The Journey to Auckland

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Kia Ora!


After 48 hours of traveling madness, my sister, Taylor, and I made it to our first couchsurfing stop in Auckland. Of our 5 flights over here, 4 were delayed, but somehow we ended up landing only 15 minutes later than expected. The biggest bump in the road, however was in LA, where we were told we couldn't go to New Zealand without return tickets or an itinerary proving we were eventually leaving the country. Like something out of the Amazing Race, we found a computer and booked tickets from Auckland to Sydney for a total of $308 in under 15 minutes. Charlie Sheen calls that winning. We also got to spend 5 hours on the beach in Fiji, collecting shells and enjoying a beautiful sunrise. Movies and people-watching kept us highly entertained on the flights, including 3-year-old Charlie who kicked the back of my seat for most of the 3 hour flight from Nadi to Auckland- but you just can't be mad at a child with a New Zealand accent. From the airport, we caught to buses to Remuera and made it to the house- packed with 4 Kiwis, 1 Englishmen, 1 Irishmen, and 1 Taiwanese girl. The first night was spent relaxing and determining our animal nicknames (Jellyfish and Turtle, respectively), as everyone who stays in the house gets one.

Friday morning the boys took us up to the tree house, about 30 ft high, with an amazing view of the eastern suburbs. We also had our first trip to the grocery, which I had forgotten is extremely confusing when you can't find the brands you are used to. So basically we are living off microwave noodles. The weather has been gorgeous though, 60's and sunny everyday! We couldn't have lucked out more, sorry about that hurricane heading towards you! We also took a trip over to One Tree Hill, another suburb close to Remuera, where we had our first sheep sighting. From the top of the hill you can see the whole city, the ocean, and all the way over to Coromandel.

We will probably do some more exploring of the city in the next few days, and then we will be moving on as we only have until October 4th to cover the entire country. We've been lucky enough to use the internet here at the house, but I'm not sure what the situation will be after here, so I will do my best to update again soon! Hopefully pictures next time

Thanks for reading, feel free to leave your thoughts 😊
Cheers

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Comments

[dad]

Welcome to your Adventure!
Sounds like a great start. Where do the two of you think you are traveling next? Have you thought about sheep herding? You could see a lot of the beautiful countryside! Miss you and can't wait to hear what you both are up to. Love :)

[Kristins Adventures in Wanderland]

From Auckland we are heading around the North Island (we want to see Rotorua, Coromandel, Waitomo and Wellington) and then a loop around the south Island (Franz Josef Glacier, Milford Sound, Queenstown, Dunedin, and maybe Christchurch) before heading back to Auckland in October then flying to Sydney!