Our first month in sunny Auckland

Welcome to Auckland where when the sun shines it really shines and when it rains well you get the idea.

Auckland is beautiful and one of the most chilled out cities I have ever been to did not expect Auckland to be like this at all.

We arrived in late January which is summer here. Temperatures are around 25 and on a good day go into the 30's its always hot and we are now the proud owners of some interesting tan lines from our first week of sunburn. I am constantly covered in factor 50 but it doesn't help everyone burns here as there is a really thin ozone. Sunburn is a running joke in the hostel and a right of passage for travelers new to Auckland.

Our first month has been a world wind of activity from conquering Mt Eden our first volcano climb (its not that big but worth the hike to the top for some amazing views of the city) to chilling in parks with good friends.

Mount Eden - We walked for about an hour and then a 30 minute climb to the top but it was worth every step we need to do it again at sunset as I hear its amazing.

Then it was Chris's birthday we went to Waihiki the wine island. After a short boat ride we landed and it is spectacular one of my favourite places in Auckland so far. The island is a mix of nature walks kayaking and most importantly vineyards. I think you can guess which we did for his
birthday!

For $20 you can visit the vineyards and try some famous New Zealand wine, you get 5 glasses of wine in the tasting and then you move on to the next vineyard. There is a place called Vineyard Alley and you literally walk a few hundred yards to the next one. There was a tour but we decided to go it alone and take our time which was the right choice as there is so much to see we will need to do it over several trips.

Hungry in the sun and a little lost we found the Boathouse a little restaurant by the bay that served fresh seafood. The best seafood I have ever had (sorry Arbroath there is a new Smokie in town). We ate oysters that can only be found here and they were the business.

We went to Auckland Domain a huge park where there was a Lantern Festival for Chinese New Year, fireworks, lantern displays and martial arts displays we were in our element.

Albert park has become one of our favourite places, its in the middle of the busiest part of the city but you would never know its so peaceful. We even saw a possum last week! The birds here are so friendly they like to hang out with us in the sun and are often disappointed by our lack of picnic but seem to like us anyway.

We also have a new favourite Sunday BBQ place Parnell Pools. It is great we swim in the lake, laze on the beach and grass (but the bugs here bite so the sand is safer) and best of all free BBQ just bring your meat and a few friends and you're all set its perfect.


Talking of friends the hostel we stayed in was Frienz Backpackers Hostel. Frienz by name friends by nature. The people here are some of the most lovely and interesting folk I have ever met and we have made some good friends. Its always sad when they move on but we will meet again on the road when we also start to move around and travel. Some of the travelers are just like us and staying in Auckland for a while so we will have mates for the time we are here.

Hostel life is always interesting we were in a 12 bed dorm which was crazy at times. There is a free BBQ on the roof top where everyone spends their time on a Friday and its a great way to get everyone together before hitting the pub (Father Teds has become our local its cheap and everyone welcomes you. Being an Irish bar the food is good too! being friends with the Chef helps).

Apart for partying and touring Auckland we have been super productive. I started looking for work and it didn't take long before I had some interviews and a few job offers. I started my job on Tuesday and am now doing an internal recruitment role for an L&D company. They are about to implement a new system so will help with their LMS too. Its perfect I managed to tick the international experience box on the CV I had hoped for and still get to work on an implementation project. Its nice to use my brain again after a few months off work!

We also found an apartment. After hearing all the horror stories about how hard it was to find an apartment at this time of year we were a bit nervous but needlessly. We viewed a few apartments gave the agent some chat and got the flat we applied for straight away easy! We now live in Waterloo Quadrant its basically a fancy hotel but we have our own apartment through the back. Its great we can use the hotel facilities whenever we want which means we have a hot tub, sauna and gym whenever we want it. Living the life of luxury. We also have a bar with happy hour everything in Auckland is expensive so happy hour is great for a cheap beer after a long day.

The apartment itself is small but has everything we need, bedroom, bathroom, kitchen and balcony. Its home until August I ended up with a 6 month fixed term contract at work and a 6 month lease on the flat so we will hang out in Auckland until then.

We also are back in the world of WiFi, I spend my whole life searching for free WiFi so its nice to be settled and have my own so I can contact home and update my blog.

So there you have it month one in Auckland. I'm sure month two will be just as action packed we plan to go back to Waihiki, do the sunset at Mt Eden and take some weekend trips to places outside of Auckland can't wait!