New Zealand 2017 Day 1: Auckland

What a long journey it has been!  Started off with the flight to LAX in which my seat reclining was broken. But, I got 2000 miles for it, so that's a plus. And free chocolate.

Once i was in LAX, I was pretty confused about my boarding situation.  Alaska Air was not able to print my boarding passes for Fiji Air, so i was at LAX with 2 hrs left until my international flight to Nadi, Fiji, not knowing which gate to go to and not having a boarding pass.  An airport employee finally told me where to go, but once at the gate, no one was there to help with my boarding passes.  It was not until after 9pm for the 10:30pm flight that someone came.

The 11 hr flight wasn't actually that bad.  I was sick and tired so I was able to fall asleep pretty easily.  Many other people on the plane were sick and coughing...and not covering their mouths!  I bought a mask but it was really uncomfortable to wear and it smelled really strongly...so unfortunately I did not protect myself like I should have.

Retail shops on Queen Street

After landing in Auckland, I found the Skybus stop easily.  For $18NZD, the bus took me directly within one to two blocks of the Airbnb, which was right off of Queen Street and the central Aotea Square.

After checking in and freshening up, I did not have specific plans for the the rest of the day.  It was probably around 3pm when I ventured out to walk around the city.

Lunch time!

I walked to the waterfront area and sat for some time just taking everything in.  There was a ferry terminal and I people-watched for a while.  My schedule was all off, and I had not really eaten a proper lunch, so I had a late lunch / early dinner at Food Alley, which was an indoor cafeteria of Asian restaurants.








After having some Malaysian food, I continued walking along the Viaduct Harbor.  There was one particular section that looked rather posh, with new condos/apartments, upscale restaurants and views.

Viaduct Harbor

I was getting tired, but knew I could not head back to the Airbnb and sleep so early.  One of the nearby attractions was Mount Eden, so I decided to venture that way even though it was further away.  Caught the local bus and it was only a 10 minute ride or so.

The trek up probably took 15 minutes or so.  It wasn't hard, but I was not feeling 100% and it was chilly.  Once at the top, I had panoramic views of the entire city.  Interesting that it is a volcanic cone, and it is Auckland's highest point (naturally occurring).

View of the city and crater from top of Mount Eden

I only stayed 10 minutes or so because I was cold and tired.  On the way back, picked up a pastry for supper since I was not hungry yet.

Nervous about picking up the car and driving tomorrow!  But so excited.