Auckland Arrival

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We left Hong Kong mid-day on the 21st, carrying 10 suitcases and 5 carry ons. It was a bit of an effort to shuttle the luggage down the street to where the bus picked us up to go to the MTR station. However, like last time, we were able to check in our luggage at the train station and from that point onward it was entirely reasonable.

The flight was unremarkable but it was almost 12 hours and we got into Auckland in the middle of the night Hong Kong time (8:00 a.m. NZ time). Everyone was (and continues to be) in differing stages of serious jet lag. We rented a mini-bus at the airport, but it took an hour and half to arrive. When we finally got to the hotel there were no rooms ready, so we drove around for a couple of hours until a clean bed freed up. When it did, most of us, but not Josh (who had slept during the drive) crashed.

We got out for dinner at a hole in the wall italian restaurant downtown. It was welcome food. We had our first "local" New Zealand wine. Poor Josh who had been up when others were sleeping, fell fast and soundly asleep at the table. Astrid (certainly not me) was able to freely poke him and contort his face into amusing animal shapes. He didn't rouse in the slightest. We ended up taking his meal to go.

We are staying in a hybrid hotel/apartment with a kitchenette. It has a terrific view of the Auckland skyline and is perfect for our transition phase as we move from pure vacation, to setting up here in New Zealand. There is no heating or airconditioning in the unit, but with the windows open there is no need.

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Photos

Auckland Harbour Bridge
As seen from the Hotel/Apartment