Every month, Ports of Auckland and 360Discovery Cruises team up and offer free community tours around Waitemata Harbour.

That’s right: free.  Obviously, at such a great price the tickets for these cruises go fast, and it’s recommended that you book early to avoid missing out.

I’d heard of the PoA tours for awhile but kept forgetting about them.  That, or when I would think about them it would be the middle of winter, and who wants to go on a bout tour in the middle of winter?  Not me!

January, however, is smack-dab in the middle of summer over here, and it was perfect weather for it last week.

I don’t know who any of these people are

As you can see, it was a bit of organized mayhem trying to get people on-board.  These tours are quite popular with small children.  I was part of a group of mums and we looked like the stroller brigade – I think that there were 7 or 8 of us, each with a stroller.  Thankfully, the boat was quite roomy and there was plenty of space for all.

Absolutely gorgeous weather for it.  We cruised around various harbour points and dock yards.  The cruise features an informational lecture, but I was more focused on minding my 19 month old than listening to the history and informational tidbits.

Joe had a blast.

Of course, it helped that I had a fully stocked snack box.  When in doubt, bring food.  Always bring food.

He was content to sit on the deck chair for a little while, but pretty soon was ready to ramble about.

Conversing with one of his fellow passengers

We really enjoyed our PoA tour, and I was thinking on the way home how nice it was that it was free.  Even my transportation back home (I walked there with a friend) was free thanks to Auckland’s CityLink bus and my HOP card.  It made this article, about a British mum who’s vowed to spend no money on her 2 year old for a year as a way to save money/combat “kiddie consumerism” seem even more intriguing.  Follow that up with a news feed about Dolce & Gabbana offering “infant perfume”, and it really got me to thinking.  Do you think that you could go for an entire year without spending anything on your child?  It’s certainly ambitious, I’ll say that!