First steps in New Zealand - Auckland

After arriving in Auckland we checked in our hostel in a Downtown. We were lucky to have double room just for us two. Although we felt very jet lagged we took a shower and decided to go and find some food. We ended up in very nice Mexican place. We got some burritos and payed 28 NZD for both of us.

My feet were swollen from a long flight so I needed a rest. I wanted to so my ankles again.

After a short walk we took a nap. Sleep was so strong that we passed out like in two seconds. After one hour we forced ourselves to get up and go for another walk and also find a grocery store. We found really nice park called Albert Park near our hostel.

The prices in the store is much different than in Latvia. Most of them were higher, but some was very reasonable.

So after our walk we went back to a hostel to get a shower and go to sleep pretty early because we felt awful.

Next day we had to get our local phone numbers and appointments in a bank to open our bank accounts.

After that we had a long walk. First thing we noticed that we had to learn how to walk. We noticed that we are bumping into people all the time. So as they drive on the "wrong" side of the road, and so are they walk. So it was hard for us to remember to use left side of the sidewalk. Other times there is just chaos, because there are so many backpackers who doesn't notice that and so everyone walks where they want. A big big mess. Street crossing is also different. Many times we get confused and did not turned our heads to the side where car supposed to come from. Other words our brains broke sometimes.

We decided to get our phone numbers at SPARK, because when we went into the store we already felt like in the right place (I would compare it to our BITE, chill and friendly staff). The other option was Vodafone, which were okay, but we did not find the deal we wanted. But either would work well.So we ended up getting deal for 2GB data (I need to learn use them wisely, because usually I spent that amount in 2 weeks), 300 talking minutes and unlimited texts. It costed 29NZD a month. Wifi is in many spots but not always working. Some of the places you even have to pay for it. So more adventures and nature, and less online life. But do not worrie, I will try to keep up with our adventures as much as I can.

So as we had a free day, we decided to go Okahu Bay which is 5 km away from our hostel. We really enjoyed the views.

Water looked so blue and there are so many boats around the shore. It is actually a fact that Auckland is known as the "city of sails" with more boats per population than anywhere else in the world.

On our way back we decided to go into districts where are a lot of private houses. They were so amazing. There were so many gardens and trees and the streets were very peaceful.

That evening I spent some time in hostels kitchen talking with some backpacker guys. Turned out our hostel served dinner snack every evening for free. You could upgrade your plate to full size just for 3 NZD. So we went for that. We got some fries and chicken and it was awesome.

After that, we decided to have a workout in the Albert Park. It was really nice and the views around us were motivating. For a moment I felt like in NYC Central Park Because of the surroundings of the tall buildings.

We even found some hobbit house in a tree.

On our way back to hostel we noticed weird animal eating something. It looked like a huge rat and squirrel mix, but I guessed it was an opossum and I was right. We asked the locals and they were surprised. They told us that usually they do not stay so close to the city center and it is not regular thing to see them so chilled while people are around. This one looked very peaceful.

Other than that here are a lot of birds. Many of them are very loud and their songs remind me of saw sounds. For now we haven't seen any flightless birds like kiwi and kakapo. But it is never easy to spot them.

Hope we will get lucky!

#newzealand #whattodoinauckland