Auckland

We arrived to Auckland after total 15 hours in a plane. First we flew from Kathmandu to Guangzhou, China, 4 hours and from there it was 11 hour flight to New Zealand. We thought, while in Australia the custom checking was so easy and quick, it would be even easier here. But we were wrong. They are really thorough in the customs. There was a huge queue waiting for declaring. We had to show all our shoes and open our tent and then they took them for cleaning that no foreign soil would enter the country. The farm industry is so huge in New Zealand that they are really careful that any deseases would not spread. 

We spent our first night a little bit outside the center in a hostel next to volcano Mt Eden. So the first thing we did in the next morning was to go up on there. There we had a nice view to all around Auckland.

 From there we walked about an hour to the city center. Our plan was to visit the Art gallery because we read that it would be free, but it wasn’t. So we just walked a little bit in the city and then went to Auckland Museum. The Museum was pretty cool. It had a exhibition of  Wildlife photographs of the year. Also there was a big section on Maori culture and history with original size Maori house and a longboat. 

Whangaparaoa

Next three days we spent with Ville’s friend Irina and her husband Matt. We stayed at their house in Whangaparaoa, about 30 minute drive from Auckland. On the first day we went to a nearby park, Shakespear regional park, for a walk and a picnic. In the evening we also drove to another nice suburb Devonport for drinks and dinner and to a view of the city of Auckland from the other side of the peninsula.

Waipoua Forest
We had a long 3 hour drive to Waipoua Forest located northwest from Auckland. It was home of one the world’s biggest tree species, Kauri. There used to be Kauri trees all over the north island but most of them were cut down and used for building ships. We did a couple of short walks around the park. One of the walks took us to see the biggest known Kauri tree in New Zealand, ‘Tane Mahuta’ (Lord of the forest). The trails were carefully made and here we had the first chance to get to know New Zealand forest, dense and full of ferns.

Goat Island

We drove about 1 hour from Whangaparaoa to Goat island, which is the best place for snorkeling in that area. The day was a bit windy and the sea did not look very inviting. Still Ville and Matt desided to give it a try. We had borrowed some good snorkeling equipment and wetsuits from Irina’s and Matt’s landlord the day before. So with the wetsuits the water didn’t feel so cold. There was a good calm spot just in front of the Goat island. We saw quite a few coulourful fish and a couple of manta rays. 

Thanks again Irina and Matt for everything!! We had a great time.