This will be our 4th trip together to New Zealand; which is made up of the North and South islands. The North island reminds me a lot of Hawaii - volcanoes, black sand beaches, and fern forests. The South island, however, is far more different - with its many snow-capped mountains that dot the top of the Southern Alps and fiords. Below is the map for the hikes we did in the past trips.
The hikes that stood out the most were Mueller Hut and Sealy Tarns ( 2018), Ben Lomond Track (2019), Mangorei Track (2019) and Kauaerenga Kauri Trail to Pinnacles (2017). We also partially hiked the Routeburn Track (2019) and visited a glow worm cave in Waipu (2017).
Below are photos taken inside Waipu cave with glow worms ( Arachnocampa luminosa) in 2017.
This time around, we will spent most of our time in Auckland. The city of Auckland is ranked 5th by Mercer's Quality Of Living in 2024. It has dropped 2 places since 2023. It is a fact that Auckland has more boats per person than almost anywhere else in the world.
Day 1 - Flight To Auckland
Our slightly over 8-hour flight from Honolulu to Auckland was serviced by Air New Zealand's 787-9 Dreamliner. I have to admit that it felt a bit weird to be sitting facing away from the window even though we had window seats. The seat configuration was by far the most unusual from all the other business class flights that I have been on. Nevertheless, the flight was smooth, and the service was delightful. We were served 2 meals, a brunch and a full 3-course lunch meal. The brunch consisted of sweet potato rosti (hash brown), with scrambled eggs, spinach, seared chorizo and burnt spring onion crema.
The full 3-course lunch meal consisted of an appetizer of smoked salmon with celeriac and apple sauce, caper berries and pea tendrils. The main was seared mahi-mahi with salsa verde, warm quinoa, edemame, sunflower seed pilaf, and sauteed peppers. As for dessert, I had the lemon meringue shortcake with strawberries. All these were a delight to the taste buds.
Our flight had its few bumps but overall it was a smooth flight with a strong jet stream behind us. The aircraft hit almost 86% of Mach 1 and we got to Auckland way ahead of schedule.
We flew above the city of Auckland , and turned into Manukau Bay before approaching to the airport.
The airport was buzzing with many travelers, even on Christmas Day. The immigration and custom clearance was a breeze and in no time, we got our car rental and headed for our vacation house. On our way, we stopped at a local Chinese restaurant on Mount Albert, one of the very few places that was opened on Christmas Day.
We got to the house and unpacked just in time for a Christmas light show right from house balcony looking towards Auckland city center.
By this time it was 11pm and finally the end of a very long travel day. It nice to be back in Auckland.
Day 2 - Hiking The Omanawanui Track
We headed southwest of Auckland to the Waitakere Range to hike the Omanawanui Track in Whatipu. Before that, we had to fuel up at Titirangi at a small restaurant called Soy & Ginger. The food here was surprisingly good. We had a Fired Chicken Bowl and the Pork Belly Soba. This was one of the few eateries that were open today.
Having had our fill, we made our way along Huia Road through Parau and Huia towns and not to Whatipu Beach. The parking lot at Whatipu Beach Park was full of cars and day users. We have never hiked this trail before although we have visited this park in the past. The trail is well manicured, with many man-made wooden steps to prevent soil erosion.
One of the perks of doing this trail is the beauty of it's surrounding - ocean, cliffs, hills, and beaches. One thing for sure, this trail will work your lungs and legs. We reached the top of Omanawanui in 1 hour.
Here is the link to the hike.
For our reward for a successful hike, we found a local sundry shop that still serve the Tip Top Goody Goody Gum Drop ice cream. Certainly a very, very rare treat as Tip Top has stopped manufacturing this flavor in 2022. It looks like they brought back the flavor but only in large tub form. Gone were the good old days of the wooden stick.
We ended the day roaming around Auckland looking for Malaysian food. But nothing was open... Still we found some good kebabs and some baklava. The streets were pretty empty and the only spot with lots of people was in downtown Auckland on Queen Street. Mostly tourists and locals doing the shopping thing; as Boxing Day is like Black Friday here in New Zealand!
Day 3 -
XXX
תגובות