Wow when we go on a trip, we get touristy! We just got back from a week in New Zealand and we need to update all of our faithful readers about the adventure! Jeff's work had us visit the office in Auckland as part of his assignment here, and our visas are good for 12 months, but only 3 months at any one time. So we had to leave the country, then come back.
Our first day in New Zealand was a busy one! We got into Auckland around 1 am the night before and woke up to this view of the city! We stayed on the North shore in a beach community called Takapuna. The view was great and it gets better at sunset!
Then we HAD to get coffee! Mostly because of our late arrival and also because the Kiwis are world renowned for having fabulous coffee! And it is so true - Jeff had what they call a "Flat White," which is like a latte but not. I had the best Mocha ever and it even comes with the famous New Zealand chocolate fish.
Then we were off to explore historic Devonport on the coast of north shore. It is filled with cute cafes and galleries as well as some amazing seaside homes.
Here we are on the boardwalk overlooking the city. Our first day it was a bit rainy and overcast but it was still beautiful.
Devonport is also home to the New Zealand Royal Navy Museum. We decide to explore the history and had a ton of fun at the museum while it rained outside. You will see below and in signs all over the country their use of 2 official languages - English and Te Reo. Te Reo is the language of the Maori people, the original inhabitants of the islands that make up New Zealand. Their impact on the culture of the country can be seen all over.
We enjoyed learning how the Kiwis were involved in a number of wars alongside the British and the Americans. They call all Americans Yanks - don't they know that is what we call Northerners!
Apparently, they enjoyed giving us a hard time as seen in this American bullish*t sifter. Really made us laugh! The note next to it said it was used when the Yanks told the Kiwi sailors stories.
Then we took a short hike up to North Head - this is where the Naval embankments are intrenched into the hillside to protect the city from intruders on the bay! There are a number of guns placed on the hill from the 1930s when they were worried about a potential Japanese invasion. In fact the hill is a maze of tunnels which we explored that had been there since the 1880s as part of defending a possible Russian invasion.
More amazing views of the city from the top of the hill!
Here is one of the larger cannons still in the hill.
Jeff had a blast in the observation point as well as the tunnels under ground! No one's getting past him!
I found a smaller, Ashley-sized cannon just for me!
Amazing - you can see the Devonport Beach and the edge of Downtown!
Then we took the short ferry ride into the CBD to tour the city. We headed straight for the Sky Tower but when we walked in, the had some Lord of the Rings fun for Jeff! I had NO idea who this guy was and why he was in the lobby of the Tower.
And here's Jeff....
[Jeff here - Hello thousands of loyal blog followers. How are you? I don't get on here too often, but I do go to the office five days of the week. Hard to believe with all this stuff going on, but Ashley says I'm allowed to sleep on the flight home. So New Zealand is home to Peter Jackson the creator of the Lord of the Rings movies. Ashley is quite lucky that the majority of the filming was done on the South island, otherwise we would have gone on the LOTR Middle Earth tour. The guy below is one of the Nazghul, nine kings gifted with magic rings from Sauron, but......]
Ashley here! Enough of that weird nerd stuff! Another reason I don't let him blog...
First, the floor of the elevator was transparent so you could look down as you ascended. Also, the elevator was glass facing the outside too. On top of that, portions of the floor of the sky deck were transparent! Here was the view down! Eeek!
New Zealand is known as the extreme sports capital of the world. So it's normal for Kiwis to jump off the tower! Of course they are strapped in and have a soft landing, but still you have to take that first step! They are crazy Kiwis! You can see this guy through the window.
After such a long day, we headed back to Takapuna to explore the beach. It was amazing to see the views of all the islands out in the bay!
This large island off the coast is Rangitoto Island - the youngest volcano in the area (only 600-700 years young!). Still an ACTIVE volcano. A bit scary!
We were so pooped from touring, we didn't take any photos of dinner, but the food in New Zealand was amazing! A GREAT start to our week!
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