Last year, Sophie and I spent eight days camping in New Zealand and absolutely loved it! So we decided to come back to New Zealand this year and stay for a month. Last year we explored a small area of the North Island. This year, we will spend most of our time on the more-rugged South Island.
We took a Hawaiian Airlines flight from LA to Auckland, with a brief layover in Honolulu. We decided to spend a few days in Auckland to acclimate to the time change before heading to the South Island. We are so glad we did, because Auckland is awesome!
Auckland, New Zealand’s largest city, is surrounded by water, islands and small volcanic mountains. It is called the City of Sails. More than 500,000 sailboats in various sizes are anchored and moored at marinas within the city – from small sloops, to larger schooners to America’s Cup racing boat winners. We also saw amazing yachts, cruise ships and container ships coming to port.
We visited the central business district and adjacent harbors on our first day in Auckland. The city is clean, interesting and easy to walk around in, with lots of pedestrian streets and open areas. There is even a pedestrian drawbridge connecting some of the harbor areas.
In the evening, we took a bus to Mount Eden (Maungawhau in Māori). This is one of over 50 volcanoes that dot the region around Auckland. To reach the summit, we hiked on a trail through a beautiful forest that was loud with buzzing insects and exotic bird calls. It felt like we were in the jungle. We were rewarded at the top with great views of the crater, and even better views of the city in all directions. It was a great ending to our first day in New Zealand.
We spent our second day in Auckland on Rangitoto Island, which we will post about separately.
We went to the Auckland Zoo on our final day in the city. It was a really great zoo with amazing forests and landscaping throughout. It was like having a zoo within botanical gardens. I think Sophie took as many pictures of plants as she did of animals, maybe more. The zoo was divided into five sections which included animals from Africa, SE Asia, South America, Australia and of course, New Zealand. We discovered the wētāpunga (world’s biggest insect), the tuatara (reptile species that’s older than dinosaurs), and of course the kiwi (a nocturnal bird that is the icon of New Zealand). We were so impressed with this zoo!
We ended the day back downtown where they had some free events going on by the harbor. We ate fish and chips from a food truck while listening to music. The guy running the food truck said he caught the fish that morning – it was called trevally and it was the best fried fish Sophie and I have ever had!
We really loved Auckland! The city is vibrant, casual, friendly, beautiful and just so pleasant. We ate fresh seafood everyday and enjoyed great access to nature. It was super easy to get around, plus the weather is perfect. It doesn’t get too hot or too cold or too humid. And the plants, trees and gardens are lush and exotic. We were sorry to leave but also excited to go see the South Island which everyone says is even more fantastic.
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