Exploring Auckland's Harbor and Newmarket Mall

Due to delayed travel plans, we had to reshuffle several major items on our schedule for our actual arrival in Auckland, NZ. Our Hobbiton Movie Set tour was pushed off to much later in the week. We also moved our harbor cruise to December 10.

First, Allie and I did a little shopping in the morning, confirmed our cruise tickets and then did a little more shopping. We found one tourist shop that was a sister shop to the one we visited in Queenstown, but it had shirts that had good designs and fit. For the first time on our trip, we actually bought some New Zealand themed t-shirts.

Afterwards, we lined up for the harbor cruise and boarded. The trip was a circuit around the Waitemata Harbour augmented with commentary on the various locations, including a bit of New Zealand history, facts about the islands and other interesting places to visit.

 

 

On returning to the CBD, we took a bus to Newmarket to shop at the Westfield Mall. We found some Japanese themed stores with a lot of cute anime items, of which we bought a few. We then found a store full of actual Japanese products, again buying some items that were actually needed during our trip. We also found some good options for dinner at the mall's food court, but chose a great broad noodle dish at a Thai fusion stand.

As the mall was closing, we purchased a couple more needed items from a bookstore, then headed to the bus line to return to the hotel. We did not want to stay out too late anyway since we had to get up early the next morning for a tour planned by Allie's cousin who has been living in New Zealand for most of her life.

Fun and Important Words - Malarkey

Malarkey is a colorful and punchy term for nonsense or foolishness.  It can also be used to describe insincere or exaggerated talk. It is a word that carries a specific weight when you use it to dismiss claims or excuses as hogwash.  While it has become a staple of American political discourse, it remains an informal, playful and expressive way to call out empty rhetoric. [1] [2] The origin of the word is famously murky, which is fitting for a term that means nonsense.  Evidence points to its emergence in North America during the early 1920s.  The first known use is often attributed to the Irish-American cartoonist Thomas Aloysius (Tad) Dorgan, who began using the term in his cartoons in Mid-1920s.  By the end of that decade, the word had begun to appear more widely in print. [3] Despite various theories, the etymology remains officially unknown.  Some linguists and researchers have suggested potential links to the Greek word malakia, which can mean softness or, in a figurative sense, effeminacy or weakness.  Others have pointed to the Irish surname Mullarkey (and its various spellings), though there is no verified connection between any individual of that name and the word’s development.  There is even a niche theory suggesting it might be related to the London expression Madame Misharty, a personification of wild sales talk.  Still another possibility is some use of the Gaelic root word "meall-", which means being deceptive or lying. [3] Because the word began as slang in the United States, it is not traditionally found in older printed dictionaries from the 19th century.  However, it is now widely recognized in major modern dictionaries as a standard, though informal, English noun. [3] According to Google ngram, common use of malarkey appears in the 1920s and then took off in the 1930s.

Boondocks Fussbudget Gobbledygook Hella/Helluva Highfalutin Malarkey Newfangled Roust Twitterpated Whatchamacallit Whopperjawed

Calculator for Right Angles and Hypotenuse

A right triangle is fully defined by just two of its measurements. Enter any two known values, such as sides or angles, into the calculator below and it will instantly calculate everything else: the hypotenuse, both acute angles, the altitude from the right angle to the hypotenuse, area, perimeter, and the radii of both the inscribed and circumscribed circles.

Right triangle calculator — enter any two side or angle values to compute all triangle properties

Right triangle calculator

Enter any two known values (sides or acute angles) to solve all properties.

a Side a (opposite)

b Side b (adjacent)

c Hypotenuse c

α Angle α (opposite a) °

β Angle β (opposite b) °

Results

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Diagram

For information on other tools and topics:

• A list of many types of Angles from Geometry: So many varieties! [Do you know of angle types that didn't make the list?.]
• Collatz Conjecture Visualizer: Explore one of math's great unsolved problems interactively. [Explore the Collatz paths]
• Earth's Looming Expiration Date: Why Earth faces an early deadline as the Sun's energy output increases. [Idea on how to preserve our planet]
• Number Rounding Tool: Multiple methods of rounding supported. [Type your number and round it up or down!]

Trail Walking with a Say's Phoebe

 

A bird that appears to be a Say's Phoebe was jumping from fence post to fence post ahead of me and Joie while we walked, until it finally flew onto a nearby bush, on a Mid-Spring morning. It kind of seemed like they wanted us to follow, but maybe they were just keeping an eye out for any bugs we might stir up as we walked along the trail, a behavior for which Flycatchers are known.

Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/p/DZBUlwADrIJ/

Auckland Exploration on Te Ika-a-Māui

After over a full day's delay, we finally landed on North Island of New Zealand in Auckland a bit late in the day on December 8.  After settling in, Allie and I took a running start on December 9 for our exploration of the city.  Sky Tower is within walking distance of our hotel, so we headed over. Sky Tower is tall enough to view everything in Auckland from high-up. Many of the places we will be exploring are clearly visible.

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After getting-the-lay-of-the-land, we explored on foot for while, then had an awesome dinner at Origine Bistro with great food and incredible service.  We had a table that offered a good view of the Harbor too.

 

 

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Due to the delay in arrival, there are a number of places we had to push off or reconsider for another trip in the future. However, the next few days did not disappoint!

Unfortunate Extra Day in Queenstown

 After enjoying a few days in Queenstown and surrounding region, we were excited about travelling to Auckland on December 7, 2026.  We took the morning easy in preparation for our flight to Auckland. Unfortunately, our flight from Queenstown was cancelled due to high winds after we arrived at the airport, and after we checked our bags and went thru security. So we had to retrieve our checked bags and find overnight accommodations. I found a room at the Hilton Queenstown Resort. We were reassigned a flight the next morning.

After we checked-in to the hotel, we took the water taxi to Queenstown CBD for a late lunch at a great seafood restaurant, and some ice cream at a popular shop. We then roamed a bit around the touristy area before returning via water taxi to the hotel for the evening.

At some point during the night, the reassigned flight was also cancelled. We were forced to accept an even later evening flight. In turn, this forced me to start cancelling plans in Auckland, as we were losing a day in town.

Lost Day - December 8, 2026

We didn’t plan for anything in Queenstown on this day, due to it being a lost day. We had breakfast at the hotel cafe, but otherwise relaxed in the hotel room until checkout time.  We finally went to the airport in the afternoon to wait for our early evening flight.

This flight was not cancelled. 

We ultimately landed in Auckland in the evening. After taking our hired towncar to the hotel and checking-in, we settled a bit then went to the hotel cafe for dinner.  Due to our delayed arrival, we had to rearrange plans for our first day in Auckland, and then our first full day!