I just walked until I reached the ferry terminal. Check out the beautiful Auckland harbour photos I took along the way -
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| Auckland Fish Market |
I heard that the Auckland Fish Market is a good place to eat. I think there are restaurants which allow you to buy fresh fish then have it cooked. I just didn't have time to make a stopover since I was trying to catch a specific ferry schedule that morning.
This was on a Friday morning, before 9am. Not a lot of people are out in streets yet. Even the footbridge had very few pedestrians.
I was able to catch the 9:15am ferry ride to Devonport and here's the view of the Auckland Skyline from the ferry.
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| Beautiful Auckland skyline |
When I got off Devonport, there were a lot of seagulls.
Check out this short videoclip of seagulls -
I've always been fascinated by old, quaint villages and Devonport fits the bill. It's your typical small community where you buy fresh produce in a place called <Insert name of place> Fruit & Veggies - yes, Devonport Fruit and Veggies.
And where you get a haircut in a place called The Barber Shop, or get ice cream in a place called Devonport Scoops, or buy vitamins and medicines in a drugstore called Devonport Pharmacy.
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| Devonport's barbershop, ice cream place & pharmacy |
No need to think about branding or making your store stand out coz people readily know where to get what in such a compact place. Most places in the world were like this before giant malls and stores have started creeping into suburbs that's why it's so refreshing to see places like Devonport that are still well-preserved and untainted of commercialism.
I also passed by the Devonport bookstore and they were selling vintage books like these. Two books for about USD10.
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| Vintage books for sale |
I wasn't able to grab breakfast when I left the hotel so my first agenda when I reached Devonport was to eat. Haha... I spotted this structure and saw people coming out. The signage on top says "Devonport Automatic Telephone Exchange" but the canopy says "Devonport Stone Oven Bakery & Cafe" so I figured out that it's the original structure of the telephone exchange but has been converted to a cafe. How cool is that?
Here's how the bakery and cafe looks inside -
And the yummy baked goodies it serves.
I have been eating seafood, lamb and beef in the last 4 days so this time, I picked something light.
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| Blue Cheese Mushroom Walnut Quiche |
It's super, super good! 😋
After that yummy breakfast, it was time to start exploring Devonport by foot. Here are snippets of my direction-less walking tour. 😂
Devonport Chocolates. Yes, this Devonport is home to Devonport Chocolates which is known for its hand-made gourmet chocolates and truffles.
Check out its yummy chocolates -
They have pre-packed assorted chocolates in beautiful boxes but you could also buy specific flavors. Each piece costs about USD1.80 to USD2.50.
Here are the flavors I liked - Chili Truffle, Spicy Ginger, Chocolate Truffle and Lemoncillo Cup. I loved Chili Truffle the best though. At first, I thought the combination was weird but when I took a bite, it was super good! 😋
Nearby I saw a gallery and went inside. They have paintings, photos and other local artworks on display. They also sell local books. They have this publication entitled "The Vernacularist" with the theme "Urban-Rural: The Great Divide?" which explores issues faced by cities and non-urban communities in terms of culture, values, landscape, etc. What an interesting topic. I hope it has an ebook version available.
I walked back towards the main road (where the stores are) when I realized I was in the residential area already. But it's good to explore the quiet neighborhoods too as there are a lot of pretty houses. Check these out -
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| Taken from various areas of Devonport |
Back on the main road, I saw this interesting structure - it's the Devonport Library. I'm impressed and amazed that in all the places I've been to in Auckland - whether at the heart of the CBD or in a small community like Piha where the population is only 600 - there's always a library and people really go there. I'm a bookworm that's why libraries and bookstores have a special place in my heart. 😊😍
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| Devonport Library |
From the library, I took this path towards the coastline and just continued walking -
Along the coastline, I passed by this big place called Elizabeth House - it's composed of 3 similar-looking houses. Based on the marker at the entrance, it used to be a hotel called Ventnor Private Hotel and was rebuilt in 1911 after it caught fire. In 1944, it was acquired by the Royal New Zealand Navy to house the Women’s Royal New Zealand Naval Service (WRNZNS) or ‘Wrens' until it was closed in 1911. Today, it's now a private residence.
That day I was in Devonport was on Sept 8 - Mama Mary's birthday. This was the first church I saw so I went inside to say a short prayer.
