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Dream vacation

March - April 2023
I never thought this early in life that I'd be going on my dream vacation. The opportunity arose last June, and I couldn't turn it down.
I'm starting in Auckland, New Zealand and will end in Sydney, Australia. Read more
  • 32footprints
  • 3countries
  • 21days
  • 396photos
  • 9videos
  • 13.8kmiles
  • 12.3kmiles
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  • TravelerDream vacation
    Day 1

    Luggage - Monos

    March 21, 2023 in the United States ⋅ ⛅ 52 °F

    Before I went to Mexico in October, I was in the hunt for new luggage. After much research, I decided on Monos because of the quality, colors, and design inside the suitcase. They also run sales. Though I wanted quality, I didn't exactly want too high of a price tag. I ordered the 24" checked bag and 20" carry-on. They traveled to Mexico well. I look forward to seeing how they do with this long of a distance.Read more

  • TravelerDream vacation
    Day 1

    Favorite section of the Atlanta airport

    March 21, 2023 in the United States ⋅ ☁️ 61 °F

    I went to traipse down a Starbucks (from terminal T to terminal C) to keep me awake tl on the flight to Dallas, so I can sleep on the way to Auckland. Between terminals A & B is a rainforest atmosphere complete with sounds. It's just a cool experience.Read more

  • TravelerDream vacation
    Day 1

    Leg 1 done

    March 21, 2023 in the United States

    Made it to Dallas.
    Shortly before I landed, I happened to look out the window and caught this beauty of a sunset.

    The shortest leg is complete. I have a couple hours here before making it across the Pacific to Auckland... a "glorious" 14-hour flight of which I hope to sleep.Read more

  • TravelerDream vacation
    Day 3

    Finally landed

    March 23, 2023 in New Zealand

    I've never been so happy to get off a plane. 15 hours! Also, I've never eaten so much on a flight. There was dinner about an hour after take-off, a snack somewhere in the middle of the flight, and breakfast about 2 hours before we landed. For airplane food, it wasn't half bad. Somehow, I selected a vegan meal. 🤦‍♀️
    Dinner ended up being spinach saag, balsmati rice, dinner roll, gluten-free cookie, and pita chips and hummus.
    The snack was a veggie Stromboli and mango sorbet. (Everyone got this.)
    Breakfast was oatmeal and quinoa topped with blueberries and mango. Interesting combo, but it was pretty tasty.
    I'm full. If I had realized how much I food I was going to be served, I would have eaten differently before I left the States.

    Sleep
    I think I got some decent hours of sleep, but sleeping on an airplane isn't all that great. There was actually decent leg room. My tailbone is sore, so getting up occasionally was beneficial. I also wore my "blood pressure" cuffs on my legs the last half of the flight. What a godsend and relief they were. This was in addition to my compression socks that I always wear.    Read more

  • TravelerDream vacation
    Day 3

    A Little Siteseeing

    March 23, 2023 in New Zealand ⋅ ☀️ 66 °F

    I finally got to the hotel, but our rooms weren't ready... no surprise since we got there 6 hours before rooms would be ready. After catching our second wind, we caught the hotel shuttle down to the city center of Auckland to walk around.
    These are just a few shots of downtown Auckland. One street had Prada, Bvlgari, Christian Dior, and Tiffany & Co. I admired them from the sidewalk.

    My friend Ms. Cinda and I decided to hit the supermarket for lunch and dinner. We had a fantastic sandwich for lunch. We grabbed some salad, cooked chicken, crackers, cheese, cookies, yogurt, and granola to make breakfast, lunch, and dinner. Some of the reason we did this was because Ms. Cinda doesn't do a lot of walking, and we didn't see a unique to NZ restaurant close by. We saw a Taco Bell, KFC, McDonald's, and Subway. We figured getting some groceries from a local market would be second best. Also, since we were a little jet-lagged, we figured eating dinner in our pjs in our room would be a better option.

