Before we left the U.S., we did some internet research and made a list of gay bars, restaurants, etc., in cities that we'd be visiting. The only bar we could find in Wellington was closed the day we were there. So Auckland was the place to explore.
We went searching for a place relatively close to the hotel on Anzac Street. We got bad directions from two different people but finally found a hole-in-the-wall adult book shop and went inside to ask where to find the bar. "Oh, it's in the sauna upstairs," said the man behind the counter. We asked for directions to other places.
Most of Auckland's gay places are in Karangahappe Road ("K' Road"). The man at the book shop said that's where we should go. Jeff asked whether we should take a cab and the man, literally, gasped and said, "Oh, no! Walk! It's only 20 minutes walk." He gave us some quick directions and off we went.
Ummm, yeah. Not 20 minutes. More like 45 minutes. Uphill. To the top of Queen Street then to K' Road.
Our first stop was a place called the Family Bar. They were very nice folks. Treated us really well and gave us some suggestions for other places to visit. The bartenders, Francis and Mark, found copies of the local gay paper for us and told us a little about the community.
We were surprised how subdued the nightlife was. There were very few people out and about.
Urge Bar was not too far up the street. It's the local leather bar. It was a single, small room with a bar. My backyard patio is a larger space. Again, everyone was very friendly. And, it turns out, they were ready for us. They had a heads up from the folks at Family Bar that a couple of Americans were headed there... and they were told to treat us well. It was nice.
We called it a night by 10:30pm.
To be honest, for a country that is so progressive... light years ahead of the U.S. in terms of gay inclusion... it really seemed like the community was in hiding. Jeff is right when he calls it "heartbreaking."
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