Blogs from Central, Auckland, North Island, New Zealand, Oceania - page 17

Bonjour tout le monde, Comme plusieurs voulaient avoir de nos nouvelles, nous avons decide de faire un blog de notre vie en Nouvelle Zelande. De cette facon vous pourrez suivre nos péripéties avec quelques photos pour vous donner une idee de la place. Nous sommes maintenant ici depuis 3 semaines. Nous habitons au centre ville de Auckland. Nous avons une vue splendide sur la baie car nous sommes au 21e étage. Auckland est une tres belle ville, c'est tres propre, les gens sont tres sympatiques. Il y a toujours quelque chose qui se passe ici un peu comme a Montreal durant l'été. Présentement, ca fait penser a la fin d'aout chez nous. En ce moment, c'est le Festival des Arts de Auckland il y a des spectacles un peu partout et toutes sortes d'activitees. Samedi, ce ... read more

Welcome We are on official countdown to our big trip that you all have been hearing about for what seems like forever to us. Hopefully you received an invite (still not totally sure how all of this works)...accept the invitation if you would like to receive our updates as we travel the Islands, and don't worry about it if you don't; we won't take it personally. We just hope to be able to share the adventure we are embarking on with all those who are interested. Right now we are scheduled to leave on March 9, around 7PM from San Francisco, and land in New Zealand 13 hours later (ugh) on friday morning the 11th. We'll spend our first two days in Auckland, on the North Island, then travel down to Christchurch (South Island) by plane ... read more

Wednesday 15th December 2010 (Christchurch – Auckland) We arranged a later check out with reception so that we could catch up on some of our disturbed sleep , then spent the afternoon updating our blog in the hotel before going to the airport for our flight to Auckland. The check-in process was seamless, with automation every step of the way... after an hour we arrived and made our way to our airport hotel where we enjoyed a swim and sauna before dinner in bed. ... read more

A heavy rain overnight settles into a drizzle for our morning stroll to breakfast. Finding a café we enjoy porridge and French toast (covered with fruit) and then try to get our airplane boarding passes at the Air New Zealand office. No such luck but we do get our seat reservations. Passing the WWI Memorial Arch I notice the “Service Above Self” motto prominently displayed and wonder if Rotary International borrowed theirs from this poignant statement. Returning to the hotel our driver picks us up on schedule for the short run to the airport. Checking in is painless at the kiosk where we get boarding passes, bag tags and a kind staffer to assist us. Security is marvelously relaxed without the hassle of our TSA Gestapo and with smiles and kind words to assist. No shoes ... read more

Wednesday 17th November 2010 Lost to International Date Line – Rubbish! Thursday 18th November 2010 (Auckland) Joanne hadn’t slept a wink on what we had hoped would be a smooth night flight with a seamless transition into a new time zone (although Video on Demand didn’t help!), so at 5am the top of our wish list was a hostel that would allow an early check in for a quick cat nap and refreshing shower before starting our day. Base (ACB) were less than useless – we even offered to pay for the previous night but the receptionist stated the cash tills were closed. We checked out Quality Backpackers over the road, and even though the double room was barely larger than the bed and it was a bit pricey, they did let us check in immediately ... read more