Trip Update #1: Auckland, NZ

As the first part of our journey is coming to a close, I'm going to attempt to write a quick update.

Tonight is Friday night. Don is drying the items we hand washed in our hotel sink since the laundry room closes too soon to allow us to both wash and dry the clothes tonight. We made the decision to fly COO (Carry-On Only). May everything squeeze back into their allotted spaces tomorrow morning as we pack up for the second part of the trip.

We left from Newark Airport on Sunday evening. We flew to LAX where we had a two hour layover. For me, this was the most stressful point on the trip -- any delay on the first leg meant the second leg wouldn't happen, leading to a potential domino effect. Fortunately, it worked out.

Leg number two was the long haul: LAX to Auckland, NZ. More than 12 hours in an airplane. I made the comment flying feels like purgatory -- you are neither here nor there. I watched a couple of movies on the plane ("Love Again" and "The Jesus Revolution"). A few hours later Netflix sent me an email saying they think I would really like "Love Again" (cue music from "The Twilight Zone").

Both flights were uneventful, though long.

We sailed through security. I realized the next day they did not stamp our passports. Bummer.

Grabbed a Super Shuttle to the hotel.

I don't want to stay up too late tonight, so I'll save the longer posts for after we get home.

At first glance Auckland isn't anything to write home about. The city is relatively new, but not a sparkling, shiny new, more like a 1980's ready for some renovations new. Sort of like our house. The street in front of our hotel is being torn up as they are creating a new subway line. As I type this I hear drag racing down the street and a thumping beat of some bad music. We are a block away from the Sky Tower.

Yesterday's guide mentioned Auckland is one of the world's largest cities based on geography. I can believe it. We have done a lot of walking on this trip (over 25,000 steps most days). Today we broke down and took a train back from a far corner. 

Some observations:

• People are friendly
• There does not seem to be a homelessness problem (basing it both on how few homeless people we saw and that the benches are long enough to sleep on)
• The city is biking and pedestrian-friendly
• We rarely had to wait more than a minute after pushing a button to cross a street, and you can cross diagonally when the crossing signal turns to green
• There are a lot of parks
• It is hilly -- the hills are really volcanoes
• Good food options

Things I would do differently:

1. Paid the extra $30NZD to see the Maori dancers at the Auckland Museum (or at the cultural center yesterday)
2. Figured out mass transit when we were lost and it was raining out
3. Checked the forecast when I could have cancelled the day trip 
4. Stayed an extra day so we could go to a rugby game tomorrow night
5. Checked how well my carry on rolls -- short answer, not well; longer answer, may be replacing it before we come home

Things I am glad we did:

1. Had flexibility to figure out what to do with each day once we got here -- today we went Art in the Park and toured the rugby/cricket stadium
2. Switched to T-Mobile -- it is wonderful not having to look for a SIM card or debate about how many cells to use on the trip
3. Booked a hotel with a free breakfast (I'm hoping more of our hotels include breakfast, I don't remember)
4. Booked a hotel walking distance to so much

Tomorrow we are off to Wellington for the second part of our journey.