More Wandering around Auckland, NZ

Picking up from what felt like the longest day of my life, we continued our self-guided free walking tour without following the order of jetsettingfools.com. Instead, we walked to see the first of many LEGO stores. In hindsight, I wish we had looked more into mass transit as the walk was over a mile away taking us far away from the tourist district. We were never in an area one could describe as sketchy, but after a day of traveling, it was a long walk. 

The path took us through Albert Park (again), past the University of Auckland (the country's largest university), through The Domain (the largest open space in the city), and beyond. The LEGO store was located on the second floor of a Westfield Mall -- yes, you can take the girl out of the shopping mall capital of the world (how I view Paramus, NJ) and she still lands in a mall, where Don's LEGO passport received its first of many stamps.

Most stores have display unique
to them

I was hoping for dinner, but nothing in the mall captured our interest, so we started walking back to the CBD (Central Business District). As we walked, I recognized some places from the walking tour, so we picked up the tour in Parnell Neighborhood, Auckland's first suburb. The guide enthused the area is filled with trendy bars and restaurants, so I was so optimistic we would find dinner in this area. I don't know what happened. We walked down their main street area, but did not see a single restaurant. This was the start of a pattern where the first night in a new location tends to be a dinner fail while we get our bearings. A separate post should be written on the pros and cons of creating a trip like I did vs. going with an organized group.

The tour continued past at Holy Trinity Cathedral (or at least the outside of this 1960s church).

Then onwards to the Parnell Rose Gardens, which I read is stunning in November. We were there in early September. From the street we could see there was nothing in bloom, and sunset was fast approaching. We were surprised to see how quickly it got dark around 6 pm, back home sunset wasn't until well after 7 pm. We kept commenting how by 8 pm we thought it was midnight.

After a couple of raindrops I dared say out loud how I was glad it was not raining heavily. That was enough for the skies to open up. We couldn't find anyplace to eat, we lost the way back to the hotel (that's what happens when you follow the self-guided tour in reverse), did not see a bus or other means of transportation, Google Maps was telling us we still had an hour walk to find our hotel. 

Though we were soaked, a month later I can say this is the only time we got soaked on the trip. We would get lost, or walk farther than intended, but this was our worst experience with weather and directions. We quickly became stronger with obeying the forecast and figuring out how to use Google Maps.

After much more wandering, we headed to a hidden food court we had discovered earlier in the day. We had been attracted by the sign advertising the Paris Café, though once inside we learned it was not longer operational. There were other food options. I ordered gumbo from a Cajun restaurant. Don surprised me by also ordering from them instead of going for the safe choice of pizza.

It was warm and dry, and only a couple of blocks away from our hotel. I'm actually surprised we did not return there on another night. Our hotel was conveniently located next to a grocery store, so we stocked up on the essentials (Tim Tam cookies and dark chocolate). 

Inside the hotel we were thrilled to discover our floor was one of only two with a washer and dryer. It was too soon on the trip to do laundry, but it was also too soon to have our jeans and shoes soaking wet. Don did laundry while I stayed in the room writing up notes from the day and planning the next day: my birthday.