We arrived in Auckland, after a total of 18 hours in flight and an 8 hour layover in Honolulu. The airport and surrounding area is so new, nothing seems old so it is very different from most of the other countries we’ve been to. Auckland is very spread out, not very many high rises, mostly single family homes, each with their own garden area. It is a place of volcanoes surrounded by flat land – very green! We stayed in a hotel that was located right on the waterfront, across from the port and marinas. Spent the day walking around and exploring the area that is filled with boats and restaurants. Dinner was at a place called “Limons”, a Spanish restaurant, terrible food, but enough to fill our bellies with before hitting the bed for the night. The Kiwi’s love to party, the bars were open until 2:30 am and going hard right up to closing.
We woke up around 6 and got ourselves together. Went for coffee and bananas around 8, then hit the road around 9. Things are very expensive: we haven’t seen any meals, including breakfast, for under $15. We thought at first that it was just us being in the city but evidently that is not true…it’s just expensive everywhere! We got gas, bought a map, and headed towards our first destination with a few stops along the way. The coast is absolutely beautiful. Volcanic mountains stand in every background view, and water is often not far. We walked down to a nice waterfall, then over to some old trees called “Kauri” they are huge, similar to redwoods in “bigness” and are becoming pretty rare. The bush areas are very jungly, not what we expected. We’ve not seen much for wildlife except one dead roadkilled possum, and a few birds. We are currently in a town called Hahei, near Hot Water Beach, where tomorrow morning around 6 am, we are headed to dig a hole and sit in it while the hot water seeps up and mixes with the salt water for a thermal spa! Hopefully the weather will not be too cold and I can stand it while digging! Till then!
