Blogs from North Island, New Zealand, Oceania - page 1143

Oceania » New Zealand » North Island » Auckland February 2nd 2006

Day three Orientation started today…yay. I like freedom a whole lot better. But we got afternoons off so a group of us went to the Aquarium. I love aquariums. This wasn’t even close to Monterey BUT they had a 500lb sting ray who would fallow ur finger, adorable. AND they have a great penguin exhibit; there was a new baby who was more then adorable it was the perfect outing for one sun burnt girly. Till Next time... read more

Traveling the North Island

Oceania » New Zealand » North Island February 2nd 2006

Rafting in Rotorua

starlit383

So I am still in Auckland and have just been trying to get acclimated to the city by exploring. Kristin arrived Saturday and we have been having an awesome time together. We spent most of Saturday at the Harbour festival which is in downtown Auckland. There were all sorts of boats that had sailed into the Harbour which you were able to tour and different festival activities going on there. Sunday we went to Mt. Ringitoto, which is a dormant volcano. We rode the ferry over at 9:15 that morning and spent the entire day hiking it. I can definitely say that I am officially a backpacker. We went swimming on one of the bays on the island and took the ferry back around 5:30 that afternoon. We left on Monday on a Stray tour which ... read more

New Zealand: North Island

Oceania » New Zealand » North Island February 2nd 2006

Auckland Sky Tower

Guy and Rachel

Here's that text you've been badgering us for!: After changing our flights, we landed in Auckland a few days sooner than originally planned. We were immediately pleased with what we now term as 'civilization overload'. This can be both a blessing and a curse, dependent on our mood, situation or suuroundings. We are pleased to say though that this overload was definately of the positive nature! We were delighted by the complimentary coffee that greeted us whilst waiting at the baggage carousel. We were delighted that there was conveniently priced transportation outside to take us to our hostel, and we were very pleasantly suprised by the City of Sails itself, spending a few days here immersing ourselves in civilization after being a bit starved of it since leaving Brazil. We also discovered (well, we had anticipated ... read more

Hello again (from NZ)

Oceania » New Zealand » North Island » Auckland February 2nd 2006

Chris and Amanda

Hello everybody! Thought we would update you all once again, we are now at my cousin Liz and her husband Dave's place in Auckland. If my memory serves me right (because i haven't took the time out to check!), my last update from Byron Bay was the last time we updated. Since then we travelled up the rest of the east coast of Australia, including visiting Fraser Island, the Whitsunday Islands and some of Mandy's relatvies- all during which we continued to have the time of our lives, and got a nice tan in the process! We happenned to be lucky with our fraser island trip and got in with a good group. At one stage, after leaving it to the last minute on my insistence "it will be fine, there will be loads of spaces", ... read more

North Island

Oceania » New Zealand » North Island February 2nd 2006

Maori long distance outrigger

blokeallatsea

AucklandThe usual bus and ferry harbour tours to get an idea of the place. Lots of activity going on, commercial and recreational. Learnt lots from the museum, especially on Mauri origins. Pleasant day's walking out at Waiheke island, where I tasted some local wines and olive oil, seated on a deck overlooking a beach between lush green headlands. Jazz bar on Parnell at night.... read more

The Motherload!

Oceania » New Zealand » North Island » Auckland February 2nd 2006

Mike nz

Hey everybody, its been a while since the last post. People have been asking daily for pictures and wanting to hear stories of the last 3 weeks. We decided to wait and make one big pic post of some of the most spectacular things weve seen, which have happened the last little while. through fire, rain, sand and ice, we've experienced more than we could have asked for in New Zealand. PICTURES ( www.dp-nz.tk ) As you all know, we spent a while in the city of Queenstown. We did finally leave and made our way up what was supposed to be the most beautiful part of new zealand: the west coast. We headed back to Wanaka through the Crown Range, (a twisty turny uphill road, recommended to us) and stayed the night at a familiar ... read more

One Sun Burnt Chicky

Oceania » New Zealand » North Island » Auckland February 1st 2006

Relaxin

Cas

Day two…. amazing, or as they say here bloody fantastic. I’m already starting to pick up on some of their little sayings. My favorite so far has been jandals…flip-flops! Jelly sandals. So today we went to a small island called Devonport, not to be confused with Davenport in Santa Cruz. It is a small little hippy island with two dormant volcanoes. We climbed to the top of Mt. Victoria. The New Zealand government actually filled in the crater of this volcano in the 1880’s and created bunkers because they were afraid of a Russian invasion…talk about living in terror. The hike was amazing; the views form the top…unbelievable. It was such a contrast from the busy, very tall, very loud Auckland, quiet, peaceful, mellow. I mean Auckland is not crazy compared to San Fran but still. ... read more

thank you new zealand

Oceania » New Zealand » North Island » Taupo February 1st 2006

dano_nz

hey everybody, again, its been a while since the last post. people have been asking daily for pictures and wanting to hear stories of the last 3 weeks. so we decided to wait and make one big pic post of some of the most spectacular things weve seen, which have happened the last little while. through fire, rain, sand and ice, weve experienced more than we could have asked for in New Zealand. PICTURES as you all know, we spend a while in the city of Queenstown. we did finally leave and made our way up what is supposed to be the most beautiful part of new zealand: the west coast. we headed back to Wanaka through the Crown Range, (a twisty turny uphill road, recommended to us) and stayed the night at a familiar spot, ... read more

Last stop

Oceania » New Zealand » North Island » Auckland February 1st 2006

Luke

davyg

We arrived back at our start hotel..Still very hot ....BAKING!!!!!.Where are you all ...forgot us already??? We will put afew more odds and ends on to pas an hour ...... read more

North Island

Oceania » New Zealand » North Island January 31st 2006

View from Auckland's Sky Tower

tom and scott

We arrived in Auckland airport feeling somewhat confused (more than normal that is), after a 14 hour flight, 16 hour time difference and having lost a day. But it is so easy! The immigration staff are nice and polite - don't make you (or me at least) feel guilty without even having done anything, there is information on everything you could possibly need information on, and they speak English! Well, kind of. Having already come to the conclusion that we needed wheels, we spent the first few days in Auckland buying a car. As a result we are now the proud owners of a 13 year old station wagon, which is in better condition than Scott's Saab I am pleased to say (sorry Fiona!). Not being particularly 'purist' campers, we hot footed it to buy more ... read more

Brief history of New Zealand

The Polynesian Maori reached New Zealand in about A.D. 800. In 1840, their chieftains entered into a compact with Britain, the Treaty of Waitangi, in which they ceded sovereignty to Queen Victoria while retaining territorial rights. In that same year...more history

Forum Topics for North Island

Rakiura TrackPosts: 4

Pre-pay mobile phone SI...Posts: 9

Win one of two 24 Day A...Posts: 1

24 hours in AucklandPosts: 9

Christchurch (NZ) earth...Posts: 30

Best time of day???Posts: 2

Rental cars.....best ag...Posts: 2

TB Auckland (NZ) get-to...Posts: 15

Is there a more beautif...Posts: 5

Top 10Posts: 2

South Island Hidden Gem...Posts: 8