New Zealand!

As I sit here writing and reminiscing about the beginning of our trip to this AMAZING country, a month later we are actually about to leave. Unfortunately, the real world beckons, and as sad as that is, I have nothing but happy and wonderful memories of the last country on our travels.

Auckland is the biggest city in New Zealand and it’s not huge. I think that pretty much sums up our experiences of this country – everything was smaller and more compact than we’d expected, especially after huge cities like Sydney and Melbourne, but I loved it all the same.

We spent three nights in Auckland, arriving confused and bewildered at our hostel at 3am, and during our stay we spent a fabulous afternoon at the Auckland Art Gallery (just the beginning of the many art galleries we visited during our time in NZ), caught up with an old school friend in a cool student bar, completed a three hour walking tour of the city in which we learnt so much about its culture and history from an enthusiastic Spanish tour guide, popped on the ferry over to the cool suburb of Devonport and, of course, drank a lot of coffee and did a little shopping.

I loved Auckland, I really did. We heard a lot of negative things about it later in our trip from disillusioned locals and travellers alike but it holds a special place in my heart as the starting point of our NZ adventures, of the place we picked up our car to begin our North Island road trip, and of the city of sails. And really, it was only the beginning…

Trust me when I say that there is SO much more to come.