We were lucky enough to be given a gift of travel to New Zealand, how spoilt are we?
So perhaps not a country that is on top of our bucket list, we were going to arrive with no expectations. (Which I think is the best way to do things going forward)
We arrived in Auckland late at night, it was dark and we could not see a thing, we checked into a air bnb for the night and went to sleep. The next morning we woke up, had a lazy morning and then head off into the city of Auckland. Decided to see the city on the hop on hop off bus, which you can purchase tickets near the ferry terminal downtown. Included with our 24hour bus pass we got a ticket on the ferry to Davonport included, which is a 12 minute ferry ride across the bay.
The town of Devonport is so beautiful, its quaint, the old buildings have been maintained and offers tourists everything and I highly recommend everyone to check this place out.
Not having breakfast, and being now lunch time we decided to share a seafood platter at a great road side cafe. It had everything from oysters (which i tried for the first time) to fish, mussels, roast potatoes and ciabatta. YUM!
After our bellies were full we walked up our first extinct valcano, called mount Victoria. I very quickly realized how unfit I was and huffed and puffed all the way up the hill.
We made it to the top and the views were spectacular! Well worth the walk. 360 degree views across the bay. If its a warmer day I recommend you pick up some lunch and picnic up Mount Victoria and enjoy watching the boats glide across the bay and the views of SkyTower.
Oh and for the less fit people out there, the walk is very do-able, slow pace you should get up in about 20 minutes, so go on, do it!
By the time we left Davonport, it was starting to get late, so we jumped on the ferry back to Auckland then jumped on the bus and cruised around without getting off for the next hour. There are great places to stop, some you pay to gain entrance and others you can enjoy for free. Check out their website for more info https://www.explorerbus.co.nz/
So this was our first day in Auckland, it was beautiful, lush and green. The people were so friendly, the food was delicious and we could not wait to see what the rest of New Zealand had to offer us.
