Hi all, I'm in New Zealand now.  Fiji was fun and sunny, but it is nice to be in a more developed and populated area.  The differences between Auckland and the other places I have been so far are noticeable from the moment you land in Auckland's very developed, very commercial airport.  (Its kind of like a mall with airplanes). Th...

Today was tour-on-the-bus day.  We used the Explorer bus that we've used so successfully in the other cities and were not disappointed. We saw many sights but probably the one you'd least expect (unless you know Richard well) was the Alfa Romeo dealer (which also happened to be the Fiat dealer!!). We've seen many Alfas here and Richard was ...

Hi Everyone , Made it to Auckland - just ......  despite leaving 5hrs to get to the airport you can never foresee rail crashes ahead of you and having to hike with a 20kg backpack across the outskirts of Tokyo following some Chinese businessman that had a slight understanding of English ....  that coupled with the flight delay in Brisb...

We made it we landed in Auckland international Airport at 8 pm on the 14th of February. We when through Immigration and then I was stopped in customs because of my rugby boots. I guess NZ is so pure that they don't want any new or foreign dirt in their country so i had to show that my boots were clean, they were. so i was able to get my luggage ...

After a very good night's sleep and really not feeling too badly jetlagged, we got in the car for more sightseeing with L & C. We drove to the North Shore of Auckland and got to see our friends' rental house, to which they plan to retire one day, with its gorgeous views of Long Bay Beach. We stopped at a little park where locals were setting up ...

We survived the long flight - I slept most of the way, Al did not.  The service on Air New Zealand was great,as was the food (curried lamb, yummy).  We got to sample some wonderful New Zealand wine (which is probably why I went right to sleep). Arriving in Auckland airport however was a nightmare.  We fly 11,371 km to spend foreve...

I of HI: Auckland Airport became our first home in NZ! kinda:) We hung out here for 3 hours after we landed.  On purpose! What a great place - they have free road maps, free coffee, an info desk that will hook you up with everything you need, and FREE INTERNET THAT'S RIGHT I SAID FREE INTERNET!!  It's amazing how valuable this is on th...

In Fiji's airport, I met Jenna from Michigan. Through conversation, we found out that we were staying at the same hostel, Base Backpackers. We took the Airbus (12 NZD) directly to the hostel. We dropped off our bags and took a shower. Then we went exploring. Auckland is a lovely city. It is very clean and is located on the waterfront. I was surp...

On their first day in Auckland, the largest city in New Zealand, Colin and Melissa didn't know what to expect. Melissa, in order to keep her Visa in check, needed to travel to some other country before returning to Australia again. This was an excellent excuse to visit her niece Shawna (aka DecemberChick on this very blog) who was currently stay...

first I will spend some days on the North Island of New Zealand