We took a red eye flight to Sydney with a 3 hour layover before heading to Auckland. It was kind of tiring. Not only because of the layover but also that we have to recheck in in Sydney which also requires a bus transfer from the first domestic terminal to international terminal. Also, immigration forms to fill out... all of these made all of us a bit cranky!
Finally we arrived in Auckland. The airport is straightforward but the customs line was very long. Apparently new Zealand has some very strict rules on what you can bring to the country. Absolutely no food (but my pack of gum is ok).
We tried airbnb for the first time. The host's daughter gave us a ride. We communicated using whatsapp. That was easy.
We were in a room downstairs with a bathroom just outside. It was clean and even have some toys for ellie! Ellie got to play monopoly (junior) for the first time! She likes it and she even taught daddy how to play the game the next day.
Rian noticed a cockroach in the bathroom and warned me about it. I was so super scared. ellie saw it and gave me a talk: don't worry mom. Just stay calm and breath if you see a cockroach. It is not going to hurt you. It is just an awesome creature. :)
We learned to get around in Auckland by train. We also went to a super hi tech McDonald's with touch screen ordering and gourmet burgers. Also the food is a bit pricey. Ellie was most interested in the indoor playground.
The highlight of the first 2 days there was the visit to Cornwall park. We were just looking for a nice playground for ellie. Turns out that the park was really cool. With a LOT of sheep, a nice view of the city, very enjoyable walk and a fun kid playground.
After a short trip to paihia, we got back to Auckland again for 2 more days. This time we stayed in an apartment hotel in city centre. It was a 15 min walk to the hotel from the bus terminal. But the last stretch is a very steep slope uphill. What can you do it is an volcano city! There are a lot of shops and restaurants in the area. There is a sort of an entertainment Centre on the way there, which we ended up spending quite a bit of time in during our stay.
Everyone seems quite happy with the new place, which we have 2 bathrooms, a bedroom and hi speed Internet. Ellie was watching wild kratt almost non stop on Netflix when we were in the house. Well I will rather to see her play. Anyways it has been so long since she was able to watch that show I guess it's ok.
The next day we had lunch at coffee club, which is kind of a coffee and sandwich place and at the same time there was a dance performance outside in open area. It was cool we got lucky.
Then we walked to the Auckland domain. It is a park built on top of a volcano. It was about a 30 min walk which we walked past another smaller park and through the Auckland university. We headed to the museum. On the way there we played on a very big tree with roots that look like walkways, and ran around in the grassy area.
Turns out that the museum is very big and fun. There were 3 levels and we had 2 hours. We spent 1.5 hour on level 1. Rushed through level 2 which is much more interesting than level 1 (nature, animals volcano, and kid area) and didn't even got to see level 3. Sometimes we do need to read about the place a bit more so we can manage our time better :p
After we got back we stopped for mini bowling, video games and ice cream. Then I made pasta with tomato sauce and broccoli for dinner. Overall a great day outside.
The following day's weather wasn't as nice. We stopped for lunch at federal anf wolfe, a place we wanted to go a few days before but ran out of time. I ordered french toast and it looked so beautiful and light and flavorful with edible flowers, raspberry compote on top. We were planning to go to the silo park, by the sea. But it was cold windy and rainy. We ended in the maritime museum. There is a giant sandbox which ellie had a lot of fun in. The museum was very nicely built and a lot more interesting than I originally expected. Again we ran out of time and had to skip a bunch of things on the second level.
Dinner we went to a place that is famous for pastrami. Got a big pile of meat to share and it was so good. Then we had a repeat of the same activities: mini bowling, video games and ice cream. A nice way to end another day :)
The next morning we took the airport shuttle and will head south to queenstown and explore the south island of New Zealand.
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