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On the 1st of April we arrived at the aiport to be informed by a Fijian passport control officer that there had been another earthquake in New Zealand and that our flight had been cancelled. We panicked for a second before realising it was april fouls day! Phew. The two of us have started to get very comfatable with the idea of jettng around every couple of weeks. As a result, Jen has consistently been taking her chances at getting us an upgrade. Unfortunately, we were never successful. Jen and I were extremely excited for the 3 weeks ahead, but at the same time, a little sad that New Zealand was the last country we were travelling together before parting in South America.
We walked through arrivials to be welcomed like celebrities by a mass of young men and photographers. We enjoyed the attention for a few moments before asking who the crowds were expecting. We turned around to see the New Zealand cricket team arriving and being ambushed by supporters. We checked into Nomads in Auckland and decided to do a bit of exercise after relaxing on a beach for so long, so we went for a run around the city to explore.
We woke up bright and early ready to start our kiwi experience with a trip to the Bay of Islands. We were pleasantly suprised by the lovely sunny weather, as we had be warned to expect rain as the autumn months had begun. Due to the clear blue skies, we arrived in Phihia and jumped at the chance to take a boat ride out to the sea to hopefully spot some dolphins! There was a possibility we would be able to swim with them if there wasn´t any baby dolphins present, we kept our fingers crossed. We both sat on the edge of the boat, bikinis and snorkels at the ready, eagerly awaiting the signal from the instructor to jump in! Luckily, we were given three seperate opportunities. When the first singal came, we jumped in as quickly as possible, heads down and swam as fast as we could to keep up with them. It was the best experience of our trip so far, espeically as they were in a playful mood and therefore swam around us responding to our movements. The second time, the dolphins left pretty sharpish. We were oblivious at the time but it was actually due to the fact that a shark was close by. Thankfully, the instructor only told us this once we were back onboard the boat. It was a very enjoyable trip, although one dolphin did decide to excrete in front of us which wasn´t very pleasant. On the way back to sore, we laid on the front deck, admiring the beatiful creatures as they swam alongside the boat. A truly magical moment.
We also visited a small port town called Russell, which suprisingly years ago used to be the capital. We sunbathed on the beach taking in the stunning scenery that is the bay of islands before heading back to the hostel for a BBQ that evening. We were already falling in love with New Zealand, but couldn´t believe how small their big towns were, let alone the population size. Whilst discussing this and comparing it to home, Jen mentioned the fact that "Rutland would never make it into Britians lonely planet guide" (a.k.a the LP).
The following day we relaxed in the jacussi before heading back to Auckland for a few days. When arrivng back at Nomads, a certain poster caught our eye due to backpackers favourite word - free. Without hesitantion we signed up for Stray´s free city tour of Auckland for the next day. Due to our blonde nature, neither of us realised the catch till it was too late. Why would anything be free? Of course they would want us to sign up with them for our bus ticket. Little did they know we already had brought ours through their main rival - Kiwi Experience. We spent the day stepping on egg shells, making sure we didn´t slip up. This wasn´t that easy for jen. Dispite the awkwardness, we visited the Auckland tower, climbed the bridge, visited the cities domain and went to various viewing points which gave us some great photo opportunities.
That evening, the backpackers diet began. As we hit half way through our travels, we were both starting to run low on funds. So it was the vital decision between activites/alcohol or food. Well there is no argument really. So every couple of days we brought a loaf of bread we carried around for breakfast and lunch, followed by packets of noodles for dinner. Despite the simplistic dinner, we enjoyed sitting on the roof terrace overlooking Auckland by night and remanicing on what we have accomplished so far.
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