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Jackman Travels
Whoa... that's a mad flight. Board in Santiago at 11pm on Tuesday, fly for 13 hours and arrive at 4.30am on Thursday. All very odd. We had always known that arriving so early in the morning would be a tad awkward in terms of tiredness and checking in to a hostel... and then the flight arrived another hour earlier. So that meant another hour sitting in Auckland airport nursing coffee. They did though have great tourist info even at that hour so we could start planning stuff.
We were really lucky when we got to the hostel (via airport link bus- really good) as we got access to our room at 7.30am and were even upgraded to a nicer ensuite, so could shower, do washing and then go over the road for a great breakfast at a cafe run a cockney woman.
Auckland's lovely. Yeah, so it helps that it's sunny and has the unusual (to us) luxury of being able to drink the water, speak English and throw toilet roll down the pan, but even without that it would be charming. The people are welcoming and friendly, the streets are clean, and it's small enough to get around easily. It's also right on the ocean so you get great views - it must be wonderful to live in the city but be able to jump on your boat to go fishing or sailing any time you like.
Highlights:
- Going shopping on Queen Street on day 1, entering a department store from the baking sunshine to hear Christmas carols and see the place decked in festive decor. Weird, of course given the weather but fun.
- Walking to Parnell, looking at the massive houses and having a pint in the Windsor Castle. It's a cool neighbourhood. But not as cool as...
- Our favourite area, Ponsonby, full of great shops, bars, ice cream parlours. Check out Ponsonby Social Club- smart beer garden place run by a bloke who spent time in London so has added Pimms to the menu. He makes it with Ginger beer, apple and cucumber and it's very nice indeed.
- There's a really nice bay/beach east of the city (Mission Bay) with a smart Belgian beer bar. Two tips for that though: 1) it's much further than you think- get the bus, don't try to walk and end up having to get the bus anyway and then get mocked by the bus driver for "giving
up". 2) Maybe don't try to go there at 4pm when you've been up since 3am- it's not the best way to appreciate it! Lovely place though.
- And best of all, the pedestrian crossings make the best noise imaginable. Rather than a boring 'beepbeepbeep', when the green man shows, we hear a sound resembling a child making the noise of a laser gun. A sort of 'pee-yow!' noise. So of course you (and by this, we mean Andrew) can wait at the lights and see who can fire their finger-gun at the right moment. Great fun.
We were really lucky when we got to the hostel (via airport link bus- really good) as we got access to our room at 7.30am and were even upgraded to a nicer ensuite, so could shower, do washing and then go over the road for a great breakfast at a cafe run a cockney woman.
Auckland's lovely. Yeah, so it helps that it's sunny and has the unusual (to us) luxury of being able to drink the water, speak English and throw toilet roll down the pan, but even without that it would be charming. The people are welcoming and friendly, the streets are clean, and it's small enough to get around easily. It's also right on the ocean so you get great views - it must be wonderful to live in the city but be able to jump on your boat to go fishing or sailing any time you like.
Highlights:
- Going shopping on Queen Street on day 1, entering a department store from the baking sunshine to hear Christmas carols and see the place decked in festive decor. Weird, of course given the weather but fun.
- Walking to Parnell, looking at the massive houses and having a pint in the Windsor Castle. It's a cool neighbourhood. But not as cool as...
- Our favourite area, Ponsonby, full of great shops, bars, ice cream parlours. Check out Ponsonby Social Club- smart beer garden place run by a bloke who spent time in London so has added Pimms to the menu. He makes it with Ginger beer, apple and cucumber and it's very nice indeed.
- There's a really nice bay/beach east of the city (Mission Bay) with a smart Belgian beer bar. Two tips for that though: 1) it's much further than you think- get the bus, don't try to walk and end up having to get the bus anyway and then get mocked by the bus driver for "giving
up". 2) Maybe don't try to go there at 4pm when you've been up since 3am- it's not the best way to appreciate it! Lovely place though.
- And best of all, the pedestrian crossings make the best noise imaginable. Rather than a boring 'beepbeepbeep', when the green man shows, we hear a sound resembling a child making the noise of a laser gun. A sort of 'pee-yow!' noise. So of course you (and by this, we mean Andrew) can wait at the lights and see who can fire their finger-gun at the right moment. Great fun.
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