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Published: February 8th 2009
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6th February 2009 - HOW OFTEN DO YOU MEET MR MIYAGI?!!
Woke up at around 9am again.....so good to have a lie in!! We had things organised too apart from booking our tour so we could spend some time at leisure and explore the city!! First things first though....breakfast!! Some leopards don't change their spots...I'm one of them!!!
We set off into town at around 10am & headed straight to the magic office to book our tour to Cape Reinga!! The tour would last 4 days and so we changed the car pick up date to the 11th Feb. Trip sorted and I was very excited!! Now to explore Auckland...and find a hairdressers!!!
We set off into Auckland at leisure. Not like the previous day when we practically ran everywhere. It was a nice city, pretty small, very hilly and loads of South East Asian people living there. Very surprising!! Lots of shops and things were closed during the morning as it was a bank holiday and the streets were fairly busy as lots of people had the day off work. Lucky for some!! (I know I can't talk...having 8 months off!!) We headed past the sky tower first,
saw someone jump off....not suicide though...they paid for the privilege!! We headed down to Victoria Park where a leisurely game of cricket was taking place, walked through a nice little market...kind of like under the arches in Leeds...quaint, and then called in the supermarket that we found for some fruit!!!
We the strolled back past Victoria Park along the sea front and through the marina. Louis Vitton Festival going on with lots of yacht racing. Some amazing boats.....I can dream!!! Really nice walking through the harbour and looking back and seeing the city in the background. Love New Zealand!! We then strolled further along the river and sat on a bench by the waterfront for a while taking in the surroundings and enjoying where we were!! Awesome!! We also saw a few more busking shows taking place around town which were cool to stop and watch every so often.
At it got towards lunch time we headed to sit in Albert Park which was very close to the centre of the city. It was a bit of a trek and a steep climb that I had come to fully expect after my 2 days here. Once in the
park we noticed that there were lots of lanterns dotted about and a stage and stalls set up. Turned out the Chinese Lantern Festival was taking place for 3 evenings from 5 until 10pm. Cool!! We sat on the grass for a while in the sun (very hot) and had lunch and read for a while until we got too hot and sweaty to stay any longer!! We the spent an hour or so on the internet. nipped back to the hostel to freshen up and then headed back to Albert Park to check out the Lantern Festival.
The festival was cool and got pretty busy as time pressed on. Lanterns set out all around the park in different themes. Nice to see and some of the lanterns were pretty intricate. We watched some children perform a few dances and ballet routines (not as good as you Alyssa) which was very cute and wandered around the park checking out all the stalls and decorations. There was also an area for martial arts of different disciplines and cultures where groups were demonstrating moves. We sat and watched a couple of arts and then even saw Mr Mayagi from Karate Kid...don't
believe me...check out the photos!!! It was like a cross between Last Samuri and Matrix led my Mr Mayagi!! Wax on Wax off!! Awesome!!!
We then headed up the food street. It was rammed full of stalls with all types of Asian cuisine. there was a token kebab and burger stall but we stayed well clear and sought out a tasty noodle dish. It was so busy and full of choice!! I wasn't greedy though...one dish and done!! Nat and I were trying to get back on the straight and narrow with food.....no more cakes or treats!! Well...maybe once a week!!!
We spent a good couple of hours going round until we had pretty much seen everything and then headed back to the hostel. It was only around 8.30 and so we made use of the TV room and watched a film. They even had beanbags to sit on...felt like I was 10 again!!! Nice to relax and be in a hostel where we could do that!!
Following the film and knowing that we had to be outside the hostel at 7.15am for our pick up the next morning we went to bed. I was looking forward
to going north and seeing some more of new Zealand...so far so good!!!
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