Blogs from Auckland, North Island, New Zealand, Oceania - page 16

Having arrived in Christchurch in the dark I find myself leaving in the dark too as I have an early morning flight to catch back to Auckland on North Island. It feels really sad to be leaving South Island behind. I've had such an amazing time, seen pristine, stunning scenery, kayaked on a glacier lake, cruised on the stupendous Milford Sound, seen more cute kiwis, hiked to see glaciers teetering on the edges of mountains seemingly about to slide off, rode the trams in Christchurch, seen amazing wildlife on the Otago peninsual from yellow eyed penguins to hooker sealions and royal albatross. Oh my, it's been so awesome. But home I have to go and Auckland is my first stop before an evening flight heading off to Beijing. BUT I do have a whole day left ... read more

Predzadnji dan na Novi Zelandiji sva preživela nekoliko bolj umirjeno. Dopoldne sva si ogledala aucklandski akvarij, popoldne pa bližnjo plažo v kraju Piha. Aucklandski akvarij naju je navdušil bolj kot živalski vrt. Združuje prikaz življenja v oceanih in na Antarktiki, zato je poleg različnih vrst rib mogoče videti tudi pingvine. Prav pingvini so nama bili najbolj všeč, saj so zelo radovedne živali. Imajo tudi zanimiv tunel pod ogromnim akvarijem, v katerem plavajo različne vrste rib, morskih psov in želv, ki si jih je mogoče ogledati iz zanimive perspektive - od spodaj in s strani. Priplavajo lahko čisto do stekla, zato se jih je skoraj mogoče dotakniti. Popoldan sva se zapeljala na med domačini zelo priljubljeno plažo v kraju Piha. Plaža je sicer le ena v vrsti številnih, ki se raztezajo po zahodni obali, a je turistom ... read more

Yes, it really is another five hours flying time once you pass over Australia! But eventually the Chinese passengers are being told off AGAIN for ignoring the 'go back to your seats and put on your seat-belts' announcement that they've been ignoring all throughout the flight whenever we get a bit of turbulence, and we begin our descent. And beautiful it is too with lush green mountain folds giving way to a sun-sparkled sea dotted with islands surrounded by sighs of envy at realising people actually live on these mini spots of paradise. I know this won't last long as more people replace old passports, but for now I forgive my dreadful new passport photo for verily my new passport holdeth treasures of joy that help me queue jump like the VIP biatch that I really ... read more

Geo: -36.8474, 174.766We were up very early for our private tour to Waitomo Caves and Hobbiton. We were on the first shuttle from the ship going through the industrial section of the port to where private guides were allowed to meet their passengers. The ship is too large to dock on the usual cruise ship wharf and has to dock in the cargo ship area. Last night, I set the alarm on my phone to wake us at 5:45 so we would have time to get ready and have breakfast in the Kings Court buffet. The phone has been stuck on Santiago time since we were there, so I had to calculate the wake-up time based on that time zone. As it turned out, before the alarm went off, my phone made the three beeps that ... read more

Geo: -36.8474, 174.766We touched down in Auckland around 2pm local time (2 hours ahead of AEST). Delays aside, that was a breeze of a flight. Im not sure how many flights Ive been on but that was my first time on an A380. Smooth sailing all the way, roomy and just 3 hours duration. We grabbed our bags, found a skybus to the city and got our packs on for the first time. Oh so satisfying. After gathering our bearings from the busstop we had a short walk to our first accomodation at Barclay Suites where we would spend two nightsFirst stop. First honeymoon-themed success (presumably). I mean we didnt kick in the door and make honeymoon themed demands. We did humbly mention on our accomodation bookings that it might have been our honeymoon. Stop one ... read more