It wasn't a Catholic Church but it's ok. It does have some images of Mama Mary inside. :)
On my way out of the church, guess what I spotted? A mini library. New Zealanders are really big on reading. 😊
As I continued to walk, I entered another residential area. Lots of pretty and charming houses.
I was walking without a destination in mind. Then it started to drizzle so I put on my hoodie and checked the map on how to get back to the pier. Either I retrace my steps back to the coastline or move forward by going around Mount Victoria. I decided to just continue moving forward so I could explore more. Mount Victoria is only 87 meters high and you'll see it wherever you are at Devonport that's why I wasn't worried I won't get lost.
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| Mount Victoria (Source) |
Along the way, I saw a cemetery. Call me weird but I like visiting cemeteries. I like reading tombstones, computing how long the deceased lived, what era they lived, wondering about their lives, and saying a short prayer especially for those whose tombs that look like have long been abandoned and forgotten. It also makes me happy when I see flowers in tombs coz this means people have not forgotten their dead. And conversely, I feel sad when I see a cemetery without flowers on tombs.
Sadly, this cemetery didn't have any flowers and it looks abandoned. I still went anyway coz I was curious to know how old are the tombs.
A strange thing happened when I entered the cemetery. Suddenly, I heard several voices crying out "Help!", "Help!" - and this is considering I had a hoodie over my head. They sounded like children's voices. But I didn't get scared coz I was thinking maybe there's a school nearby and the voices are that of students playing. Because I'm a thinker (more than a feeler), I removed my hoodie to validate, but the weird thing is, the voices stopped. 😲😨 I couldn't hear anything except for birds chirping. I just removed my hoodie then.
I didn't give it much thought coz I don't have a third eye. At the back of my head, I am sure there's some kind of explanation for it. I just said a short prayer for the dead which is my usual habit when I visit cemeteries.
The tombs that I saw there date back to late 1800s. One tomb for example has a inscription that says the person died at 80 years old in 1878. This means he was born in 1798, making him 219 years old today. The youngest I saw died in 1888 when she was only 14 months old. This means she was born in 1886 making her 131 years old today. With the 2 deceased, that spans anywhere from 5 to 10 generations. Maybe their descendants have already moved to other places, or maybe, their direct lineage ended at a certain generation.
There was a Catholic Church - St. Francis the Sales and All Souls Church - adjacent to the cemetery. I decided to go inside to say a short prayer.
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| St Francis the Sales and All Souls Church |
I did some online research and found out that the cemetery is older than the church. The original church was erected in 1893 and at that time, the cemetery was already closed. No wonder, the tombs I saw at the cemetery were all dated before 1890. Sadly, there was nothing more written about the history of the cemetery.
Right beside St Francis the Sales Church is another church and cemetery - St. Paul's - a Presbyterian church I think.
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| St. Paul's Church and Cemetery |
I went around some tombs and like the first cemetery, the ones that I saw there were dated before 1900s. I didn't hear any voices this time. I kept my hoodie off too. Haha....
When I went back to the main road to continue walking, I noticed that there's a school right across the second cemetery. So maybe I was right. The voices I heard in the first cemetery perhaps came from the school carried by the wind. Case closed.
I continued to walk until I reached the pier to ride the ferry back to the CBD. Then I had late lunch at the hotel before heading to the airport for my flight back to Manila. I was excited to go home already after 5 days of exploring beautiful Auckland. 😊 A lot of my friends thought 5 days was too short a trip but I thought 5 days was just perfect. 😉
P.S. While I was compiling photos for this blog, I remembered I took a video while I was walking in the first cemetery until I stopped recording coz I was bothered by the voices crying out for help in my ears. Below is the short videoclip. Guess what? There are no voices in the audio - only birds chirping and the wind. 😱 😱
I also checked google maps on what the distance is between St Francis de Sales' and St Paul's churches and it's 190 meters away. Was it possible for the wind to have carried some students' voices from 190 meters away but they weren't just captured by my phone's audio recording? But how come I could hear the voices clearly even though my ears were covered under a hoodie?
But one thing is for sure - I don't have a third eye and I don't ever want to have one. 🙈🙈🙉🙉
Maybe it just means I need to pray more for the eternal rest of souls. 🙏🙏🙏
So while you're here reading this, can you please say this short prayer?
Eternal rest grant unto them O Lord.
And let perpetual light shine upon them.
May they rest in peace.
Amen.
Thank you. 😊
