We just took off from Auckland. While we're looking forward to seeing family and friends it's a little sad leaving this magnificent country behind. Obviously I can't predict the future but I'm thinking we'll be back hopefully soon and often.
So while we were here I would occasionally turn on the TV to get a little news or sports. As I had mentioned previously Fox, CNN and ESPN were usually available. Additionally the New Zealand networks would also show some American shows. If you were a New Zealander and you formed your opinion on America strictly from what you saw on TV your impressions would be based on shows like; Keeping Up With The Kardashians, Housewives of _____________ (there were a bunch of different ones), Toddlers and Tiaras, Hoarders and Dance Moms to name a few. Let's hope they get a little more exposure to the real America than just those fine exports, or is that who we are?
One of the things I became fascinated watching on TV was the game of Cricket. I had occasionally watched a little while traveling in the past but really got a kick out of it this time.
First of all there is a dedicated Cricket channel so it's "all Cricket all the time". Second, even after watching for quite a bit over the past few weeks I still have absolutely no clue what's going on. Third, the matches seem as if they can last for centuries!
I got to noticing over the past few days that every day India and England would be playing something called a "test match". I'm thinking "test match" stands for something like "marathon", "never ending" or "till Gabriel blows his horn".
The last I saw it was day five of the match, England was trailing by over 300 runs but the announcers were talking as if the Brits could still pull it out. If I get any further updates I'll pass them along. I do understand the matches can end in a tie. Can you imagine that, five+ days and they still can't determine a winner.
When we arrived in Auckland on Monday we returned the rental car to the downtown location where we picked it up two weeks earlier. We put just under 1000 miles on the car and covered quite a bit of the North Island. Beth was a great help with the driving. She became quite proficient at navigating the roundabouts as well as training herself to not turn on the windshield wipers every time she'd turn.
Our plan was to drop off the luggage at the hotel before taking the car back. We would then walk back to the hotel which looked to be around a 15-20 minute walk.
Auckland like most big cities is a mish mash of roads that are one way, suddenly become one way, change names, etc. Mix in a bunch of pedestrians, bikes, motorcycles and driving on the left side of the road. What could possibly go wrong?
Since we didn't have a GPS I had written down the directions. Keep that word "written" in mind till the end of the story.
With Beth navigating and me driving we actually made it from the motorway to the hotel with just one minor navigational mistake. A friendly (I'm serious) cab driver helped us get back on track and we were easily at our hotel.
Having dropped of the luggage we headed back out for the short drive to the rental car location. This required going right through the cities central business district where thousands of Kiwis were ready to head home after a long Monday in the office.
The confusing roads suddenly became more confusing, the one ways became more common, street signs disappeared and Nelson Street was nowhere to be found!
!&/@?;:"?!#<^% did Nelson Street go?
What looked like it was going to take 10 minutes was now working on an hour and the rental car location would be closing soon.
!&/@?;:"?!#<^% did Nelson Street go?
We passed Albert Park for about the 5th or 6th time. Started recognizing shops, businesses and homeless people because we had been by so many times.
!&/@?;:"?!#<^% did Nelson Street go?
Wait, there it is! Seems as if I had written "turn left" when I should have written "turn right".
I was honored that I could provide Beth such an in depth tour of downtown Auckland!
The rental car was returned within minutes of finding Nelson Street and to the best of my knowledge no dings, dents or scratches.
Our way back to the hotel was pretty easy....we knew the roads!
Yesterday was our last full day in Auckland and we wanted to take in as many sites as possible while spending as little money as possible so we did what we usually do, walked a bunch!
We saw a sign in the harbor for a "Coast to Coast Walk" it was free, went by a lot of cool places so off we went. The walk was just under 10 miles from the Waitemata Harbor which is the main harbor over to the Manukau Harbor. Along the way we went through Albert Park which we had driven by numerous times on the rental car return fiasco. Climbed Mount Eden which is actually an old volcano for incredible 360 degree views of the city. We walked through many tree lined parks and pristine neighborhoods. It was a great way to wrap up this adventure.
Three hours to Sydney (where I will probably post this), a six hour layover followed by a 14ish hour flight to Dallas. Breakfast on this flight consisted of scrambled eggs, sausage, hash browns and baked beans thrown in for good measure....what could possibly go wrong?
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| Auckland City Tower from Albert Park-Nelson Street is down there somewhere! |
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| Winter Gardens Auckland |
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| Winter Gardens-Auckland |
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| Surfers Beach near Ragland-I was doing my Japanese Tourist Pose |
