Auckland arrival

April 10 2010


Well today is the day we say goodbye to our house on wheels – old Betsy Britz, a shame really as the day is hot and sunny and we’d love to spend it on the beach. Off to Auckland an easy drive of about two hours and our first taste of true freeway driving in the whole country – two and even three lanes of traffic! We dumped the van after logging over 2800 km of driving and while I didn’t mind the driving I am glad to put it behind me. We took a cab from the airport (where we dropped off the camper) around the harbour to the city where we have a lovely two bedroom apartment just a block from the docks and right in the heart of the city. After hauling our mountains of gear into the apartment and cleaning up we headed out on the town. We went over to the historic Victoria market looking for a few souvenirs; we had a bare hour as everything was closing up. In New Zealand they really roll back the sidewalks at 5:00 wherever you go. We stopped at the Sky Tower (supposedly the highest building in the Southern Hemisphere) and watched someone sky dive off the tower (200 meters of free fall tethered to a pair of braking cables). We didn’t bother to go up, perhaps tomorrow. We then ambled down to quay side where everyone was out for a stroll and a bite. We checked out a couple of seafood restaurants along the water but as no one could agree on a place we ended up eating Mexican off the pier – go figure. Auckland was just starting to wake up around 7:00 with the bars full to the sidewalk and little alleys full of tables. They were showing a free outdoor movie a couple of blocks away and people were dragging carpets and comforters to set up – we didn’t stay to watch. Tomorrow is our last day in Auckland then back to the Northern Hemisphere – we’ll have to make it count.