And so to Auckland....or Ākarana for our Maori hosts. The end of one great adventure but the start of another. It seems like yesterday we were last here. Seven years has flown by. Little has changed. And the world's largest Polynesian city is as cool as ever.Departed customs with a "good luck" from our charming immigration officer. Two minutes later we were emptying our stinking bags in front of an over vigilant environmentalist. New Zealand, you see, is very anal with what's allowed in. Dirt on boots, for example, is a definite no no. So, in our efforts to avoid a hefty fine - people have been hit for $500 for forgetting to declare innocuous items like apples! - we simply declared everything and sat back while it was all scrubbed and polished. Bonus!
First few nights were spent downtown. We quickly came down to earth with a bump. Accommodation here is not as affordably priced as Asia. In fact it's bloody expensive - $50 a night for a double room. Still needs must! Set about visiting a few old haunts and exploring what is a really cool city. Karangahape, known to locals simply as "K", Road takes the biscuit. Easily the funkiest street in Auckland, bristling with off-beat cafes, ethnic restaurants and chic bars. Ponsonby Road too is great - Auckland's premiere "eat street". Down by the newly developed waterfront you're treated to a fantastic mish-mash of bars, restaurants, clubs and designer shops. All the above are a million light years away from the downbeat, dare we say boring, thoroughfare that is Queen Street. Auckland's answer to London's Regent Street is dull. Packed solid with banks, offices, Vodafone outlets and flight centres. Avoid it like the plague!
Greater Auckland, in the north of the North Island for those without knowledge, is the largest urban sprawl in the world - bigger in area than Los Angles - and home to some 1.3 million, a little under a third of the country's entire population. It's beautifully located. Flanked on the west by the Waitakere Hills and on the east the Hauraki Gulf and surrounding islands, including Waiheke and Rangitoto. North is Devonport and the North Shore. South is Manukau and its habour. It's strange too, that only a couple of miles of land separate the Pacific from the Tasman. A strong cricket arm would clear it on a clear day!
We were lucky to be guests of Femke and Richard. Fem is a friend of Marit's aunt. We'd never met but they were fantastic. Living in the heart of Devonport we were given a room of our own and initiated "Operation: Get a Job!" For days we scoured the newspapers and websites. Signed up with temps. And hammered out countless covering letters! At night we made our hosts the guests - cooking up some real treats. Roast lamb! Oh was it heaven. Think we average lamb three times a week. Our lamb and mint burgers washed down with an ice cold Monteiths Golden. Perfect start to the weekend. Sorry, we digress. Fem and Richard were superb. Their house was our house. They drove us here, there and everywhere. Introduced us to their daughter who introduced us to her friends. It was all good.
Then the house. After ten days of Devonport we found a place in Newmarket. A wee studio on the edge of Broadway, Auckland's shopping central. Unfortunately the vast majority of the outlets are designer and thus we never enter! But there's a "Warehouse", the kind of place where you can kit out your entire flat for 270 bucks. Noice! Five minutes walk from the train station, surrounded by cool bars and restaurants, ten minutes walk from the 50m pool (yes can you believe we're exercising again!) and The Domain - a beautiful parkland topped by botanical gardens and museum. With a view across the harbour. Noice! Shame to part with Fem and Richard but the chance of being so central was not to be missed.
The taxman's come back with our numbers. The bank manager's welcomed us with open arms. They always do don't they. And with the fakest of smiles. Bastards. Actually, to be fair, the lad that set us up was superb. Had everything done for us in minutes. Even our new cards were handed to us then and there. No ten day wait for pin and card to arrive separately. All we needed was that friggin job. And then, just like that, the phone started ringing.
First few nights were spent downtown. We quickly came down to earth with a bump. Accommodation here is not as affordably priced as Asia. In fact it's bloody expensive - $50 a night for a double room. Still needs must! Set about visiting a few old haunts and exploring what is a really cool city. Karangahape, known to locals simply as "K", Road takes the biscuit. Easily the funkiest street in Auckland, bristling with off-beat cafes, ethnic restaurants and chic bars. Ponsonby Road too is great - Auckland's premiere "eat street". Down by the newly developed waterfront you're treated to a fantastic mish-mash of bars, restaurants, clubs and designer shops. All the above are a million light years away from the downbeat, dare we say boring, thoroughfare that is Queen Street. Auckland's answer to London's Regent Street is dull. Packed solid with banks, offices, Vodafone outlets and flight centres. Avoid it like the plague!
Greater Auckland, in the north of the North Island for those without knowledge, is the largest urban sprawl in the world - bigger in area than Los Angles - and home to some 1.3 million, a little under a third of the country's entire population. It's beautifully located. Flanked on the west by the Waitakere Hills and on the east the Hauraki Gulf and surrounding islands, including Waiheke and Rangitoto. North is Devonport and the North Shore. South is Manukau and its habour. It's strange too, that only a couple of miles of land separate the Pacific from the Tasman. A strong cricket arm would clear it on a clear day!
We were lucky to be guests of Femke and Richard. Fem is a friend of Marit's aunt. We'd never met but they were fantastic. Living in the heart of Devonport we were given a room of our own and initiated "Operation: Get a Job!" For days we scoured the newspapers and websites. Signed up with temps. And hammered out countless covering letters! At night we made our hosts the guests - cooking up some real treats. Roast lamb! Oh was it heaven. Think we average lamb three times a week. Our lamb and mint burgers washed down with an ice cold Monteiths Golden. Perfect start to the weekend. Sorry, we digress. Fem and Richard were superb. Their house was our house. They drove us here, there and everywhere. Introduced us to their daughter who introduced us to her friends. It was all good.
Then the house. After ten days of Devonport we found a place in Newmarket. A wee studio on the edge of Broadway, Auckland's shopping central. Unfortunately the vast majority of the outlets are designer and thus we never enter! But there's a "Warehouse", the kind of place where you can kit out your entire flat for 270 bucks. Noice! Five minutes walk from the train station, surrounded by cool bars and restaurants, ten minutes walk from the 50m pool (yes can you believe we're exercising again!) and The Domain - a beautiful parkland topped by botanical gardens and museum. With a view across the harbour. Noice! Shame to part with Fem and Richard but the chance of being so central was not to be missed.
The taxman's come back with our numbers. The bank manager's welcomed us with open arms. They always do don't they. And with the fakest of smiles. Bastards. Actually, to be fair, the lad that set us up was superb. Had everything done for us in minutes. Even our new cards were handed to us then and there. No ten day wait for pin and card to arrive separately. All we needed was that friggin job. And then, just like that, the phone started ringing.
