http://www.travelblog.org/Oceania/New-Zealand/North-Island/Auckland/Parnell/ Travel adventures in journals and photos from Oceania , New Zealand , North Island , Auckland , Parnell en-us Thu, 23 May 2013 23:13:08 +0000 Thu, 23 May 2013 23:13:08 +0000 Haalo ut sijn pe en Guus wir.Firlu en Dirruk sijn aan ut fietsun door ut Niewu Zeelant. Se hebbun heule grote tassun aan hun fiets hangun en dragun raru klerun. Firlu39s billun lijkun er heul groot in...hihi Wij hoefun gulukkig niet tu fietsun want er sijn hier heul veul heufuls. Wij liggun du heule dag lekkur in du tas baanaantjus en hooning tu etun ow en pe maakt ook huiswerruk maa http://www.travelblog.org/Oceania/New-Zealand/North-Island/Auckland/Parnell/blog-765097.html Ik ben Guus. Ik ben un liefu wittu bir en ik houw errug van honing en fietsun op mijn rodu driewielur. Maar die pastu niet mer in mijn tas dus die is niet mee nar ut niewe zeelant.Ik ben pe. Ik ben un lief klijn aapju en ik houw errug van banaantjus en dingu lerun op school. Nu kan ik heul lang niet naar school maar gulukig hep ik heul veul huiswerruk gekregu om in het niewe zeelant te makunF http://www.travelblog.org/Oceania/New-Zealand/North-Island/Auckland/Parnell/blog-758121.html We landed in Auckland 13 hours later at 430am local time. Because we had travelled over the international date line we lost a day. In the airport we grabbed a coffee and took a look at a map of Auckland so we could find our hostel. Before that we had to go through immigration where they ask you questions about why you39re in the country. When someone in uniform starts asking you questions http://www.travelblog.org/Oceania/New-Zealand/North-Island/Auckland/Parnell/blog-728303.html Monday 27th February 7.075.4 Overcast Sky 19cHad a good nights sleep last night probably due to the exertions of Sand boarding on the dunes yesterday. Not too many aches and pains though which is surprising. Anyway up in good time and had breakfast of toast and more toast. Supplies are getting very low now and we need to find a http://www.travelblog.org/Oceania/New-Zealand/North-Island/Auckland/Parnell/blog-693896.html Spoiler alert this isn39t an exciting blog just an update I39ve been in Auckland just shy of a week now and I think I39m going to like it here This week I have been attending the international student orientation eventssome helpful and some just for fun. I39ve also been walking around and exploring the city. A friend and I found a faster way to walk to Uni which will be helpful http://www.travelblog.org/Oceania/New-Zealand/North-Island/Auckland/Parnell/blog-690040.html I don't know where to start.... After leaving orientation on February 14th or so we entered a village called Nananu for 12 days. Simply put the drive into Nananu I was in the back of a seperate truck with two Fijian men was the most beautiful scenery I've seen in my life. All around the community were flourishing foothillls waterfalls and neverending trails through some of the most untouche http://www.travelblog.org/Oceania/New-Zealand/North-Island/Auckland/Parnell/blog-583605.html Amsterdam51 Although it has been just three days it seems ages ago since we were waved goodbye at Schiphol Amsterdam. Superlief dat jullie er allemaal waren en bedankt nog voor de lieve brieven en cadeaus. Oma ik heb de metalen nagelknipper er maar uitgelaten ivm scanapparaten maar de rest van het tasje kwam goed van pas. We managed to pass the drop given at Schiphol through the biosecurit http://www.travelblog.org/Oceania/New-Zealand/North-Island/Auckland/Parnell/blog-558897.html Hi to you all and a very happy new year had a fantastic night here in Auckland not too much to drink but the atmosphere was brilliant absolutely no drinking allowed on the streets so it's the first new year we did'nt have a drink in our hand to toast the new year.The fireworks were amazing both from the tower from somewhere off shore we did'nt know which way too look what a wonderful night http://www.travelblog.org/Oceania/New-Zealand/North-Island/Auckland/Parnell/blog-557128.html Not a great nights sleep but we were up out at a reasonable hour on Friday to catch the ferry over to Rangitoto Island the youngest of the volanoes around Auckland at around 600 years old. Its an interesting place black lava makes up bulk of the island you can witness the colonisation of this inhospitable landscape by mosses and hardy trees. This creates little patches of vegetation whic http://www.travelblog.org/Oceania/New-Zealand/North-Island/Auckland/Parnell/blog-555507.html So on Tuesday evening Mark arrived here after over 24 hours of travelling. Yay So glad he flew from Birmingham not Heathrow Jamie kindly gave me a lift to the airport to pick him up we were there with a big sign santa hats to ensure he didn't miss us Yesterday I took him for a stroll around Auckland city centre we saw some pretty ships at the harbour had a tasty rather larger than