Auckland

Okay, I'm starting to get really behind in blogging what's been happening! Auckland, the city in which I've been staying, is the main city in New Zealand, home to 1/3 of the country's population. I attended a fantastic orientation the day after I arrived. On Thursday (Oct 9), I rode along on a free tour of Auckland by Kiwi Experience bus line. It was great - got us outside of Auckland Central.






We started off with a Harbour Bridge walk (this is a picture of the bridge we were on). We had to put on harnesses and were connected to an iron wire running under the bridge - we walked underneath across the bridge girders. I think they said the highest point was about 43ft above water. It was so windy! At about halfway across, we stopped at this pod - a capsule from where we had a chance to bungy jump! No one from our group did though. But it was really funny when they opened the pod - they played this really dramatic music and one side of the pod began to slowly lift, and we were left looking down into the water. The guys running the capsule both jumped for our entertainment.

Next, we headed to Devonport. I loved this little town. Very quaint, lots of character, on a little beach area. Most of our group went for the popular fish and chips (feesh and chups), but I decided to forgo the grease. Found a fantastic little bakery (Stove Oven) that had a yummy roasted vegetable salad. All the tables were full so I sat on one end of a loveseat. A little bird decided to join me on the arm at the opposite side...unfortunately, it decided to poo. But the salad still tasted good!! From there, I walked down to Devonport Chocolates - recommended by the bus driver. Homemade daily, they give out free samples! Mmmmmm...it was very tasty.
We also drove up two dormant volcanos (Mount Victoria and I forget the name of the other.) We were able to walk down one of them towards another beach area where I took these photos.


Last stop was at an ice cream shop. I kept hearing about the most famous flavor in New Zealand - the Hokey Pokey, so I had to try it, dairy intolerance or no. It wasn't bad...although, it didn't seem all that spectacular to me. I think it's just vanilla ice cream with these little honeycomb things in it.


I wasn't sure if I'd have time to get this blog in tonight, so I didn't bring my notes - I had some things planned to write about! I hope I captured it all here. If not, I'll try to include it next time.

I walked up to Auckland Domain today (a big park with a Wintergarden!), might be going out dancing tonight (come on, I can't leave Auckland without kicking my heels up a little bit!), and then tomorrow morning, I'm leaving Auckland and heading up to Northland for a few days (figured it would be a good idea to see everything north of Auckland before I start my journey south). I'll return to Auckland after 4 or 5 days and will post another entry to two then.

Happy Thanksgiving! Have some pumpkin pie for me!!