Auckland Day 1

Kia Ora (Hi!)

We have already fallen in love with New Zealand. After an early morning to get our flight from Boston to San Francisco and then an afternoon spent walking around San Fran, we were tired by the time we got on the plane. We had purchased the sky couch option: it ended up working out great for me (I could lay down completely) but not so great for Rory (who was way too tall). So I curled up in 2/3 of the space lying down and he sat up in the other 1/3 and we both managed to sleep for a lot of the flight. So we hit Auckland reasonably rested and ready for our first day. 

After very much needed showers and coffee we took a walk around the waterfront. Auckland is an isthmus, so it is surrounded on 3 sides by beautiful, teal ocean. There is a really nice path that runs for miles along the water, and we enjoyed getting some fresh air and stretching our legs. We stumbled upon an awesome little farmer's market. The produce looked so fresh and amazing! We decided to get our breakfast there. My smoothie was good, but Rory's mussel fritter with a fried egg on top was amazing!

We decided to do the hop on/ hop off bus for the day to help us get an overview of the city and learn our way around. We made the most of our tickets! We hopped off at Mission Bay and enjoyed a stunning view of the harbor and surrounding islands and got to put our feet in the ocean for the first time! Next stop was the Anglican Cathedral. It had beautiful stained  glass windows and the guide told me that they were designed by a Maori and incorporate Maori colors and symbols into the Christian bible stories. They seem to really respect their aborigine culture here and do a good job of both preserving it and incorporating it into the culture as a whole. Our favorite stop of the day was Mt. Eden, an old volcano. It was a steep hike to the top but so worth it. We had sweeping views of the city skyline and both the Pacific and Tasman. Next up was lunch- I had amazing Sashimi. The fish was so fresh! I guess all this ocean means really good seafood! 

There was a long line to get back on the bus so we decided to walk. Unfortunately, it was a lot longer than we expected. We were hot and tired by the time we got back to the hotel. Luckily a nice room and a swimming pool awaited us! After all that travel and then walking more than 9 miles today, we are ready to make it an early night tonight.

Here's a few shots I got with my phone today so I'd have something to show you how beautiful it is here.