The land of the long white cloud

Final stop before home, New Zealand. We arrived in Auckland after a short hop from Fiji. It's hotter than I thought it would be, a nice balmy 18 degrees.

First things first, we grabbed the rental car for the next 6 weeks. A white Toyota Corrolla that we have dubbed Kora. I'm chief navigator and 2nd driver! Next was a shop to the black and yellow behemouth Pak n Save, a massive supermarket that looks like a cash and carry. Picking up the basics I dub this place the cathedral of budget backpackers.

Our hostel for the first night was Bamber house, while a lovely great house and a suprising upgrade to a twin room from a 8 bed dorm (!) the atmosphere was lacking. With a lot of long term residents who could be quite abrupt and not polite we ended up sticking to ourselves that night.

A sunny half an hour walk the next day into Auckland CBD. After grabbing my contacts ordered in the US (Hallelujaha I can see again!) we wandered to the skytower. A ear popping 52 floors later and we viewed Auckland from above and watched the crazy people jump off the edge. Scoffing sandwiches in a pretty park after, it was time to set off to the Northlands. We drove through windy and hilly roads through rolling green hills full of cows. I can get used to this!

Hostel: Bamber house 3/5 - lacks atmosphere but nice enough

Skytower: 3/5 - Not the greatest view compared to other city skylinesRead more