Blogs from Auckland, North Island, New Zealand, Oceania - page 7

Heading North Showpony and the Donkey met at the airport in Christchurch at a time well before departure. They ended up with separate seats on the plane which the donkey did not mind as he knew that there would be plenty of time with Showpony to come. When they arrived in Auckland they were too mean to take a shuttle or taxi to their hotel so they walked, and walked....and walked. They also discovered the reason why the Donkey got his bike in the box so much quicker. His box was almost twice the size as Showpony's bike box. Showpony un-boxed his bike and was delighted to discover that it had not been damaged. The Donkey, in contrast, was disappointed that his bike also came out of his box unscathed as he was still looking for ... read more

Before heading to New Zealand we motored north three hours away from the 40 degree heat of Sydney to stay with friend Liz Warne in Salamander Bay. Liz hosted us royally and we enjoyed the local sights including the largest moving beach in the Southern Hemisphere called Birubi. We also watched a magnificent storm roll in and out; wind rain, lightening, it had it all. It was easy to sup the odd glass of wine from Liz’s house with views over the bay. After three days we headed back to Sydney airport, leaving at 06.45, strangely the kick off time of the Sheffield derby, back in Blighty. (0-0 a good result under current circumstances). We flew Qantas on a 737 and the 12 of us in business class were well fed and certainly not left short ... read more

Unsere Zeit in Auckland ist vorüber, morgen früh gehts mit dem Zug weiter nach Wellington an der Südspitze der Nordinsel. Leider reichte es nicht zur Nordspitze (dafür hätten wir 3 Tage gebraucht), wir haben dafür am 1.1. Waschtag gemacht und am Nachmittag das Auckland Museum besucht: auf dem Hinweg konnten wir ein Taxi ergattern, als es zu regnen anfing, für den Rückweg war leider keines da, so dass wir ziemlich nass wurden. Das Museum zeigt sehr gut alle Kriege, wo Neuseeländer beteiligt waren, eine sehr gute Schau über Vulkanismus und Erdbeben (man kann in einem Haus eines miterleben!) und die Entwicklung der Fauna Neuseelands. Ausserdem hat es eine grosse Abteilung mit Maori-Kultur. Gestern machten wir eine wunderbare Wine Tasting Tour auf der Insel Waiheke, wo es mehr als ein Dutzend preisgekrönte Weingüter hat. Wir besuchten 4 ... read more

Hey there blog followers and friends It's been a crazy 9 weeks here and, as well as finishing off the academic year and waving goodbye to my current class and moving into my new classroom, me and Katie have ventured whenever possible (some 20,000km since August) New Zealand is just spectacular and the usual Sunday jaunt across Hauraki to either Tauranga or Coromandel is always satisfying. With my folks arriving in 4 days and a 4 week trip to South Island looming, I do have some updates though... First : I purchased a Yamaha Scorpio (225cc) motorcycle from a pal at work and remembered how much I adore motorcycling and in NZ that means GREAT rides, GREAT views and GREAT times. Even better, it was cheap and fitted in the back of Katie. Next : I ... read more

789 days. That's two years, one month and twenty-eight days during which I was on one continuous journey, the longest stop of which was a mere 36 days. My adventure took me 83,161km, through approximately 231 towns, settlements, villages and cities in 53 different countries. It was, without any literal exaggeration, the journey of a lifetime. Back in Bali, the journey had now come down to the last flight. Well, three technically; Air Asia may have been the cheapest way to get back to Auckland but it meant flying away from my final destination for three hours to Kuala Lumpur before catching flights to first the Gold Coast, and then finally to Auckland. I thought maybe that I'd have a lot of emotions and feelings running through me as I boarded my last flight; that as ... read more