    I'll try to remember to take some pictures or video of the room tomorrow.
    We are going on an excursion tomorrow all day, so I'll have lots more to share, especially of the area where I currently am.    Read more

  • TravelerDream vacation
    Day 4

    Eastern Port of Auckland

    March 24, 2023 in New Zealand ⋅ ☁️ 57 °F

    Today's excursion took me to all parts of Auckland. I'm starting with the eastern part where we started. Lots of fun facts. Surprise or not, I took notes along the way because I wouldn't remember it all at the end of the trip. I'm just going to list the info, and it should fall in line with the pictures too.
    - 200k cars are offloaded yearly in Auckland 😮
    - The driver David kept calling the traffic cones witch's hats. 😆
    - There were some small marina houses (not pictured because it didn't come out as well on a moving van) that cost three quarter of a million dollars. Because they're classified as historical, they can't be torn down; they can only be renovated. They aren't worth it based on what I saw.
    - The houses are from the richest part of town. The low end starts at $3 million (yellow house). The pink house is owned by one of the women from the show Real House Wives of New Zealand.
    - The mountain in the backgroud is a volcano actually. It's Mount Victoria. It's the tallest volcano on the island.
    - The body of water that you ser is Mission Bay or Helliers Point. Helliers Point had a 300ft pier at one time.
    The very last house: crazy fact. During the pandemic like many, they renovated the house. They lifted up the house and added a basement. 😲    Read more

  • TravelerDream vacation
    Day 4

    Winter Garden

    March 24, 2023 in New Zealand ⋅ ☀️ 63 °F

    These are from Winter Garden. There was a flower greenhouse. All the flowers seen here are in pots. As one dies, they simply remove the pot, move them around, or replace it.
    There was also a fernery. Literally all types of ferns. The pride and joy of the island is the silver fern. One reason it is special is that it is placed on the tombstone of soldiers who have died in battle. Another reason it is special is because the underside is silver, which "lights up," so one could use it to light a path.Read more

  • TravelerDream vacation
    Day 4

    Mount Eden

    March 24, 2023 in New Zealand ⋅ ☀️ 66 °F

    This next place was Mount Eden. It was a steep hill to get to the view but totally worth it. The crater is from a rock from the volcano from hundreds, if not thousands, of years ago. From the view seen in the video, you can see all parts of the city and what we actually saw. In the video, where it starts, is where we ended, and where the video ended is where we started. Had I known that, I would have taken the video in the other direction. Regardless, the view is stunning.
    After Mount Eden, we went to Soljans for a wine tasting, which is a local vineyard.
    After we had our fill of wine, we went to Riverhead Tavern, which is the oldest tavern in New Zealand. I had their famous fish and chips and a beer, Monteith's. I'm not a beer drinker, but it tasted pretty good.
    We drove past the Crisco mansion. The wall is dry wall where wach stone was crafted onsite and hand placed! After the stone fence is the mansion looking down a hill to it.
    There's a picture of one of the many schools in the city. I just got a good picture of this one.    Read more

  • TravelerDream vacation
    32
    Day 4

    North end of the island

    March 24, 2023 in New Zealand ⋅ ⛅ 68 °F

    The last leg of the excursion was to North Shore.
    We started at North Head, which was a military lookout. Men were stationed here because they were anticipating a Russian invasion. The picture of the stairs is where someone sat for 4 years on the lookout for an invasion that never came. Instead, the "city" below/inside the mountain became a place where HS students did a little hanky panky until the adults caught on.
    After North Shore, we went to West Haven, which is the largest marina in the southern hemisphere (largest is Marina del Ray in San Francisco). There are boats upon boats plus yachts in the marina. From the bridge, we saw people bungee jump off of it.

    Beautiful day. Amazing views.    Read more

  • TravelerDream vacation
    1
    Day 5

    Made it onto the ship

    March 25, 2023 in New Zealand ⋅ ☁️ 72 °F

    Finally made it into the ship. We got to the ship terminal an hour late because there was a miscommunication between the porters at the terminal and the cruise reps at the hotel. Once we got on the shuttle bus, all was good. Check-in was a breeze. Our rooms were ready upon arrival. We ate on the Lido deck. I checked out the gym.
    Once my luggage got to the room, I unpacked. I'm ready to set sail.    Read more

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