Jenna: Hi there, and greetings from New Zealand! I meant to get this started weeks ago, before we left Canada, but of course I didn't get around to it. As a result, I now have a lot of catching up to do. Where to even begin?!
Mitch and I left Canada on December 27th and, after travelling through space AND time (kinda) arrived in Auckland on December 29th, just in time to ring in the new year on kiwi soil. It was incredibly hard to leave home, as we knew it would be, but we knew we were embarking on an adventure that would be worth both the anguish of leaving and the anguish of homesickness bound to inflict us in the coming year. Leaving home is always hard. But never knowing what we might have missed? That's probably harder. So off we went!
We had zero time in the weeks before our departure to think about our time in New Zealand past our arrival at the airport. Between packing and the Christmas holiday, finding time to plan a vacation just wasn't available. So, as it was, we landed in Auckland knowing we had four nights at a downtown hotel booked, and that we had to be in New Plymouth by January 7th (mode of transport still unknown). That was it. No other plans or details. But hey, sometimes that's better, right? It opens up a lot of possibilities...
Lesson One: Don't take a taxi from the airport. We learned this the hard way. We were tired, and some nice gentleman suggested we take a taxi instead of the shuttle because our extra bags were "likely to cost a lot". Yeah, right. Anyways, unpleasantness of paying too much for a taxi aside, at least were at our hotel. After a much needed nap, we took to the city to explore a bit. We walked around the waterfront and grabbed a bite to eat at a little place we found that ended up being my favourite place to eat and drink in the city. This first day included a lot of discomfort at being so far from home, but we managed to get through it and enjoy most of our day. I got a sunburn...yes, even after knowing how powerful the New Zealand sun supposedly was. And yes, it IS as strong as everyone says. Wear your sunscreen, people!
We explored Auckland over the coming days, walking lots and taking in the city. We explored the waterfront, the Auckland Domain, and the university grounds. On New Year's Eve we took a ferry across to Devonport and climbed up Mount Victoria to watch the fireworks launch off of the top of the Sky Tower. We spent another day on Waiheke Island, sampling wine at different vineyards using their "hopper" bus to go from vineyard to vineyard. I'd definitely recommend doing this - it filled our day and was a great way to enjoy the weather and the wine for a fairly reasonable cost.
By our last day in Auckland, we were ready for a change - neither of us would consider ourselves "big city" people, so the idea of heading somewhere smaller and quieter was appealing, especially considering New Zealand's reputation for stunning scenery and countryside. On recommendation from both past and future coworkers, we booked a bus ticket to Whangarei ("fong-a-ray"). We tried to go further north to Kiri Kiri or Paihia to stay in the Bay of Islands, but it was booked solid (it was still summer holidays for many New Zealanders, and this is a popular spot for many to vacation). Whangarei was a decent compromise and still allowed us to be close enough to the coast that we could explore a bit.
Whangarei was alright - very quiet and not very lively, but provided us the opportunity to do some hiking to see waterfalls and large Kauri trees. Ferns are everywhere, and as you get closer to the water, Pohutukawa trees are also plentiful. These trees are also known as the "New Zealand Christmas tree" because their red flower blooms in December. I decided I wanted to have a beach day so we inquired at the local tourism office how we could get to the Tutukaka Coast. We found out that there were no busses that went there, but there was a guy called the "coastal commuter" who runs a business shuttling divers and other folks out to the coast for a nominal fee for the day. Much more expensive than a bus, but much less than a taxi, we decided to go for it. Chris turned out to be a pretty good tour guide, and it was pretty hard not to like him. After dropping off a few divers at the marina, he took us up to where we could access Whale Bay, and told us he's pick us up at a shop in Matapouri, which was just a 15 minute hike away. Whale Bay was beautiful, and we hiked up to a lookout that looked over two different bays and the ocean extending away forever. We spent the rest of the day at Matapouri beach and rented a couple paddleboards for an hour after grabbing fish and chips and later ice cream at the local shop. All in all, a very successful beach day if you ask me! Complete with, once again, sunburns...for Mitch, his lower back, and for me, the tops of my feet and forearms...ouchie.
I'll try to post some pictures later. That's all for now...we will try to write about the next chapter - coming to New Plymouth - shortly. Hopefully we will keep up with this in order to update everyone back home who's wondering how life here on the other side of the world (in the future!) is going. Thanks for reading. We miss you all.
Cheers!
Jenna
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