Auckland

Hey from NZ!!!

So, my last day in Oz was pretty uneventful and i was extremely lucky enough to have the room to myself on my last night, which meant i didnt have to disturb anyone when i got up at 3.30am to catch my flight! After my taxi driver almost killed someone on the way (totally the pedestrians fault - who walks in the middle of the road in the dark? She was fine btw..not even a scratch!) i was ready to leave. I had to fly to Brisbane, and then from Brisbane to Auckland. Total flight time - 5 horus 30 mins. I arrived into Auckland at 3pm (NZ is 3 hours ahead of Queensland, Oz) and after waiting in immigration for around an hour, i caught the shuttle to my hostel, Base. Learning from previous experience (Magnetic Island) i booked myself into one of the Sanctuary rooms which are slightly more expensive, but sooo much nicer than standard dorms. Anyway, i had an uneventful night and went to bed early.

My first full day in NZ was great. I got up early and set about seeing the city. First thing i did was go up the Sky Tower which is the highest tower in the southern hemisphere. This was fun - got to walk along some glass floor and took some great photos of the city. Since NZ is teh adventure capital of the world, people were bunjy jumping off the tower...i, however, did not.

After the sky tower i had a walk through the city and went to the town hall and some markets (where i bought my 3rd pair of sunglasses this trip - i keep breaking them ). At 1pm my friends gemma and rich from OZ picked me up in thier bright orange campervan,as the 3 of us were all going to Waiheke Island overnight. Waiheke Island is in the Hauraki Gulf of New Zealand 17.7 km (about 35 minutes by ferry) from Auckland.

I was picked up at 1pm (as i said) but we didnt make it onto teh ferry until 6.30pm! With no map and a minimal sense of direction betweent eh 3 of us, rich took us on a loooong tour of auckland, suburbs and all. When we finally made it onto the island we were exhausted from being in the car all afteroon.

Once we arrived onto the island we realsied we didnt have a map for here either so thus began another 90 minute ordeal trying to find the one and only campside on this place. Its a really beautiful island, surrounded by clean beaches and national parks. We arrived at teh campsite at around 8:30pm and immediately set to cooking dinner and getting the bed ready. Let me just say at this point: 3 people are not supposed to fit in a 2 man campervan. Lets just say we didnt get much sleep, and i spent most of the night crashed up against the side of teh car. Fun.

This morning we woke up (after about an hour of sleep) with the sun and we fled before the park ranger arrived (so as to avoid payment - we're backpackers and on a budget!). We didnt have time to pack up teh van properly, so rich drove us down a mile down the road with me and gemma still in bed..probably not the safest way to travel.

We spent the morning sunbathing and swimming in the sea (a real novelty after Oz, where you couldnt go in the sea north of Fraser Island because there are jellyfish and you have to wear a full body stinger suit if you want to go in). Then this afternoon we went wine tasting at one of the many vineyards around the island before departing back to Auckland.

Once back on the mainland, we drove the car up One Tree Hill (yes, it does exist for you fans of the tv program out there!). One Tree Hill at a height of 183 metres and provides a bird's-eye view of the city. There is a huge obelisk on top of the hill which is dedicated to the Maori (natives of NZ).There used to be a single pine tree on top of the hill, however, because of fears strong winds could topple it, the 125-year-old pine tree on was chopped down on October 26, 2000.

After the park, gemma and rich dropped me back at the hostel and we went out for a quick dinner before saying goodbye.

Tomorrow i have my final day in Auckland before i head up to The Bay Of Islands with the Kiwi Experience.

Hope everyone at home is well

Love danielle xxx