Auckland

After 2 very long flights and 1 pleasant Quantas flight from Melborne we finally arrived in Auckland. During the three flights I watched: The Incredibles 2, A Quiet Place, War for the Planet of the Apes, Bill and Ted’s excellent adventure and ironically…Airplane! Before Airplane there was a pre-flight warning from Quantas that the movie was extremely silly and that if I was easily offended or suffered from a fear of flying that I should not watch the film. It also asked me not to call them Shirley.

Week 1: Part 1

In a word: tired. To ease us in with the new time zone we took it easy after morning library ‘Woodrush Star’ sessions and explored the city centre and watched the latest Fantastic Beast film. We booked an appointment to open up our New Zealand bank accounts and Eleanor explored places to live in Wellington. The weather has been wonderful and it is completely bizarre to see so many Christmas decorations, featuring snowmen in 20 degree weather.

After the initial jetlag we walked up Mount Eden for the instagrammable photos and to see all of the city centre. It was stunning and after each large hill Eleanor makes me walk up, I can feel myself getting less out of breath (although I still breathe extremely heavily and I’m still completely unfit with such intense “up”! But at least I’m getting better…)

Week 1: Part 2

More exploring specifically in Ponsonby and because we’ve been doing so much walking we decided to take a break and take the public scooters around! To activate the scooter you have to download an app, which unlocks the scooter with a QR code, which then tracks how far you’ve gone and charges accordingly. 
On Monday Eleanor surprised me with a boat trip across the water to Devonport. It felt like we were back on a Cornish beach in England. Fish and chips completed the illusion!

I think it’s safe to say that we loved our time in Auckland. It has been such a great introduction to New Zealand life, everyone seems calm, relaxed and friendly! Even the crazy man in the library warning Eleanor that terrorism could happen anywhere said it with a smile (not in a threatening way so I’m told!)

We’ll be moving down to Wellington where I’m not sure how to continue this blog! Because it’s been fast paced all through Europe there has been a lot to write about and more importantly, it’s been interesting to write about. Maybe a monthly recap of potential interesting things? Or things that happen on the weekends?! We’ll find out.

It’s been so much fun to write this blog so far and it’s been quite humbling that friends and family have read it. It’s main purpose was to act as sort of a memory jogger / journal for me as I have a notoriously bad memory…let’s find out where it goes from here…maybe Eleanor might write a post one day!
*The curtain has dropped, it’s been Paul writing all along!*