Auckland

Nearly 48 hours after leaving Singapore and with stopovers in Manila and Sydney (don't ask) we have finally made it to New Zealand, over 18,000 km from home,very daunting. Luckily Auckland is a charming little city, very laid back with lots of friendly locals. It is the largest city in New Zealand with just over 30% of the countries population. Set in a natural harbour on the Pacific it is centred on an old Dock front which has been rejuvenated into a really cute entertainment district with a plethora of bars, restaurants and even the odd English pub.

First day and we headed up the Sky Tower to get a view of the city from above, with the top viewing platform at 60 stories it is apparently the tallest building in the southern hemisphere. Vertigo dealt with we headed down to have a wander around the center and check out their parks and the National Art gallery, always interesting to see the indigenous art works and the styles they embrace.

Next up we hit the maritime museum to learn about how the original setterlers travelled across the open ocean from the other Pacific islands in small canoes, with palm weaved sails. Pretty impressive when you look at the distance to the closest islands, although maybe that's part of the reason why New Zealand was one of the last places on earth to be inhabitanted by humans. A couple craft beers, a decent pizza and then a couple more beers ensured we got a good night sleep and over our jet lag.

Next day and we headed out to the National Auckland Museum. A very interesting museum that covers everything from the arrival of the first humans right up to how people live in Auckland today. Since our arrival we have been impressed to see how the Mauri culture and language is thoroughly integrated in the day to day life. Everything is in English and Mauri from the museum explanations to the street signs and trains announcements. The Europeans hadn't always behaved well when arriving here around 1740 and it's interesting to see how it is being out right now.
The museum is in the middle of a park and we wandered around a little and found ourselves in a fern forest. It was surprisingly cool under those ferns, perfect against the hot afternoon.
For our last night in town we chose a restaurant by the harbour and enjoyed the lively atmosphere of the town before the heading off to the quietness of the countryside.Read more