Jo's Blog

So here I am!  I made to New Zealand and have begun my big adventure!

I landed in Auckland on Friday morning and headed to my hostel in the City Centre.  I am staying at Base, which is right in the middle of Auckland, although Auckland is tiny!  (And is the biggest city in New Zealand!

I spent the first couple of days having a wander round Auckland and getting acquainted with the place, and generally sorting out the things I needed to like opening a bank account and buying a New Zealand sim so I have a New Zealand mobile number if anybody wants it, just ask.

Finale for Coca Cola Chritsmas in the Park

On Saturday night I went with one of my room mates to Coca Cola Christmas In The Park at Auckland Domain.  We had no idea what it was but figured it would be fun.  It turned out to be awesome!  It was free so around 250,000 people attended, and it was just like a Christmas themed festival.  They had heaps of groups and bands and dancers, and many were apparently quite famous here.  There were a few New Zealand heart throbs I am guessing as when they came on stage all the girls were hysterical.  We had no idea who they were but we had a great time, and I’m sure I will learn who they are along my way!  There were fireworks at the finale and we just couldn’t believe we had stumbled on such a great night out.  And naturally free nights to a backpacker are a god send!

View of Auckland from the ferry

So yesterday I decided to take a ferry trip over to the island of Rangitoto, which is the most recent volcano here that rose from the sea 600 years ago.  The whole island is just essentially made of lava, and I took a trek over all the lava rocks to the summit.  The walk was amazing and the view from the summit was just stunning as you can see below.  There are no shops or anything on the island, and no inhabitants, so it’s a really peaceful place to visit.  It was really hot yesterday and I got REALLY sun burnt on this trip.  I guess I just forgot how strong the sun is in this part of the world and now I am paying for it!  Factor 30 from now on!

View across Auckland from Mount Victoria in Devonport

After leaning Rangitoto I took the ferry to Devonport, which is a short distance across the water from Auckland Harbor.  Here I took a walk up Mount Victoria, another Volcano cone, where you get stunning views of the city and the Harbor.

All in all I had a great day and got some fanatastic photos and memories of Auckland and the surrounding islands.  If you take out the part where I got horribly sunburnt, it was a perfect day really!

Tomorrow I leave Auckland and get on my Kiwi Experience bus to go see New Zealand.  I can’t wait!  So please keep reading as I will try my best to get on here and update this as much as possible.

Until next time…     xx