Day 47: Auckland

Just as a warning, not too many exciting things happened today.

I did leave behind the south island for the north though, kind of geographically signifying that I’m halfway through my New Zealand journey. This afternoon I took a flight from Christchurch to Auckland. Over the next few days I’m going to be visiting a lot of places that I’ve been excited for since this trip became a reality. Hot Water Beach in Coromandel, Hobbiton, Rotarua, and Waitomo.

If you ever look at a list of “Top Things to do in New Zealand” these would probably all be there, but that doesn’t mean I won’t be doing other more off the beaten path things too. I’ve got two day planned for Coromandel so I can do Hot Water Beach one day and then spend the other day and a half exploring the area.

I forget if I’ve mentioned this already, but in case I haven’t, Hot Water Beach is a beach located above underground hot springs. When you dig a hole in the sand on the beach, hot water fills the hole, so you can make your own hot spring.

When I got to my hostel today in Auckland the receptionist told me Hot Water Beach was overrated. She said Coromandel had a lot more to offer and that Hot Water Beach was very touristy. Basically I translated that to, “I’m still going to dig a hot spring in the sand, and then I’ll have plenty of other fun things to do too.” Gotta keep it all positive.

I almost said "I've been waiting for this for over two months, don't shatter my dreams."

But I didn't.

The flight to Auckland was short, just over an hour. I was lucky enough to have a window seat but for whatever reason, I took a half hour nap, so when I woke up I only had another twenty minutes before we landed. After all the flights I’ve taken, this one felt like a quick bus ride.

Auckland is very different from my experiences so far just because it is actually a big city. Up until now everywhere I’ve been was fairly small, buildings barely reaching three stores, easy to walk through. Now just my hostel is on the fifth floor. Honestly though, Auckland is not what I would call a “big city,” it’s probably just the biggest I’ve seen since Sydney. Which is already a week ago.

Tonight I’m basically going to get some dinner, book the rest of my travel arrangements for the next week, and get a good sleep. Tomorrow I can explore more of Auckland. I did walk around a little when I settled into the hostel, but I will have a lot more time tomorrow.

Cool thing about this hostel: as I write this I’m sitting on a small deck on the roof that looks out into the city. Not a bad place to do some writing.

Thanks for reading and here’s to tomorrow.

P.S. I can’t really explain the gnome picture, I was walking down the street and there it was. How could I resist?