We have landed safely In Auckland after leaving on Wednesday and arriving on Friday morning. Our direct flight from San Francisco was on a 747-400 (400 passengers) travelling at over 900 km/hr, with excellent service by Air New Zealand, made the 10,500 km flight seem shorter than it was (12,5 hours). Somehow though, Thursday disappeared. Perhaps it had something to do with crossing the International Date Line. We are now 20 hours ahead of our Calgary friends (18 for Ontario) so if you want any tips on what is in your near future, we are your source.
After securing our rental car for the next month we drove to our hostel, getting used to driving on the other side of the road. Since it was too early to check-in (8 am) we did a short hike up to Mt. Eden (a few blocks away) which had a wonderful view of Auckland to help us get our bearings. Then we drove to the Fish Market (smaller and less busy than we anticipated), the Auckland Museum (Maori culture) and then to the Supermarket to pick up a few supplies (including some NZ wine). During our travels we discovered that Auckland does not have many straight roads which often change names, with lots of unsigned streets and roundabouts, making it difficult for my navigator to provide the necessary information to the driver. Meanwhile I was challenged with staying on the correct side of the road and remembering that the signal switch and windshield wiper controls were on the opposite side of the steering wheel. It was a humorous and good introducion to Auckland.
Starting to fade, we then checked into our hostel and proceeded directly to our bed even though it was only 1:30 pm.....apparently we didn't get as much sleep as we thought we did on the plane. After awakening a few hours later......we thought......we soon discoverd it was 8 pm.......so much for dinner........and which is why I am writing this blog just before midnight.
Tomorrow we plan to take an Auckland harbour cruise with a stopover at Devenport to do a 5 km walk / hike to visit the old fashioned suburb and two small volcanos. On Sunday we will drive north to the Bay of Islands.
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| Auckland - Downtown & Sky Tower |
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| Mt. Eden view |
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| Devenport volcanos (behind Museum) |
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