New Zealand - Auckland to Queenstown: June 13 - 24
Auckland : Tuesday, June 13, 2006
Brian woke the family up this morning to a splendid rendition of “It’s Moving Day!” Despite, the slight overcast, we were all ready to move onto a new country and were looking forward to seeing New Zealand. None of us can believe that Canada is only 6 weeks and two countries away! After a light breakfast and a round of tearful goodbyes to our “honorary turtles” (Deb’s folks), we were off to the airport. We certainly enjoyed our time with them over the last 22 days.
We dropped off the keys for our rental van (it was sure great on mileage) and did the check in at Air New Zealand in record time. The flight was on time and the views of the reef as we headed south were magnificent. The flight was smooth until we started our descent into Auckland. There were 50-70 km gusts at the airport, so we had a couple of twists and bumps during the landing. Soon however we were standing in front of an immigration official who was intent on discussing skiing while struggling to find an open spot for the arrival stamp in the kids’ passports. After collecting our bags and passing through multiple layers of customs inspection, x-rays and agricultural inspections we were ready to pick up the car.
As simple as the 4.5 hr plane ride was, getting through the car rental took almost as long. First of all, there wasn’t an office in the international terminal. So we had to find a phone for a pickup. The van arrived but didn’t have any Europcar markings on it, so we almost missed our ride. At the office, our “clerk” had to bolt half way through the check in process (to get to a karate class). This left us in the hands of a somewhat less experienced individual. Somewhere between dealing with an incorrect rate quote and the issue as to whether or not the rental car could be taken across on the ferry to the south island in a couple of weeks, we should have just given up. After 45 minutes and a couple of calls to a supervisor, we seemed to have things straightened out. At least we hope we don’t get any surprises in a couple of weeks when we go to board the ferry!
The drive from the airport was through a maze of residential streets and small highways, all in the dark and rain. Eventually we found ourselves on the Auckland Harbour Bridge, crossing over to the north shore. From there it was a quick hop to our hotel for the next couple of days (Spencer on Byron). Despite our problems getting the car, we were pretty pleased with what we had seen of New Zealand so far. The view of the city at night was spectacular with the huge Skytower all lit up. It certainly rivaled anything we had seen in Europe. Tomorrow we really get to see the city. Kia Ora: Welcome to New Zealand.
Wednesday, June 14, 2006: Auckland New Zealand
With the time zone shift of two hours, it was after 8:00 when we woke up. There was a lot to see today, and we were all pretty anxious to get going on the day. We were dressed and out the door in about 20 minutes. We had decided we wanted to see the city from the water, so rather than drive into town we opted to catch a cab down to the ferry terminal at Devonport. From here we caught a Fuller Ferry across the harbour into central Auckland. The ferry only cost $25 NZD ($14 USD) for the whole family return. It would have cost at least that much for parking so we were pretty pleased.
After gobbling down a quick breakfast of a couple of meat pies from a local super market the tour was on. Our hike started by hitting the various shops lining the harbour front. After 2 shops and 10 minutes we had made a significant dent in our daily budget. A sweater and a couple of T-shirts later, we were on our way down to the Maritime museum. This is a large museum with a lot of hands on exposure and tours on many of the boats in the harbour. We then worked our way up the hills towards the Skytower. This is the largest free standing tower in the southern hemisphere. Brian and Brennan however weren’t impressed enough to take the ride to the top. They decided they wanted to spend their tour dollars on something a little more stimulating later in the trip. Deb and Sierra however were attracted to the heights. The views and photo opportunities from the top were great, and Deb even managed to get Sierra out onto a glass floor on the top of the tower.
Brian’s fabulous walking tour next took us across town to Albert Park and onto the University of Auckland. Everything here is incredibly green. Combined with the British influence it felt just like we are back in Victoria. Our next destination was the Auckland Domain. This huge park sits up on a large hill in the center of town and overlooks the harbour. The kids got a big kick out of all the lawn bowling venues along the park border. Situated in the center of the park was the Museum of Auckland. This was a GREAT museum. We wanted to hit this museum early in the trip because we were looking for a good introduction to the Maori culture and the history of the islands. This museum certainly fit the bill.
We then began our long walk back into the center of town, occasionally under rainy skies. Along the way we managed to pick up a small handheld GPS unit that Brian found on sale in one of the shops. It’s all part of a new project Brian has in the works. We’ll see how it goes.
We managed to catch the 4:30 ferry by the skin of our teeth (and a big jump) and we were on our way back to the North Shore and the village of Devonport. Exiting the ferry terminal, we spotted a barber offering $10 NZD haircuts. It had been several months since Vietnam and Brian was due. Once he was shorn, we headed off to do some last minute shopping and a quick tour of the village. Boy, were we surprised. Most of the stores were closing down by 5:00. Soon we were stuck with no shops, no taxis, and no phones to call one. We finally ended up catching a bus and began to decipher the Auckland public transit system en route to the hotel. Dinner was Korean for a change and it was off to bed. Tomorrow we head south for some more adventure.