Days 1-3 of Fall Break: Auckland & Wellington

I know I mentioned this in my very first NZ blog post, but I am going to say it again. NZ reminds me a lot of Wisconsin. For example, take the “Welcome to Wisconsin” sign that we pass upon entering home territory. That sign reads around it: agriculture, recreation, and industry. These three words define NZ in many ways. When driving around, one sees farms of all sorts: dairy, sheep, beef, pigs, alpacas, and even deer. I have decided that NZ is dedicated to not working hard—by this I simply mean that they are dedicated to being with people they love or doing things they love; if they are always working they are not able to do these things. Therefore, recreation can describe NZ very well (not to mention all the cool things that a person can do here at any given moment). All in all, it is a very outdoors-based country. As far as industry goes, well, the travel and tourism industry is huge here. Not a day has gone by where I haven’t met someone visiting this beautiful country.

At the hot water beach

This is the first of probably four or five blog posts that I will write about my fall break/vacation. Let’s begin with Sunday, April 8th. I met my mom in Auckland at about 9:15 a.m. Surprisingly enough, she was the first person I saw upon entering the baggage claim area because customs was a breeze for her. It was an early morning for me. I didn’t exactly go to bed until 2 in the morning, and got up at 5:45 in order to get ready, do last minute packing, and make it to the airport in time to check in and go through security. I think I was feeling the jet lag my mom had all day too. A couple I was put in contact with through one of my parents’ employees met us in Auckland. Keith and Carolyn live approximately two and a half hours north of Auckland. I had been talking with them since the beginning of January about anything and everything pertaining to New Zealand so it was wonderful to finally meet them.

Cathedral Cove

We began our journey with them to the Coromandel Peninsula. I highly recommend googling this place. It was absolutely gorgeous. Our first stop was a hot water beach. A hot water beach entails digging a hole in the sand and having hot water rise up in it during low tide. Unfortunately we arrived late (and it was Easter) and the hot water spots were well taken up so I dug my own hole close to where the tide came in. The water may not have been hot, but it was warm and worth it. It was a great experience and I am glad to say I was able to do it. From there, we drove about six kilometers north to see Cathedral Cove. Again, google this place! We hiked for about 45 minutes before arriving at the beach where we were able to see the cove and the gorgeous scenery it entailed. It was nice to get some sun on a warm day. Keith and Carolyn took us on a scenic drive to Coromandel Town. It was here that we got fish and chips (NZ’s official meal of choice) and drove to the beach and ate off the back of the truck at sunset. I couldn’t think of a more unique way to enjoy my first official meal of NZ. We headed back to Auckland. It was an early night for my mom and me as we were both extremely tired from traveling and lack of sleep.

Sights from our hike to Cathedral Cove

On Monday we got up early, had breakfast with Keith and Carolyn and said good bye. I cannot express my gratitude enough to these kind and generous people. They made our first day in the Auckland area a smooth one. They dropped us off at the ferry station so we could begin our travel adventures for the day. My mom and I took the ferry to Rangitoto Island where we were able to hike up a volcano to a lookout point of the Auckland city skyline. Quick fact: Auckland is made up of volcanoes so we had to do something volcano-related while there. The hike was enjoyable for us because we had another gorgeous day to enjoy. And the view? Well, it was incredible of course! Once we were finished we took the ferry to Devonport to have a late lunch and do some souvenir shopping. We arrived back in Auckland at about 3:30 where we did some more shopping before relaxing.

Auckland city skyline from Rangitoto Island

CAN I GET A DRUM ROLL PLEASE?! I still cannot believe I can say that we did this. We had dinner at the top of Sky Tower! Sky Tower is a lot like to Space Needle in Seattle. I cannot say which is cooler since I have only been to Sky Tower, but I can say that the views of Auckland at night from a height of 328 meters took my breath away. We ate at The Observatory. Lucky for me it was a buffet so I did my usual three trips for dinner and two trips for dessert. I was stuffed from mostly seafood. I have developed a love for sushi and my love for fish has deepened since being in NZ. It was delicious and incredible to enjoy dinner at such a height. Sky Tower is the tallest building in the Southern Hemisphere and the 27th tallest building in the world. I personally cannot think of anything being much taller.

Sky Tower at night

My mom and I spent so much of Tuesday in an airport. Our flight was at an odd time so we didn’t have time to do anything before leaving Auckland and then it was delayed by an hour which really cut our time in Wellington short. I am disappointed I wasn’t able to show my mom more of my city that feels like a home away from home to me. I was able to show her the highlights in about two hours: Cuba Street, Courtenay Place, and the Wellington Waterfront. We had dinner at Burger Fuel and my mom was able to officially try Tim Tams: the best cookie in the world. Even though the time was cut short, I think my mom got a decent vibe from Wellington. It was another early night because of our early morning flight (6 a.m.) to Nelson.