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Auckland We arrived in Auckland after a smooth three hour flight from Fiji. When I stepped off the plane it was tough to not say Bula to people!! We decided to check out Auckland for two days and we had a very rough plan to book a camper somewhere before then. So after hopping onto the bus and checking into the YHA hostel we went on a jaunt down the main road in Auckland, Queen St.
It was clear that our overall experience here in New Zealand was going to be so different than our previous few months. For one, walking down the street we were not being stared at, that there were fully functioning traffic lights and people followed them and that really the way of life here is the same as home. This means that we won’t be pointing out random/strange/funny things to each other when walking down the streets but taking in the views/atmosphere/how the people are. It also means the blog will probably be more descriptive of what we will do rather than outlining some differences.
Our impression of Auckland is that it is a clean, nice city and after our few days
there I couldn’t say many negative things about it. This was a bit of a surprise to me because I heard A LOT of bad reports about Auckland. I think that it is a city that anyone could easily live in and it’s close to nice places that you could hop away for the weekend too. The city is very nice in that the main built up area is all contained in the one area and the rest is very flat and what appears to be residential properties, so it appears that it hasn’t been taken away with the influx of commerce taking up spaces and meaning that apartment blocks are needed here there and everywhere.
It was also clear that fast food, pies, coffee shops, burgers and the like are very popular here. There were cafes/shops after shops. Something I will keep an eye out for! So we walked as far as the Spaceship campervan rental cos this was the top of our list from the two minute research we did. When we got to the shop we managed to score a great deal for the whole month, no hassle and all was booked in a few minutes!
Can’t wait to start that adventure!
After this we headed towards the harbour and took a walk along the Viaduct harbour. This place was really nice with fab views across the harbour, little bars and restaurants and two large apartment complexes shaped like boats, a cool take on residential development for this location I thought. So we decided that as the backpackers that we are we would have a beer and chill as the sun goes down. After this we headed to Freddy’s Ice House. I have always wanted to go to one of these bars but hadn’t got around to it so why not. So here’s me in my warm weather leggings and flip flops walking into an ice bar. Luckily they give you a big warm jacket and cheap ugg short boots for the complete eejits! In we go and have delicious cocktails, have a few photos taken and smash our ice glasses. A very quick way to spend 25 dollars but a cool experience, get it??
So we thought we might as well continue being true backpackers and that night we headed to the cinema! We were both dying to see the Hunger Games, why
not!
The next morning we decided to go for a walk to Mount Eden, the largest of the volcanic hills here in Auckland (there are lots of them dotted around the city). The panoramic views from here didn’t disappoint and we spent a while having some food and taking in the views. After this we went for another walk around the city, as far as the Sky Tower. We decided not to go up it, it was expensive for what it is and the views from Mount Eden did the trick for free. We walked into and out of the complex there called Sky City (it was pretty poor and lacked a welcoming atmosphere). In the evening we found a cheap Chinese place that gave a mountain of food for 7 dollars and grabbed some bourbon and coke mix, had a few drinks in the hostel before hitting the sack. Tomorrow we are heading north in our Spaceship….. To infinity and all that!
Poor Knights Islands So we picked up our Spaceship in the morning! It is called Mysteron; we need to figure out what that is from. John reckons he has the show in his head
but can’t remember the name right! So after doing all the paperwork and getting the “how to” demo from the staff, off we head in our people carrier campervan. Just preparing for all those kiddies in the future ha-ha
Our loose plan was to head in the direction of the Bay of Islands on Chantel's recommendation but we really wanted to do diving too so we decided to stop in at the diving and see what the story was there and make a decision there. So after a few hours journey on a road with beautiful views – bright green shapely mountains, forests and passing some nice sea scenes we arrive in a place called Tutukaka. This is a small place with very little to it but we are here to check out the diving at one of the top ten places to dive in the world (so they say), the Poor Knights Islands. After asking a few questions and chatting to an Irish girl working there we decided to book two dives for the next day. We also got some good info on freedom camping spots nearby so off we went to the most remote one she recommended
to set up camp and make our dinner!
When we arrived at Woolly Bay, we were both impressed. The beach was gorgeous and we couldn’t believe that we would be staying our first night, freedom camping, in such a nice location. After this there was a bit of random faffing around getting used to the Mysteron (including me nearly setting John on fire with the side awning while he was making carbonara) but we got there! The dinner was scrummy, the wine too! So by the time we had dinner, washing up done and bed set up it was dark and we watched some DVD (yes the Mysteron has a DVD player), it was bed time!
We were up early and on the dive boat by 8.30am, excited for the day ahead. The journey out to the Islands was rough to say the least. Probably the roughest sea I’ve ever been on while in a fairly small boat. Once we arrived at the islands though it was really calm. We had a briefing/history of the area talk from the skipper before the Trojan effort of putting on the 7mm wetsuits and vests began. It was so hard, especially
since in Fiji we were diving in our swimming suits!! John had to help out quite a bit for me, my fingers were not working and I was fricking feeling cold, we weren’t even near the water! Eventually we were set to go, jumped in and we were off down. Or not for me. I was too buoyant and the dive master was a bit impatient to say the least. Eventually we got it right and we went along a rocky wall looking at very different marine life to before. To be honest this dive wasn’t my favourite so far, I didn’t feel too comfortable during most of it. We did see some cool fish, in particular a scorpion fish. We also followed the wall around into the world’s largest sea cave which was cool cos as you went further in, it started to get very dark. If I was honest, I was happy to be finished with the dive. I think John knew I wasn’t happy too and that affected his dive too. Our next one went far better and we got to see some really cool things: stingray, eagle ray, large moray eels, really big wrasse like fish.
After the diving we headed further south as we had planned to be in Raglan by the weekend. So we stopped off at yet another cool spot right next to Uretiti beach, which has a section which is nudist. Don’t worry folks, the campsite is strictly not. We did hope while looking on the beach that we would spot a few nudists but alas I think we are here the wrong time of the year!!
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