Apr 7, 2013 - Week 1 - Auckland - LA

Flew out of Auckland for our long flight to LA - 1st 30 min always fun then boring..................................................................................................................................................................................

Mar 17, 2013 - March 16 - Russell to Auckland

March 16 We had to leave Rusell today and make our way back to Auckland. We headed to Hururu to see a horseshoe shaped falls that Chris had read about. They were pretty but not that big. Reminded me of something you would see in Bracebridge. Making our through Pahui, we encountered a bicycle road race which was very interesting considering the road is barely wide enough for two oncoming cars to pass each other. We passed the finish line only to have the cyclists continue on into the next town. You have to be crazy to be a cyclist in this...

Mar 15, 2013 - GoodBye New Zealand and Amy!! xx

When we arrived in Auckland, it was just like a normal city all the prettiness of New Zealand had disappeared, it was sad as made me realise my time in New Zealand was rapidly coming to an end. After checking into Nomads Hostel in the city centre; Amy, James and I went for a walk around the streets. Auckland has a sky tower that is just over 200m, but we decided not to go up it as to be honest Auckland doesn’t have anything that impressive to look at and having been up the tower in Melbourne and walking the harbour bridge in Sydney I’m not...

Mar 12, 2013 - Road Trip to the North Country

Yesterday was a LONG day! We took a 12 hour, 300 mile round trip North to the Bay of Islands, learned a lot of history, saw a lot of interesting trees and plants, and just got a general feel for the countryside. We got some good advice in Auckland and selected a local tour operator, whose driver/guide did an outstanding job. We were in a small, but comfortable van-just the four of us-plus a single woman from Scotland. Bryan, our guide did an outstanding job! I'm posting a bunch of photos here, just to give a flavor for the day. Typing in a...

Mar 10, 2013 - Two Days on a Hop-On Hop-Off Bus Tour

Sunday and Monday took us on an excellent bus tour around Auckland that included The Auckland History Museum, Mount Eden, the Kelly Tarlton Aquarium and the Auckland Zoo. Each was well worth our time in their own way, but the Aquarium was probably the most memorable. Again, the weather has been downright outstanding - clear with highs in the mid-70's. There are notes with each of the photos

Mar 9, 2013 - A Day in Devonport

Another beautiful day in Auckland. Today we took the ferry to Devonport, a small town on the North side of the Auckland Bay. There are two very extinct volcanoes in Devonport. We went to the top of both of them and had some spectacular views of the city. Devenport is a pretty touristy community with some very high-priced homes with beautiful views. There are also some excellent restaurants and we had a great seafood chowder for lunch. The chowder contained a lot of local seafood including Green-Lipped Mussels, which are pretty good, but not...

Mar 8, 2013 - Sailing Auckland Harbor

On our first full day in Auckland, we learned (sort of) how to take the bus down to the waterfront where the cruise ships come in and headed for the Marine Museum. When we bought our tickets for the Museum we were asked if we wanted to take a 1.5 hour ride on a sailing sloop to the Auckland Harbor bridge for an additional $10. Naturally, we said yes! It was a beautiful day on the water and there were only four other people on the boat besides the Beelers and us. So we had preset much free rein of the boat. The Auckland waterfront is a...

Mar 6, 2013 - Our Arrival in Auckland

We survived the flights from Phoenix to LAX to Auckland in great shape! Security lines and lines at NZ Customs were almost non-existent and all of the TSA foks were friendly and helpful. The Boeing 777-300 was a great ride and the time on the flight passed quickly. Air New Zealand did a great job and we would definitely fly with them again. We have a really nice two bedroom, two bath apartment on the 14th floor of a building near Queen Street, which is near the heart of Auckland. This afternoon, we took a walk around to get our bearings and...

Mar 1, 2013 - Queenstown to Auckland

Last day in Queenstown today as we fly back to Auckland to get a morning flight tomorrow to Kauai, but our flight isn't until 4:30pm this afternoon so we have some time to fill. Lynda decided to go back and wander around Arrowtown more and I finally have the opportunity to go watch a cricket match! We've been just missing the England cricket matches against New Zealand throughout the trip but today is the third day of a 4 day match in Queenstown and it is being played about 5 minutes away from our hotel so Lynda is dropping me off there on...

Feb 24, 2013 - Exploring Auckland (last day)

Last day of trip/last day in Auckland. Tomorrow we begin the first leg of our journey home (fly to Sydney) and then finish by flying the rest of the legs on Tuesday. Auckland is a city of more than a million people and means City of Sails, In fact, one in every four persons here owns a boat. Just walking around we saw $35-$45 million sailing and powered yachts - the harbor alone is able to moor over 2500 boats. So we decided it would be fun to go sailing in Auckland today and signed up to go on one of America's Cup sailing yachts. It was a...

Feb 23, 2013 - Exploring Auckland

Hi All, Tour is done and some of us are staying a few extra days on our own here. Auckland used to be the capital of New Zealand in the 1800's but they were afraid that the south island was going to sucede because of the wealth they were accumulating due to the gold mining so they moved the capital to Wellington. Today Auckland is known more as the NZ financial district. Joe reminded us that when he worked for Boeing in Seattle he was in Auckland for a month working with them because Air New Zealand was their customer. How exciting it must...

Feb 22, 2013 - Exploring Auckland

Today we caught a ferry to Waiheke Island which is about 45 minutes north of Auckland. It is the home to a fairly large group of wine growers. We visited one winery called the Mudbrick for a tasting. The local wines on the island are relatively expensive because of the limited size of many of the vineyards. While on the island, we also visited Rangihoua - olive growers and producers of EVVO. We saw the olive groves and they explained the process of making olive oil. It was quite interesting-something you take for granted because you really...