Auckland, New Zealand, 20 - 22 Jan

After a short delay in LA we were finally on the plane heading to New Zealand. Although excited, LA had drained us and we wanted some much needed ZZZ’s! We both managed around 8 hours sleep on the plane which helped to pass the mighty 13 hour drag. Amanda got sat next to a huge American guy who should really have paid for 3 seats so it was not the most comfortable journey for her!

Our first impression after we landed was how similar the landscape and feel of the place was to the UK. There are European countries on the doorstep of the UK with little commonalities between them, how can this land on the other side of the world be so similar?! It is clear where their influences are from.

We cleared customs (after the scare of a $200 fine for carrying an apple!) and jumped on the bus to the centre of Auckland. 40 minutes later we were on the pavement – 2 backpacks each, a vague map of how to find our hostel and little idea of what time of day it was, or even what day! We managed to find the hostel after a few minutes walking and checked in. This hostel is very different from the one in the US - In a quiet location next to a park. It is more like a hotel in that all the rooms seem to be the same and have a uniform feel. Saying that they are a funky green and purple colour. 

We had a shared bathroom on our corridor so grabbed a shower in preparation to head out to investigate the surroundings.

Auckland is built around the docks and actually covers a greater land mass than London, however there are only a million or so residents, so it feels very spread out and comfortable. There's no bustling traffic jams!  Our first stop was a sports bar for some lunch (yummy steak, egg and chips before we have to live off pasta and cheese!) and then we decided that we should hit a big tourist attraction and go to Sky city – the tallest building in the southern hemisphere.  On our way we noticed something unusual on the side of one of the skyscrapers. On closer inspection it was a group of window cleaners! These guys were mad, abseiling hundreds of feet from the ground, swinging from window to window with a squeegee!

The Sky Tower dominates the skyline from everywhere and is pretty impressive. 

Neither of us are scared of heights so thought it would be a doddle. We bought our tickets and jumped into the lift to go to the first viewing platform – 186 meters above ground level. The lift has a partial glass bottom and a glass wall facing over the city so as you shoot up it is like taking off – like the scene from the end of Vanilla Sky, if you have seen it! We both regretted looking down because as we stepped out of the lift our stomachs were turning and the ground felt like sponge! We had to steady ourselves for a minute. The windows in the observatory tilted out at an angle so that you could see out and down at the tiny ant like people and cars below. 

From here you can see the nutters completing the base jump from the top of the tower. It is line controlled but still crazy! The views were stunning, but it was time to go to the next viewing level – The Sky Deck @ 220m. We thought that the views would not be much better from there but they actually were. Amanda felt really dizzy so headed back to the ground and I stayed to look around.

We left the Sky Tower and headed for Victoria Park a short walk out of the city centre. We found our spot and laid on the grass for an hour or so watching the world go by. There were locals playing football and dog walkers. It was just what we needed after the huge flight and wobbly legs in the sky tower.  

On our way back to the hostel we did our first backpackers shop - Cereal, Milk, Bread, Pasta and Cheese. Enough to last for a few days! The prices are very similar to London - the cheapest beer we could fine was around £8 for 12 bottles.  The pints in the local bar were £4 each though - bit more expensive than Barrow!

Sat 21st

We decided to have a cheaper day and head for the National Museum in Auckland’s Domain Park. A very impressive building on the top of the hill. It was very interesting and told us about the history of New Zealand and the Maori culture / settlements. 

To get to the park, we had to walk through a trail called Lover's Walk. It was full of wildlife, trees and flowers and was a beautiful walk.

On our way to the museum we could hear bagpipes playing which was very strange. It turned out to be the Scottish cultural day in the park and there was a big celebration going on. 

After the museum we sat in the park for half an hour and ate our (sweaty) cheese sandwiches – yummy! Amanda managed to get burnt in that short time! Oops! (and read somewhere afterwards that the sun is so much stronger here because the ozone layer is much thinner - we are going to be a bit careful there - especially with Amanda's reflective white skin haha!) We walked back to the hostel via a supermarket to get some well deserved beers. Our first drink since the plane to LA! We thought it would be a good idea to watch Lord of the Rings for research on the trip – we lasted 20 minutes before nodding off!

Sun 22nd

We wanted to get out the city so headed to the harbour to get a ferry to some of the surrounding areas. We left the hostel in a shorts and t-shirts and discovered it was raining! How dare it! Back in to the hostel to get our rain macs and we were on our way undeterred! Our first stop was a small town called Devonport - much like the UK it was a shipbuilding town and still the Port for the New Zealand Navy (not sure why they need one really?). We had booked an hour bus tour of the area to save our legs and the bus was waiting for us when we got off the ferry. To our surprise we were the only people on the bus! The driver was a guy in his mid 70s who knew a lot about the area and enjoyed chatting to us. The tour took us around some of the bays and local areas such as North Head, Cheltenham and MT. Victoria. The views were supposed to be spectacular, however because of the rain we couldn’t see much at all! We looked around the old war barracks and guns before heading back to the main street and saying our goodbyes with the bus driver! 

We then grabbed a coffee (smoothie for Amanda!) and some yummy Carrot cake in a local cafe and had a wander around the arty shops and boutiques - some amazing glassworks and lovely jewellery (but very expensive - around £400 for a necklace!) and a really yummy smelling chocolate shop - we resisted because of the shocking prices (as the bus driver said, "they're not cheap mate!") We also saw some of the indigenous trees of the area - very impressive trees with huge root structures extending above the surface of the soil.

 After jumping back on the ferry we headed to Rangitoto Island – a volcano about 10 minutes up the gulf. We called it Rongatootoo by accident half the time hehe!

 The island does not have any shops and is pretty uninhabited. We headed off on the climb to the top of volcano, a walk which took around 45 minutes and was quite intensive. It was impressive to see all the formations left by the volcanic black rocks. When we reached the top it was well worth the trek. The sky had cleared and the views were just amazing. You could see for miles over Auckland and the northlands in the opposite directions. 

 We asked a guy to take a photo of us and got chatting to him. He was a teacher in North Head but was originally from Wales. He told us that he had researched his family tree and had family from a small town in Cumbria called Millom!! How strange! This is the town where Gav’s maternal family is from (but everyone likes to tease him saying he is from Millom!). It is a small town on the coast of Cumbria so really strange to be talking about it on top of Rangitoto Volcano!! 

We headed back to the Ferry Jetty to get back to the city, both shattered and ready to rest our feet! The rest of the day we spent planning our first day in our campervan. Gav is really excited to pick it up and get on the road!