We left Nelson for a 6:40am flight to Auckland. We did self check in, printed out boarding passes with the help of the crew and boarded the plane...all without someone asking to verify our IDs and passports! The one thing one of the counter folks made a stink about was my carry on bag. How much does it weigh she asked? It won't fit in the cabin she said. Look, I've carried this bag on a bunch of flights and planes around the world, even on the smallest of planes in SE Asia. It fits! "I'll let you through this one time!" She says and added, "remember next time." Jeez Louise...I don't plan on coming back anytime soon, so works for me!
Auckland surprised me. I wasn't expecting much but this city is not too shabby! At first it felt a bit like Seattle to me but Vancouver fits the bill more. It's also where we would see a bunch of the Asian tourists again. We haven't seen them since Queenstown. I suppose they make their way to Milford and then to Auckland and call it a trip. We wandered all through the downtown and waterfront area and then trekked across town to a neighborhood called Ponsonby which turned out to be one of my favorites. It's lined with cafes, restaurants, many of which shares the same name as the ones we have in San Francisco, boutiques and just had an overall cool vibe. We made our way here to look for a handbag boutique called Deadly Ponies. Noreen had been coveting a bag from here since our Queenstown days so checked that off the list!
This is election year. The last time I traveled while it was election year was in 2012, the race with Obama vs Mitt Romney. I was in France. Now in 2016, the hot topic is Hilary vs Trump or so it seems. The world can't believe that Trump is being considered by our fine citizens. A fellow Kiwi even said, "Well the US, you have the left coast and the right coast and then it's the middle folks that just don't know and Trump is saying what they want to hear." Can't disagree there. "Unintelligent yelling" is how the international news describes Trump. Pretty accurate!
Before arriving in NZ, I heard that Auckland can be missed. I made the decision to spend 36 hours here before my flight back to SFO and I'm glad I did. I spent the last two plus weeks capturing the natural beauty of this country and its quirky towns. Auckland is different and definitely worth the visit!
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