The rest of the week was that of celebration and welcoming for the crews of foreign navies - the Navy Museum in Torpedo Bay well worth a visit, the navy interactive display in The Cloud and the navy ships from New Zealand, Singapore, China, Japan, Indonesia, Korea, India, Tonga, Fiji and Samoa and the beautiful Chilean barquentine Esmeralda.
My son and I also walked past the conference site - again, just one lone protester outnumbered by the police.
With a clear parallel to the health sector and the role of drug company profit and influence that Chris Cresswell will be aware of, so the military equipment manufacturers also need to engage with their sector. Why protest at one and not the other?
Tangaroa was in a grumpy mood on Saturday afternoon when Governor-General Dame Patsy Reddy took the ceremonial fleet review sailing in HMNZS Otago, down the line of warships out in the Auckland Harbour channel.
The wind was brisk, the clouds were racing and it appeared that Tangaroa was telling the protesters to stay away and, as a result, only three small protest yachts were seen waving their small no-nukes flags and being kept well clear of the naval vessels.
Sunday was the open day for the ships berthed at Auckland city wharves and Chris Cresswell and his ilk, sheltering behind Dalai Lama posters, would have been disappointed at the thousands of people from throughout New Zealand who waited patiently in long lines to visit the ships, navy displays and interact with sailors.
My son and I visited the ROKS Chungbuk, an Incheon class multi-role coastal defence frigate of the navy of the Republic of Korea. We had an extensive tour and officers and sailors interacted with us, explaining the weapons systems and the state of tension that exists with the DPRK (North Korea).
I respect the right of New Zealanders to protest, I respect our nuclear-free policy, but I do not respect the "rent a crowd" that turns up for television cameras and then fades away when the TV crew and reporter go back to the newsroom with their 10-second "news bite".
I do not respect protesters who use a time of remembrance and thanksgiving, to stage a mini anti-American/anti-trade protest.
Chis Cresswell's friend is quite right to remind him of the real risk posed to New Zealand in World War II by the advancing Japanese navy and army and the pivotal role undertaken by the US Navy in the battle of the Coral Sea.
All New Zealanders should also remember the Royal New Zealand Navy and HMS Neptune, HMS Achilles, HMNZS Leander, HMNZS Gambia and the many minesweeper trawlers, including Kiwi and Moa that protected our shores and took the fight to the enemy.
The Merchant Navy also deserves a big thank you as well, but that is another article.
If Chris Cresswell does not believe that the USS Sampson is non-nuclear, I suggest he watch the movie Battleship or borrow my copy of Jane's Fighting Ships. He is unlikely to, because to believe would dissolve his argument.
There are times where, as nations, you have to seek help to stand up to the "schoolyard bully" and I am pleased that my big brother is the United States. My biggest brother used to be the United Kingdom, but he went on his "OE" and married the EU and could not afford to come to the celebrations.
One wonders what would have happened if Tibet had had a big brother that he could turn to in 1959.
Instead, years of peaceful protest has seen the 14th Dalai Lama living abroad since Tibet was incorporated into China in 1959, with the result that the Tibetan civilisation and religion has been absorbed and diluted.
■Murray Woodhouse is a company manager, father of eight children and patriotic New Zealander
