Auckland

Explored Auckland more, mostly walking. Auckland is a weird city. It’s pretty quiet. We walked past several major company offices mid-day on a Monday, like Microsoft, Grant Thornton, and Workday, and it was like a ghost town. The country has been very slow to return to the office. We managed to find some highlights and cute neighbourhoods, including Auckland Wintergardens, War Museum, Sky Tower, Wynyard Quarter and Ponsonby.

We celebrated our final dinner with a spectacular chef’s tasting menu at Ahi, a fantastic New Zealand restaurant. Afterwards we went to Caretaker, a hidden gem bar that the waitress recommended as a local hit. It’s similar to Civil Liberties on Bloor where there’s no menu. Ben had a mind-blowing smokey scotch and ginger drink - far cry from when we were taste testing scotches with Laurie and gagging while watching Survivor. Auckland at night and in these livelier neighborhoods is very cool - improved our impression of the city significantly.Read more