“Travel is fatal to prejudice, bigotry, and narrow-mindedness, and many of our people need it sorely on these accounts. Broad, wholesome, charitable views of men and things cannot be acquired by vegetating in one little corner of the earth all one’s lifetime.”
– Mark Twain
It’s been a long 4 years sitting in one place. COVID and the subsequent chaos that followed as the travel industry tried to get it’s bearings back have forced me to stay put for longer than I have in a while. This physically and spiritually stationary life isn’t one that gets along well with my wanderlust and as such, I’ve been feeling somewhat empty. With the elimination of travel bans and the appearance that the travel industry has gotten their act together, we finally decided to take the plunge and book a trip. The proverbial dart landed on a little set of islands to the east of Australia called New Zealand.
Admittedly, New Zealand is one of those places that I knew little about. The only thing I knew was that it was going to be warm. I can’t claim to be anywhere near an expert now even, having spent only 10 days there, but I don’t get paid to travel, and am not an influencer or millionaire who has all the time in the world to travel. I have to explore this world with my 9-5 limitations with time and finances. Is it a more realistic snapshot of travel? I guess you can be the judge of that, but would like think so.
This trip was short but we packed a lot into it.
The first place we stopped was Auckland. This was an easy choice as we flew into it and it would be easy to walk around to get our bearings. Auckland is New Zealand’s most populous city with a population of just under 1.7 Million. Though they do have a transit system, I was glad that we had a vehicle. There are busses and trains for the city, but I have been told by locals that the public transit can be lacking at times. The people of Auckland were kind and courteous and were willing to help with any inquiry we had.
Being a bigger city, I was surprised to feel many times that I was in a smaller town. The one thing I was struck by, was that outside of downtown, most of the city will retire around 9pm. This also made it seem like we were in a smaller place than we were.
The area that we now call Auckland was first settled by the Māori around 1350. It was made the capital of the colony of New Zealand in 1841 for some time and it’s proximity to two large bodies of water has turned it into a major commercial and productive hub.
The food and drink choices in Auckland are quite good and there’s a wide variety of options thanks to the large population of various cultures from around the world as well as the Māori population.
The first night, after a long day of travel, we decided to walk Parnell Street which was near the hotel.
There we found a restaurant called The Paw which had a very street food style menu with some local beers and ciders on tap. They were dog friendly and we also got to say “Hello” to some of Auckland’s furry friends.
After dinner, we got lucky enough to sample cocktails at a place called Pineapple on Parnell. Though pricey, the atmosphere, the service, and the drinks themselves, were worth the stop.
The second day that we spent in Auckland, we went on a historical beer tour hosted by Auckland Historical Bar Tour. I will be the first to admit that I didn’t think of the History of new Zealand to be as deep or as intricate as other parts of the world, with it being a relatively young nation. This tour is something that proved me wrong. We got to see 5 historical bars in down town Auckland and got to learn of the rich and vibrant history of the city. If you ever find yourself with a free night, I would recommend this tour to you as a must.
One final thing that I was struck by, which I will touch on a few more times, later in this series, is how many flowers and large gardens there are in New Zealand. I suppose because I’m used to living in a country where beautiful gardens are planted then very quickly start dying off, I was surprised to see so many beautiful, and lush ones everywhere we went. Auckland is no exception to this. We stayed at a hotel that was directly across from the Dove Myer Rose Garden which featured over 5000 roses along with many other tropical plants.
When I was younger, I may have overlooked such things but as I get along in the years, I find myself gravitating more and more to quiet and serene places. These gardens weren’t short on beauty, quiet, serenity, and peacefulness. So I found myself enjoying nothing more than wandering through them.
I’ll make a separate post about it but we also got a chance to visit the Auckland War Memorial Museum and I would have to say the Museum is on Par with the Rijksmuseum in Amsterdam. This is why I will need to put it up separately to prevent the risk of this becoming a novel.
Overall Auckland was a vibrant, and bustling city with plenty to see and do for everyone. If you ever do find yourself down south, make sure to pay it a visit and don’t be shy to get out and explore things that you maybe normally wouldn’t. This city is one that surprised me and was a welcome introduction to this beautiful land. I’ll be sure to visit again.
My Avocado Toasts 
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