City of Sails

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After a scare in Sydney where we didn't think we'd make our plane to NZ because they weren't about to let me fly without a return ticket from NZ (until they realized it was printed directly on my visa that I wasn't required to have one) we finally arrived in New Zealand! We got picked up at the airport by the friend of a friend and were taken to their home north of Auckland (the City of Sails) in Mairangi Bay. Austin sadly had to leave early the next morning to start orientation but I hung around and stayed there for nearly a week. They took me around a little bit, I got to go into Auckland a couple of times and while I was there … I BOUGHT A CAR! It's a '92 Toyota Camry wagon with loads of miles on it but nonetheless I was thrilled to have a way to get around and a place to crash if need be. It was strange driving back from the city on the wrong side of the road (see video).

Most of my time in Mairangi Bay was spent just running around doing errands. The last day I was there I finally got a New Zealand phone number, and one that I think is pretty cool at that: 3NZ ERIC. That's my phone number! However, one day they took me on a bit of an adventure. We went to see three different beaches: Karekare, Piha, and Muriwai.

Apart from the beautiful view of the beach from the valley, Karekare, I believe, was the first time that I touched the Tasman Sea (the body of water in between Australia and New Zealand). What also made it kind of special was that they apparently filmed a bit of the LOTR series there but I have no idea which parts. Piha was amazing with the huge Lion Rock jutting out from the center of the bay. Muriwai was the most developed of all the beaches and accordingly had a very large surfing, kiteboarding, and blocarting (windsurfing buggies essentially) population. From that beach we hiked up a short trail to see Gannet Rock, a place where Gannets (Takapu in Maori) have flown over from OZ to nest. It was really cool to see them that close up and I got some extreme close ups taking pictures through the binoculars we'd brought along.

So that was pretty much my time on the North Shore. The people I stayed with were extremely nice to have me there, especially for so long. My stay there helped me get on my feet a bit in a country that I didn't really know anything about yet. Their house is a gorgeous upside down house built into a cliff overlooking the sea. It was a great place to start out my trip down unda.

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Photos

Mairangi Bay
This is the view from the balcony of the house where I was staying.

Auckland
The Sky Tower stands our prominently in the skyline of downtown Auckland.

Gannet Rock
Population of Gannets @ Muriwai Beach on the West coast of Northland.

Gannet
Gannet through binoculars.

Carrie
I'd like to introduce you to my new car, Carrie.