There's No Place Like Home....

On my first day here in Auckland, this is what I did:

• Walked down to the Ferry Building on the harbor
  
• Took a ferry across the bay to a great little town full of cafes, markets, shops and spectacular views
  
• We sailed right into a massive fog bank on the way!

It sounds like San Francisco, doesn't it!?  I felt completely at home.  It's so much like home.  Here are a few pictures.

This is the view of a volcano (long extinct) right off the coast of Auckland.  It's called Rangitoto Island.  I took this (and many of the pictures here) while walking along the shore and hiking up the two volcanoes over in Devonport.  I also conked my head massively when I was climbing around the old fortifications - I was worried I gave myself a concussion!  :-(  I'm sure I heard bone cracking....but maybe I'm just a worrier!

A few pictures as I wandered around:

Fortunately I didn't give myself a concussion (although I didn't dare take a nap in the sun right after that!)  

Here's a picture of Davenport from one of the volcanoes.

Here's a very cool carving I saw on the side of one of the volcanoes.  The Maori people terraced a lot of the volcanoes in the area, built forts on the top of them, and I guess used them like Europeans used castles.  Maybe it's really old?  Maybe new?  It didn't say, but it was cool - like a petrified troll or something.

A few observations about Auckland:

• There are tons of Internet Cafes all over the place.  I think it's because there are tons of backpackers and tourists here from all over the world.  It gives the city an amazing vibe (and another reason why it feels just like home!)

• There are tons of Turkish kebab places everywhere.  Actually they are more like Doner shops, but whatever, right?  It's amazing!  And they're all staffed by actual Turkish guys.  There must be a massive Turkish diaspora for so many to have come here, so far and at the end of the world.

It's truly a gorgeous place.  Did you know that there are about 1 million people here, so it's bigger than the city of San Francisco.  But there are only just over 4 million people in all of New Zealand, so it's only half the size of the Bay Area.  

A few other thoughts, not related to Auckland:

We should all take a moment to thank the California Supreme Court for reminding us that one of the key roles the Judiciary in the US plays is the protection of all minority groups from the inadvertent / unintentional tyranny of the majority.  We sometimes forget that, and the political debate often makes it sound like the only role of the Judiciary is the rubber-stamping of the voice of the majority.  It's nice to be reminded of this very critical role.  

The Prime Minister of Spain (Jose Zapatero) said it very well when Spain legalized marriage for all Spanish citizens:  "It is true that they are only a minority, but their triumph is everyone's triumph.  It is also the triumph of those who oppose this law even thought they do not know this yet: because it is the triumph of Liberty.  Their victory make all of us (even those who oppose this law) better people, it makes our society better."