Blogs from Auckland, North Island, New Zealand, Oceania - page 346

After getting quite dissolutioned by the South Island I had one entire day to see the city of Auckland and note the differences between the North and South Islands. I hired a car for a day and drove around. The weather is probably the main difference, I had stripped off my jacket and two jumpers and was only down to two shirts and I was happy with that. There was definitely more Maori people around this city but unfortunately it seemed as though most of them were living in the poor parts of town. It is an interesting city and was good to see that it has both beaches and bays. But as night fell, I started to reflect on my New Zealand experience and on how the kiwis sell off everything for tourism. I ... read more

Picked up by Robbo Back in Auckland this evening All day on the road. I got up pretty early this morning and had a leisurely breakfast. It was kinda funny. Finally after weeks of not remembering any of my dreams I finally remembered one. I guess it was because I was almost ready to wake up. In my dream I was getting ready for bed (you know my bunk bed from when I was a kid!) and had just settled in and fallen asleep. Then all of a sudden I hear an alarm go off...what? I just went to bed. It took me a few seconds to register that it was my watch beeping away and for real it was time to get up! Well, the Stray bus was very on time this morning to pick ... read more

Walkabout Auckland Cruised around Auckland Domain Auckland Museum Yesterday I had a another lazy start. I can't believe that I slept in til 10AM! I decided that I should get unlazy and after making something for breakfast I decided I should enjoy the good weather and walk over to Auckland Domain...lots of green space! I walked by the duck pond, Winter Gardens and stopped off at the Auckland Museum. Quite interesting! I learned a lot about the Maori and the history of Auckland. They had a special exhibit for ANZAC (Australian New Zealand Army Corps) on the Gallipoli campaign. It was quite interesting to read some of the personal accounts that were displayed. I was in the museum for at least two hours which could explain why I was not all that interested in the third ... read more

Kia Ora from me I made it to New Zealand After some long flights. After what seemed like forever in airplanes and airports I finally arrived in Auckland yesterday around lunch time. Phew! The flights themselves were pretty uneventful. Although the girl beside me on the flight to Sydney was a bit of a lush! I think she ended up having six Bloody Mary's (always ordered in two at a time) and a few glasses of wine as well. Meanwhile I'm ordering drinks such as water and Gingerale. lol The movies that were playing weren't very good. Well unless you're an “Electra” fan. haha I pretty much kept dozing on and off and did some reading since there were a million and one magazines to read…what a treat! Hmm, the only other "highlight" I can think ... read more

Auckland… the biggest city in New Zealand… the end of my NZ experience! We arrive here late on Saturday, just in time to take the super fast elevator up the Sky City tower, about 200m high, and see the city and its surroundings before and after sunset. Surprisingly, there was another high adrenalin experience here: standing on the glass bottom in a height of almost 200m…it’s a lot scarier than sky diving :-) even though I knew it was totally safe, I was terrified! At night we finally felt that we reached a real city. The area where we stay is full of cafes, bar and restaurants. We decided to celebrate properly our last evening together in New Zealand and chose the best restaurant that the Lonely Planet offered us: it’s called Chandelier (in Ponsonby st., ... read more