(The pic on the left is the Sky Tower in Auckland)We landed in New Zealand after losing a day. It was the weirdest feeling to take off at 10am on Saturday morning, fly for 5 hours and arrive at 3pm on Sunday afternoon. I'm not sure I will ever get my head round that.
Starting in Auckland, we have one month in New Zealand, and we were welcomed with friendly attitude even from the bus driver. For 7 weeks, we have been grappling with communication in Spanish and a bit of French, so when the helpful driver explained where we needed to get off and even modified his route to reduce our walk to the hostel, we were absolutely amazed. Air New Zealand advertise themselves as “Service – its a Kiwi thing” and so far that seems to be true.
Walking round Auckland gives you an odd feeling of familiarity as brands and shops are often similar to those in UK and America. It reminds me of USA because of the “block” layout of straight streets at right angles to each other. It's a small city with amazingly peaceful streets and limited traffic – then again, we are here in peak holiday time for New Zealanders. It is odd to think of Christmas and January as “Summer”, but to the people here, it's time to enjoy their beautiful countryside and get out of the city.
There are just 4 million people in the country and 1
.2 million of those live in or around Auckland, and Diversity here is just a way of life. The people are from all parts of the world, with many Asians and Indians among the faces we have seen around the city. Its history is one of co-operation with Americans and Europeans initially, and later Asians, and the country is home to over 100 nationalities.
Hwever, these days the country is very careful about immigration. Nicki met an Australian who spends every second month here on a tourist visa and has been for years. He is 74 and has a girlfriend here (there's hope for us all yet...) but can't get a visa. “What have I got to offer? I am too old” he said.
Our drive was to get out of the city and start to see some of the countryside. New Zealand is made up of 2 Islands, North and South, and distances are not huge like Australia. It's 500km/300 miles from Auckland to Wellington and end to end, the country is like two times England+Scotland put together, and because it is quite narrow, there is a huge amount of coastline. The volcanic origins of the islands mean that mountains dominate the skyline and the coastline is fascinating, with many deltas and 100's of islands.
Trying to make a plan to see the place is tricky. We have been suggested maybe 50 places to see via
The Lonely Planet book, maps and notes in the hostel we stayed, recommendations from friends who have visited or people we have met. Obviously it's impossible to do and see everything so we have made a rough plan to spend one third of our time on the North Island, two thirds on the South. Yesterday we took our hire car and headed North to the Bay of Islands.
As we drove, our first impressions were – what amazing, stunning countryside, almost impossibly beautiful. Green coast, gorgeoussandy beaches and dramatic coastline. We're staying in a self-contained cabin in Paihia, in the Bay of Islands and getting ready for a day of walking in the countryside.
Starting in Auckland, we have one month in New Zealand, and we were welcomed with friendly attitude even from the bus driver. For 7 weeks, we have been grappling with communication in Spanish and a bit of French, so when the helpful driver explained where we needed to get off and even modified his route to reduce our walk to the hostel, we were absolutely amazed. Air New Zealand advertise themselves as “Service – its a Kiwi thing” and so far that seems to be true.
Walking round Auckland gives you an odd feeling of familiarity as brands and shops are often similar to those in UK and America. It reminds me of USA because of the “block” layout of straight streets at right angles to each other. It's a small city with amazingly peaceful streets and limited traffic – then again, we are here in peak holiday time for New Zealanders. It is odd to think of Christmas and January as “Summer”, but to the people here, it's time to enjoy their beautiful countryside and get out of the city.
There are just 4 million people in the country and 1
.2 million of those live in or around Auckland, and Diversity here is just a way of life. The people are from all parts of the world, with many Asians and Indians among the faces we have seen around the city. Its history is one of co-operation with Americans and Europeans initially, and later Asians, and the country is home to over 100 nationalities.Hwever, these days the country is very careful about immigration. Nicki met an Australian who spends every second month here on a tourist visa and has been for years. He is 74 and has a girlfriend here (there's hope for us all yet...) but can't get a visa. “What have I got to offer? I am too old” he said.
Our drive was to get out of the city and start to see some of the countryside. New Zealand is made up of 2 Islands, North and South, and distances are not huge like Australia. It's 500km/300 miles from Auckland to Wellington and end to end, the country is like two times England+Scotland put together, and because it is quite narrow, there is a huge amount of coastline. The volcanic origins of the islands mean that mountains dominate the skyline and the coastline is fascinating, with many deltas and 100's of islands.
Trying to make a plan to see the place is tricky. We have been suggested maybe 50 places to see via
The Lonely Planet book, maps and notes in the hostel we stayed, recommendations from friends who have visited or people we have met. Obviously it's impossible to do and see everything so we have made a rough plan to spend one third of our time on the North Island, two thirds on the South. Yesterday we took our hire car and headed North to the Bay of Islands.As we drove, our first impressions were – what amazing, stunning countryside, almost impossibly beautiful. Green coast, gorgeoussandy beaches and dramatic coastline. We're staying in a self-contained cabin in Paihia, in the Bay of Islands and getting ready for a day of walking in the countryside.
