Comfort Inn & Suites Newton 121 Auckland

... where we dressed up as famous Americans and auctioned our British friend Richard off as a prize for the right answers! <br><br>We've taken a trip to Sylvia park the largest mall in NZ, which doesn't hold a candle to most of the malls in America! But it was nice to get out of central Auckland by train!<br><br>The telecom lights festival at the viaduct was also a fun night out. They ...

... met one of our life long goals. and i must say i have been in some parallel universe (i didn't even know the date until today). <br><br>auckland was definitely an appropriate place to start our journey. beautiful in it's own right but just familiar enough to make us anticipate the rest of the trip. new zealand definitely has it's british/european influence. like we have a starbucks on every corner auckland has a ...

... the smiling waving children, as we past them. The scenery was vast and expansive, especially the Serengeti (endless plains), Kalahari desert and Namibia.<br><br>I can&#8217;t read or write in a moving vehicle so most of the 42 days when we were travelling the 9,000+ km, I had plenty of time to look out the truck&#8217;s rattly windows and see the ever changing landscape and ponder. I ...

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... and some excursions sorted out. I then went downtown on the bus to do some serious shopping.<br><br>One of the nice things about New Zealand that I have seen so far is that they produce really well crafted beautiful items, most of which were in the downtown shops and most of which I wanted to buy! I was very restrained though and stuck to the necessities - mainly. I ate lunch a little late but it was well worth the wait. Huge succulent chunky prawns and avocado from one of the many many ...

... and Kyle. They moved on to the international terminal as I left.<br><br>I was picked up by some friends of my aunt's that live in Auckland. After a nap, and a delicious apple and feijolo pancake breakfast, I got a local run around of Auckland. Explored various volcanic craters, the water line, and One Tree Hill. A local Maori actually chopped down the tree several years ago, and it has be aptly renamed "No Tree Hill." Still, it was a nice sight ...

... boat had found the dolphins so we were all looking out to sea trying to spot some to swim with. After about 20mins we saw some white splashing and headed in that direction. The sight when we arrived was truly awe inspiring... not 10s, not 100s but literally thousands of dusky dolphins and jumping and playing in the sea. We spent the next 2 hours or so jumping in and swimming with them. They would literally come right up to you and if you were quick enough you got eye ...

... points of interest along the way!! When we set off in our water taxi, all in our seats with life jackets etc, we were actually being pulled by a tractor, which was a little bizaar, but necessary all the same. It was due to there being no harbour or docks and the boats going into the sea from the beach. So we pilled in and got pulled down the road and onto the beach. From there it was off into the park. The "taxi driver" was very informative and gave us all the info on the park, including ...

... here. Since its inception, the number of fish both inside the reserve and in the bordering waters around the reserve have shown dramatic increases in fish and lobster numbers, which had been severely depleted. The reserve now has the support of over 90% of the local people (including many fisherman). As we kayaked alongk, our guide told us about the geology of this area. He said that it has been shaped by volcanic activity and millions ...

... in the middle of Auckland. The next day we went Canyoning, 45 min directly west of Auckland. A day of cliff diving and repelling down waterfalls in a beautiful rain forest started our adrenalin crave. So the next day we went bungee jumping off the Auckland Bay Bridge. The jump sits under the bridge 43 meters (142 ft) from the water which gives you about a 3 second free fall, very sweet.