Auckland, New Zealand

Auckland comes as a shock to the system. After two weeks in rural New Zealand the traffic and close proximity of houses is crass and harsh. We have rented an Air BnB in Titirangi. Unfortunately, we arrive to discover it is nothing like what was advertised and the reviews are clearly fraudulent. It’s frustrating and annoying. We consider leaving but Auckland is so expensive and we don’t want to pay another $200 a night after we’ve already paid this place. Our mood does improve though after we find an amazing Nepalese restaurant in nearby Blockhouse Bay. It’s packed and takes over 50 minutes for us to be served our food but the time passes quickly watching the restaurant buzzing and discussing the highlights of our holiday. The food is so worth the wait. From memory the restaurant had the word Everestin the name.

We are both feeling a bit blah when we get up this morning. We actually don’t know what to do. I know I feel a bit discombobulated being in the city after such a long time in the countryside. There’s also the disappointment of the relatively rubbish Air BnB after the absolutely gorgeous places we’ve stayed throughout our trip so far. And, perhaps, we’re tired from fitting so much into each day for the past two weeks. Had we been staying somewhere nice we would have just had a day in but today we don’t want to stay at our overpriced dive so we head into Auckland city.

We wander around the CBD for an hour or two. It’s not an ugly city but it’s also not that interesting. There’s the same strings of shops and advertising that exist in almost every city we’ve been to, the same chain restaurants and coffee shops, and tourists carrying Lonely Planet guide books. Perhaps the city is just too small for us. It’s not hectic and crazy like South East Asia nor historic like Europe. That’s not to say Auckland isn’t a nice city but it is a bit boring for us. We find some nice moments and have a nice day. But it’s not awe inspiring like our other days in New Zealand were.Read more