Auckland

On our way to the Bay of Islands was our first taste of the main city Auckland. Immediately greeted with more residential areas we sensed it was going to be a busy place. We'd chosen to stay just outside the centre in a place called Parnell for the night.
We got lucky with parking and moved into our hostel. Interestingly, although somewhat run down you could tell that it was once a grand mansion, with a large wooden staircase and attractive balcony area. Upon reading some information on the walls it turns it this was once the summer palace for the Queen of Tonga! There were even photos of her together with a young Queen Liz. We could only imagine how that place would have looked in its heyday.

Up early we drove to Mount Eden and climbed to the top. This mountain is right in the centre of the city and a great escape from city chaos. At the top you are greeted by a 360 degree view all the way out to sea. The sky tower dominating the one side it is a fabulous city view, which is thoroughly enjoyed in such a quiet recreational setting. Interestingly there is also a very large crater which was previously a small volanco that a long time ago caved in on itself. That was also cool to see. We enjoyed our visit here and would definitely recommend if you're ever passing through Auckland to make the walk to the top.

Content with what we'd seen of the city so far we headed up north.

Our second visit to Auckland was for the final night in New Zealand and unfortunately was not so pleasant. We'd booked a different hostel in a different area called Ponsonby, a supposedly trendy area.
Our hostel can only be described as a shack. It was absolutely filthy inside with stained pillowcases, dust over everything and even a previous guest's manky towel left out. Also none of the plug sockets worked. At that stage I called the "manager" on this phone that was available. After waiting for ages and some other sagas she eventually replaced my pillow and ran an extension lead into our room. We practically ran out of there for dinner and were keen to stay out. After a delicious Vietnamese meal and an explore of the rather hipster area we retreated back to that horrible hostel. We stayed up awhile catching up on WiFi and some jobs, to only notice at 11pm when getting ready to sleep a large bug on the bed. We squished it and it created a pool of blood, horrified we noticed more bugs, smaller this time but many more and they squished in the same way. I looked at the mattress and checked online only to confirm my worst fears... bed bugs! Having met someone on a previous trip who had slept in a bed with these awful creatures we were unwilling to risk it. Of course unable to get hold of anyone, at midnight we found ourselves in our car for the night.
To say it was stressful and one of the worst nights sleep we've ever had is potentially an understatement. What a way to spend your last night in a country!

BethLeggi altro