Auckland

We ended up spending a couple of days in Auckland before we could pick up our campervan. Our first night we slept in the Airport as we arrived a little after midnight and didn’t want to waste money on half a night’s accommodation. Frugality at it’s finest.

Thursday morning we checked into a hostel and immediately crashed out for a couple of hours. Our first New Zealand meal was spent enjoying the culinary delights of Wendy’s. We know, it’s terrible and it puts us on par with the silly Americans who go to Paris to eat at McDonalds. In our defense, we were hungry and it was really close to the hostel.

Besides walking around the city, took it pretty easy that first day. The highlight was our dinner at the Mexican Café that Veronica had spotted from our hostel window. I admit I was real apprehensive about eating Mexican food since the majority of Sydney’s Mexican cuisine made Taco Bell seem deliciously authentic, but low and behold I was utterly shocked by how good our meal was. Veronica had the enchilada and taco combination plate and I opted for the chimichonga. I feel confidant in stating that Auckland’s Mexican Café is the best Mexican food in the Southern Hemisphere.

After our delicious dinner we cruised to the grocery store so we could load up on groceries. Our hostel had a clean kitchen that was perpetually crowded, but nonetheless we managed to make a few sub par meals to keep our bellies full.

Besides searching out the best cafes Auckland had to offer, we walked over to the Auckland Museum to check it out. Of particular interest (to me) was Sir Edmund Hillary’s pick axe that he used to climb Mount Everest with, and included a little seven-minute film playing behind it. Just as cool was a 19th century Maori war canoe that was an incredible 25 meters long.

I managed to convince Veronica that we should go see a movie our last night in Auckland. Ended up seeing “In Search of a Midnight Kiss”, an independent film set in LA but I am pretty sure written/directed by a Texan. Really cool little film that had both of us laughing hard.

The weather in Auckland was pretty crazy. One minute it would be warm and sunny, and literally 5 minutes later it would be cold and rainy. Definitely one of those cities where you need a backpack so you could change clothes depending on the day’s ever-changing mood.