http://www.travelblog.org/Oceania/New-Zealand/North-Island/Auckland/Parnell/blog-555143.html Just to keep you informed I've had a quiet few days. Much of this time has been spent indoors sorting out a couple of job applications why is the Real World interrupting my holiday Christmas presents I have an Adventure arranged for Mark and trying to avoid doing the former by procrastinating over the latter Thankfully Jamie invited me round for dinner yesterday so I got to escape for a fe http://www.travelblog.org/Oceania/New-Zealand/North-Island/Auckland/Parnell/blog-552925.html This morning we left Whitianga crossed the Coromandel Peninsula via the 309 Road stopping to see hug the huge Kauri trees lt600yrs old in the Waiau Kauri Grove and the Waiau Falls. Unfortunately it was a bit too cool to swin in the pool but it looked like a lovely spot to do so when the sun's out. Julian did test the water by slipping on the wet rocks ended up pretty much sitting in t http://www.travelblog.org/Oceania/New-Zealand/North-Island/Auckland/Parnell/blog-551070.html This site gives me no access to the stats to see if anyone is actually reading this besides the email subscribers who I also have no way of knowing lol... So I just wondered who is actually following my blog here I promise the next post will be more interesting I have to tell you all about the lovely Tiritiri Matangi island the wonderful wildlife I saw there I can tick 2 I really wanted t http://www.travelblog.org/Oceania/New-Zealand/North-Island/Auckland/Parnell/blog-539559.html Leaving Australia was more stressful than I thought.... Firstly I got to bed a little late due to the fact I got chatting to guys over supper then had to pack use up the internet time I'd paid for Then my alarm failed to go off at 4am I looked at my watch saw it was 0415 my taxi was due at 0425... Argh Up dressed last minute stuff into the bag hostel sheets card dumped in respec http://www.travelblog.org/Oceania/New-Zealand/North-Island/Auckland/Parnell/blog-538504.html Well I got myself a good deal and bought tickets to Auckland for my 4 days off. I headed out on Wednesday afternoon and Pete picked me up from the airport and took me up to a place called One Tree hill which has a great view of Auckland. There are also a ton of sheep that just wander around and come quite close to you so New ZealandAte dinner at an awesome burger place here called Burger Fuel. http://www.travelblog.org/Oceania/New-Zealand/North-Island/Auckland/Parnell/blog-485337.html Stardate......urm 1Woke up this morning feeling fineI've got something special on my mindOkay dokay then 5 points to those who can humm that tune.LandedHad a little moment when I tried my currency card in the ATM at the airport and the computer said NO. I'd forgotten that they use one card for all down here for current savings and credit I chose the wrong one Doh. For those who already trav http://www.travelblog.org/Oceania/New-Zealand/North-Island/Auckland/Parnell/blog-473906.html So hubby decided that he would take me out to dinner for New Years and he was actually going to book the restaurant I just had to help him choose. There were a few restaurants that we wanted to try but we decided in the end to stay local so the walk home would be relatively easy. Actually there are a few restaurant's in Parnell that we wanted to try and we chose Iguacu as they were doing a specia http://www.travelblog.org/Oceania/New-Zealand/North-Island/Auckland/Parnell/blog-466874.html What a pleasurable day out we had Especially now that I have discovered another great space I can go and read my book We spent the day close to home at the Parnell Festival of Roses. It runs over two days at the end of October.Only a short walk away from where we are staying is Parnell Rose Garden's so this was a great opportunity to go and check it out when all the roses are in bloom. There was http://www.travelblog.org/Oceania/New-Zealand/North-Island/Auckland/Parnell/blog-464650.html I have lived in close proximity to parks before so what makes the Domain so different for me. I was able to find my spot in somewhere I never really thought I would beOne of the things I was looking forward to before coming to NZ was being able to sit back relax and enjoy catching up on my reading. First I had to find the local library when I arrived as I realised that books in New Zealand are te http://www.travelblog.org/Oceania/New-Zealand/North-Island/Auckland/Parnell/blog-463372.html So this is probably a late point to start talking about my time in New Zealand as I have already been here for a while. I will probably have to write like two or three blogs a day just to catch up with what I have been doing But for me this is an experience of a lifetime and I guess I just could not believe that I have not been recording it. My husband had a year sabbatical leave and when he told http://www.travelblog.org/Oceania/New-Zealand/North-Island/Auckland/Parnell/blog-462921.html