We made it to Auckland NZ with no hassles. Weird to lose a whole day Sunday bc we crossed the international date line. I did get busted by the customs dog… for a dried up orange peel I had shoved into backpack in January! Got a warning letter which is better than the $400 fine! It’s warm here. A busy modern city. We went on an afternoon sailing trip which was a lovely way to spend our jetlag day. The Volvo Ocean Tour (an around the world sailing race) is here for their stopover before the next leg to Brazil.
Our Airbnb host is just lovely.
Excited to get started on rest of this trip. And loving Google’s Project Fi phones.. data, text and calls all work here and no extra charges.
March 6 – Waiheke Island
Walked from our lodging through Parnell village to the Auckland Museum. Three floors with exhibits on New Zealand Maori, volcanoes and a war memorial.
Afternoon ferry to Waiheke, a beautiful green hilly island. A bus pass for the day can be purchased for $5 at arrival terminal where busses wait. It is a large hilly island and would not be a good place for us to ride bikes. We took the city bus to a beautiful beach.
Found some great shells and it was easy walking. There is a famous restaurant/bar at this beach.
But we took bus back to the main village and finished our day with an early dinner at Vino Vino overlooking the bay.
When we arrived home we stayed up talking to Tracey, our host about so many topics. I worried we kept her up late on a work night.