Auckland

A 13hr flight from LA and we finally landed in Auckland and after waiting for the bio lab to vet our tent, we jumped in the car with Jon from the airbnb and headed to the house. Jon and Evelyn are the most amazing people we could possibly meet on the start of our NZ tour, they even had us back after Raglan and helped us buy our car. Their house was amazing with a swimming pool to cool off in on the hot days. We would be in Auckland for four days and Jon would drop us at the station to catch the train into the city in a couple of occasions. We went up the Sky Tower one afternoon and the views were amazing. You can see for miles. A ferry trip over to Devonport was also a great way of seeing the city from over the water. Once off at Devonport, we visited Cheltenham beach for a swim, which in the heat was most welcome. The coastal gun batteries from ww2 are on the bluffs between Cheltenham and Devonport which was really cool. From Cheltenham beach we could see the volcanic island Rangitoto, so we decided to take a day trip there. The day trip ended up being a huge hike in the boiling heat and being volcanic Island, it felt twice as hot! The views at the top of Auckland and the surrounding areas were amazing though. On the way down we went via the lighthouse and took a quick swim by the beach. All in all, we had a great time in Auckland and we're very grateful to Jon and Evelyn for helping us with places to go and also for having us back between Christmas and new year, so we could buy a car and start our journey of NZ with more ease.Read more