Auckland is a nice place. I think it would be neat to live here.
I have one heck of a time with foreign city names. I think a lot of the locations in New Zealand stem from the Native (Maori) language, and because of this, I will hear a town name, and them promptly forget again ("I want to get a ticket to Wai…whatnow?") The same thing happened in Costa Rica.
So we’ve spent a few days wandering around Auckland. Most of the hostels are in the central/trendy region of town, and Auckland is a fairly spread out city, so we haven’t actually seen a great deal of it. But the main area (along Queen Street) is very nice.
We went up the Sky Tower http://www.skytower.co.nz/ , which is the largest structre in the Southern Hemisphere, and boasts an amazing view. There are some photos from the tower, and our first few days in town, under one of the photo galleries.
Observations: Pedestrian crosswalks operate a little differently than at home. The traffic goes in both directions first, and then all traffic stops. Pedestrians then have the all-clear to cross in all directions, including diagonal at most intersections. They have to hurry though — usually in a few sections, the flashing hand appears. It means there is a little more of a wait to cross the road (unless you make a run for it, which is also common), and it also means there is a mass of people on the road all at once, making you wonder where they came from.
Tomorrow morning we head out to Waitomo ("Why-toe-moe") to start our journey southward. Even though this is just the first of many stops, I will definately miss Auckland.
Cost Around Town:
Hostel: Auckland Central Backpackers, NZ$25 per person per night for a 4-6 person dorm room.
Food: Groceries. Dinner for 2 is under NZ$10.
Sky Tower: NZ$18 per person, and $3 extra to go to an observation deck 34 metres higher.
Stay tuned for some distinctly New Zealand activities, coming in a few days.