Exploring Auckland

ATTN:  Due to technical difficulties, we still do not have Internet at home, and are very limited as to what we can access at work. I promise to update more once we have Internet, but for now, here is an entry I wrote offline about our first week in Auckland and am secretly publishing at work....

Once all of the most pressing items on our To Do list were complete, Rob and I were ready to do some exploring!  We have decided to let a month or so of paychecks build up before we buy a car, so we had to get creative – especially considering it rained most of the week.

On the ferry to Devonport

Tuesday started out as a nice day, so we walked down to the harbour and hopped on a ferry to Devonport, which is a small beach town only a 12 minute ferry ride away. We didn’t stay there very long, but liked what we saw (including my first Kiwi yarn store). The ferry ride was great fun – especially the views.

Clockwise from top left: Flag on the ferry (apparently ships fly a red version of the New Zealand flag), Rob on the beach of Devonport, my first Kiwi yarn store, Mount Victoria in Devonport - we will hike it soon I'm sure!

Wednesday was pretty gloomy all day, so we decided to figure out the bus system. Auckland’s bus system is unlike any I have seen before. It is not owned by one company or by the government; rather, there are multiple bus companies that go to different parts of the city. There are also multiple bus card options, but a nice lady from Lexington, Kentucky (here on a work holiday visa) working at the information desk made sure we got the right one and sent us on our way. We rode the Inner Link to Parnell for lunch at the Blue Elephant, and then hopped on the Outer Link and rode it all the way home – all the way around the city.

The ride took about two hours, and along with getting a really good sense of what neighbourhoods are where, we also saw a lot of school children. I guess there are no school buses in Auckland, because they all seem to either walk/razor scooter home or ride public transportation – and I didn’t see a single parent anywhere. They also wear uniforms – including public school children – and some of their sweaters had Gryffindors on them and it made me feel like I was on my way to Hogwarts (I wish)!

Thursday we did our Coast to Coast walk across Auckland, which gets its own post – so be on the lookout for that.

We needed some bed linens for our new apartment, and we wanted to see a bit of New Zealand outside of Auckland, so Friday we rented a car. It was Rob’s first time driving on the left side of the road, and we returned the car undamaged, so I think he did pretty well!

It just so happened that next door to Briscoe’s (New Zealand’s version of Bed, Bath & Beyond), was the American Store – Martha’s Backyard! While we are trying to be flexible and try new things, there are a few comforts I don’t even want to try to live without. The 12 pack of Kraft Mac ‘n Cheese was $30, as was the Costco-sized box of Goldfish, but $60 is a small price to pay to feel like home. Rob picked up some sriracha and Frank’s Red Hot. 

Tastes like home!  Although I do not recommend the Goldfish Mac & Cheese.  These are two delights that are best kept separate

After stocking up on bed linens (including a wool-filled duvet made in NZ, which we already love), we had the entire afternoon to do some exploring. At the recommendation of a few friends, we took a super narrow, winding “highway” down to Piha Beach. It started to rain while we were there, so we didn’t get to spend much time there, but can’t wait to go back when it gets warmer. I was supposed to try driving at some point, but was deterred by the torrential downpour.

Clockwise from left: Piha Beach from above, the empty beach (although we did see some surfers), Rob's view from Lion Rock (he only went up a bit, as it was raining and this rock is dangerous in the best conditions).

Clockwise from top left: Lion Rock, sign, hiking trail up Lion Rock, warning sign about why you should not hike up Lion Rock.

And then it was the weekend, and we had to start work on Monday, so we spent most of the weekend relaxing and doing normal, boring weekend things like laundry and grocery shopping. And honestly, after the summer we’ve had, nothing was all I wanted to do.