Seth Kugel

Auckland is New Zealand’s biggest city and the place you’ll almost certainly fly into if you come from the United States. It’s also quite a pleasant spot. That may sound like damning with faint praise – you don’t fly halfway around the world for pleasant. But New Zealand is probably best known for its scenery and countryside and outdoor adventure, so having a pleasant gateway to get adjusted is a great bonus — and not something you get everywhere (looking at you, Managua).

I recently kicked off a 24-day trip in the region with a day and a half in Auckland, and that was enough to find a trifecta of frugal activities. Add to that an efficient, punctual bus system that does not require exact change (it also works great in tandem with Google Maps), and you can put together a great day for very little. (Share your frugal Auckland tips in the comments section below.)

1) The Auckland Art Gallery. After a three-year overhaul and expansion costing around $100 million, Auckland’s premier art institution reopened last September. And unless you’re there to see their featured exhibition (currently “Degas to Dali”), it’s free.

Actually, it’s my favorite kind of free – no “suggested donation” for you to feel guilty for turning down, or huge contribution box you must walk by. Even the coat check is free. And you’re free to take photos, too. Try that at your hometown art museum.

Its strength, unsurprisingly, is its collection of New Zealand artists, works that range from early sketches of the islands by artists accompanying European explorers, through modern and contemporary generations of New Zealanders of both European and Maori origin. That means mesmerizing kinetic art by the sculptor and filmmaker Len Lye; paintings by Colin McCahon, whom some consider New Zealand’s preeminent 20th-century artist; and the contemporary Maori sculptor Michael Parakowhai’s piece “The Indefinite Article,” a room-filling work of text that reads “I AM HE” — a play on one of McCahon’s most famous works, a painting that prominently features the phrase “I AM.”

Do I sound knowledgeable? I’m not. And that was just fine at the Auckland museum. The wall descriptions really help out, shunning the interpret-it-for-yourself” vagueness that art ignoramuses like myself dread. But even art connoisseurs from abroad probably don’t know that “HE” is a Maori word, both an indefinite article and the word for “wrong.” So interpret Parakowhai’s work as you’d like.

Seth Kugel

There are also quirky and unexpected Kiwi notes sprinkled through the gallery – like photos of Pablo Picasso and Jean Cocteau taken at a 1955 bullfight. The connection? The photographer, Brian Brake, was a New Zealander. And the pride of the collection are the “Maori Portraits,” deeply detailed and realistic depictions of Maori, most with traditional facial tattoos, done by Gottfried Lindauer in the 19th century. Those are the only works you can’t take photos of, but you don’t need to: they are online at lindaueronline.co.nz, along with an explanation of the fascination the Maori themselves have with the portraits.

Most notable about the new museum design is how adjacent Albert Park becomes an honorary work of art itself. Every so often you happen upon a wall of windows (above right) that pulls you out of the museum and face to face with marvelously gnarled trees and footpaths that lead to pristine lawns and flowerbeds beyond. If you’re anything like me, your post-gallery plans will be necessarily delayed by a uncontrollable urge to walk through the looking glass and into the park when you leave.

Seth Kugel

2) Meat Pies. Quick, name three famous New Zealand dishes. (“Wine, wine and wine” doesn’t count. Nor does anything kiwi-related – “Kiwi” as a nickname for New Zealanders derives from the flightless bird, not the fruit.) New Zealand draws its culinary strength from its farm-fresh foods and seafood, especially Bluff oysters. It’s a great place to eat, but not a foodie destination.

The meat pie, however, is a New Zealand staple. I set out to try some, and will admit to some skepticism – with so much British influence in the country, I feared I was in for a a version of the Cornish pasty, which I consider a hockey puck posing as a snack.

That may be true of many lesser meat pies sold in convenience stores and regular old bakeries for 3 to 5 New Zealand dollars (about $2.50 to $4.20, at 1.19 New Zealand dollars to the U.S. dollar). Those are often dense and dripping with gelatinous fillings.

But it’s a different story at the two highly regarded meat pie hot spots I tried: The Fridge (507 New North Road) in the Kingsland neighborhood and the Food Room in Ponsonby, both long walks or short bus rides from the center of town. Pies cost more like 7 or 8 New Zealand dollars, still a decent deal for what can serve as a stand-alone lunch.

Both the Fridge and the Food Room serve a variety of flavors, from the traditional mincemeat and cheese to more unconventional chicken, steak and vegetarian versions. But my nod goes to the Fridge – an informal spot with a sunny room of wooden tables where I had an extraordinarily fresh tasting mince and cheese pie I’ve been thinking about in the days since. The pastry was so flaky and delicate that when I went to cut the pie in half to take some photos, a standard butter knife cut cleanly through without denting or collapsing the dome. On my way out, I couldn’t resist taking a chicken, mushroom and pesto one to go. It was even better.

3) Shop K’ Road. I managed a free place to stay in Auckland – the couch of my friend Toby King’s loft on Karangahape Road, and he raved so much about this street (“the most interesting street in New Zealand” were his words, I believe) that I decided to do a shopping and coffee-drinking stroll down it after wandering in Albert Park.

He was not kidding. K’ Road, as it is mercifully abbreviated, reminded me of some hybrid of Bedford Street in Williamsburg, Brooklyn, and St. Mark’s Place in the East Village. And yet all its own.

The road is lined with vintage shops (often called op shops in this part of the world) like Tiny Space, Vixen Vintage in St. Kevin’s Arcade (No. 179) and funky Fuzzy Vibes Junction (in a basement at No 151). At Fuzzy Vibes, they sell not just clothes but other quirky memorabilia – I got a kick out of the sample questions on a Trivial Pursuit precursor board game called “The Game of Knowledge” (“How many holes does a telephone dial have?”).

This is also the place to go for a tattoo in Auckland (among other shops, there’s Otautahi at No. 155) and has creative indie gift shops like Australian-based Monster Threads (No. 161). Cleverly, you sign up for its mailing list by typing your e-mail address on a manual typewriter).

And there are cafes – from international chains to independent spots like Mister Morning (No. 376) – and restaurants, including tons of sushi and ethnic choices from Laotian to Hong Kong Chinese at the Asian food court across from the arcade. But when I offered to take Toby to dinner to thank him for his hospitality, he went old school with Sri Pinang (No. 356), a Malaysian spot that has been turning out super-spicy (upon request) beef rendang for decades. Dinner cost me about 50 New Zealand dollars (including an appetizer, two main courses and dessert) which, though above my normal budget, was well worth it – especially when it came with a free place to crash.