Auckland – The City of Sails
Thursday’s salsa night at Mexicali… apparently not the rage. We were the only two salsa people there in addition to the DJ and the three girls he was entertaining. We slept through our 8:30pm reservation at Minus 5, a bar where everything, including the people, are made of ice. No, but really it is a complete ice bar with ice glasses, seats, etc. Maybe we will go back tonight.
Auckland is a great city with beautiful parks, neighborhoods, the ocean all around, and a bustling city center. We woke up at 6am yesterday and decided to take a walk. Three hours later we had seen Albert Park, the University of Auckland, Auckland Domain (the largest park in Auckland) and Parnell, a trendy neighborhood. For lunch we took the ferry to Devonport, a quaint island town. US Comparison: Martha’s Vinyard. We dined on some excellent fish and chips and climbed up to Mount Victoria, an inactive volcano. From the top we had wonderful views of Auckland and it’s surrounding volcanos. We then walked up the beach and watched dozens of people kite surfing.
Still suffering from jet lag, we took a nap at 6 and didn’t wake up until 10pm. While alcohol was quite easy to find, late night eats were not. We ended up at one of the many kabob stands. The food here is quite expensive so it is hard to stay within our $100/day travel budget, but hey, no worries, as the Kiwi’s often say.
The plan for today: Up to the top of the Sky Tower (the tallest building in NZ), lunch in Ponsomby (a nice neighborhood in Auckland), and the Christmas in the Park festival at the Auckland domain.
Paula
Tags: Auckland, Devonport, New Zealand
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December 7th, 2007 at 8:41 pm
I know you’ll get your dietary needs worked out – not toomuchkababobs. The sights from the tower must be wonderful! It’s soooo good to read your blog! Love you! Ma
December 7th, 2007 at 11:55 pm
Reading your blog is a high point of our day. Give more detail about the weather. Is it warm enough to swim? We still have snow on the ground and sleet in the air. Tennis was canceled Thusday and again for Saturday.nrnrMom and Dad
December 8th, 2007 at 5:58 pm
http://www.timeanddate.com/worldclock/
This is an excellent length for you to use and useful to your readers.
Dad
December 11th, 2007 at 12:24 pm
Nice to hear from you guys! Auckland looks so nice… can’t wait to hear about the next adventure!
December 11th, 2007 at 10:30 pm
Well the day we arrived it rained all day, since then we have maybe had an even number of rainy and not-rainy spells. We had enough good weather to see Auckland but then on Sunday when we decided to get on the road the rain started and did not let up for approx. 24 hours. Unfortunately, our first stop was the Bay of Islands, where as you may imagine, all the attractions are water-based. With the wind and rain we weren’t able to fully enjoy it but since then the weather has cleared up quite a bit. I get the impression that it rains a lot here so we are grateful for every nice day we get, even if a few sprinkles are involved:) The weather is like spring in DC, not really warm enough to swim but definitely comfortable. I write from Taupo where we are spending the day, then on to Tongariro National Park where we will do some hiking.