Blogs from North Island, New Zealand, Oceania - page 1181

A bright sunny morning here in Auckland. Yesterday I spent the day with my new bunkmate Sarah, from the UK, and we went to a nice beach outside of Auckland called Mission Bay. It seems there's a great epidemic going on here, and it's called Ice Cream. I saw that they had a Movenpick there in Mission Bay, and the lineup was about 2 blocks long. New Zealanders love their ice cream. I layed out on the beach for a couple of hours, and enjoyed the people watching. It's a very family orientated place. Everywhere you go people have their coolers (or chilly bins as they call it here), parked on the narrowest roads, and sitting on the steepest hills, all taking in the nice spring weather and sunshine. And of course there are many people ... read more

A blog cant get more up-to-date than this.... Today I faced my fear of heights and won. I ascended the tallest building in the southern hemisphere and after having a look around, instead of taking the lift down, I decided to go outside and jump. Later on I climbed up again, donned a harness and climbed up the inside of the mast to the 'crows nest', a hundred metres above where most people get to. I never thought I'd get to do either of these things. The idea of clambering around on the top of a tall building, on the wrong side of the glass, has always been the stuff of nightmares and morbid fascination for me. I can tell you with no doubt at all that that standing on a ledge 300m above the ground, ... read more

I have spent the last few days in Taupo, a small town that sits on the shores of New Zealand's largest lake, itself contained in a large volcanic crater. This crater is all that remains of a massive eruption which is basically responsible for the whole of the north island of New Zealand. It is a beautiful place, wide open and serene, with the Tongariro mountain range sitting quietly in the background. My enjoyment of the scenery was heightened by the first appearance of the sun in weeks. Little did I know that only days later, the peaceful air would be broken by my own screams, as I hurtled towards the ground at a little over 200kph. I decided to attempt the Tongariro crossing, a 17km trek through stunning mountain landscapes which many claim to be ... read more

It's finally a nice sunny day here in Auckland after 3 days of dark, cloudy skies. I woke up to hear the gulls making some noise, so I figured it was nice weather. Yesterday was interesting. I found an ad for a local car market, and figured I'd walk and check it out. Well, cars were either junk with bondo on them, or they were too expensive. I spoke with a man who was selling a station wagon (yes, they're still making them over here) He was selling it for $1600 NZ dollars seemed in good shape except for the broken mirror, cobwebs on the car, no working radio or interior lights. He told me this story about how he just had a reconditioned engine and transmission in the car. Well, call me not stupid, but ... read more

Today has been pretty much a day of getting some business done. Today I opened a mailbox at a local travelers service place. I need that so I can have my bank statements and it's also necessary for when I buy a car, hopefully, maybe tomorrow. There's a Car Fair that goes on here every Saturday morning. I opened up a bank accoutn with Bank of New Zealand today also, and that felt really good. What's really nice down here is that fact that there are people who are called ambassadors that walk up and down the main streets here, and I think they're Maori. They are basically there to help you, if you have any questions about Auckland. I had to find a local grocery store to buy some things and they were quite friendly. ... read more