Checking boxes in Awe-ckland — HaffsWay Around The World

When we last left you, we were babbling and weary travelers eager for adventure but far more eager to sleep our way back to normalcy. It is remarkable what a difference a few action-packed days can make. Drive on the wrong side of the road for the first time, check. Set up our foreign bank account and cell phones, check. Climb our first volcano (and within city limits!), check. Research, shop around, test drive, research and buy the vehicle we are entrusting our journey to... check(!!!). Cause our Uber driver to call it a night so he can come have a beer with us...

At this juncture, we are filled with the bittersweet angst that comes with setting out for our tour of the Northland. Sweet because if it is anything like to what we've seen and heard about - or bears any resemblance to the diverse, lush green spaces around Auckland- then we will be in for a real treat. Bitter... for oh so many reasons. First, enough cannot possibly be said about the incredible hospitality we were shown by David and Grayson (so I shouldn't waste everyone's time then, right?). Friendliness and a spirit of inclusion appear to be rampant in New Zealand thus far, but their generosity went above and beyond. We can only hope we at least injected some additional fun and frenzy into their week in exchange for everything from the food and drink, laundry, tour guide service, and ability to fully invade over half of the living room. It sure beat the hell out of a hostel. Second, this city though! Our pattern of weaving sightseeing with task-doing enabled us to see a great deal of what the Auckland area has to offer, but has left us longing for the pieces we didn't get a chance to experience (...yet).

An eerie view from the top of David and Grayson's street during a mid-afternoon sunshower.

After Thursday afforded us items accomplished and further acclimatization to the time difference, Friday was, well... supremely Friday. We each took our turn with the mini panic attack that was driving Grayson's car around the city, mindful of those pesky wide right turns and a slew of new traffic signs. After inspecting a few vehicles for sale, we managed to get to two gorgeous hilltop parks, One Tree Hill and Mt. Eden. Each offered breathtaking 360-degree views of the city and surrounding area, and each provided a trait I had never seen in a city park before. At One Tree Hill it was the healthy herd of sheep roaming the hillside; at Mt. Eden it was that we were atop a very green and picturesque volcano.

We met Grayson and David near the city center that night to experience some of the Auckland nightlife. I was surprised to see the rerun of Thursday night football on most of the TVs at our first venue (esp. since it was Bills-Jets, woof!), and also fairly disheartened by the $9 average beer price. We moved on from there to a glorious underground whiskey lounge with hundreds of offerings and a knowledgeable bartender that took a liking to us, in no small part due to Grayson's prior rapport with her. Bottles would come across the bar so we could smell them, and each glass was not ordered so much as served how it was supposed to (straight, no ice, occasionally a few drops of water), often purely based on suggestion (read:demand).

Pictured: too many choices, and that's about half of it.

This in and of itself would've constituted a fun night, but of all people our Uber driver had an alternate route in store for us. As Roderick eased his way down a narrow pedestrian-filled corridor toward us and shouted out the window at David, "ARE YOU LAURA?!?" we knew he was a character- but somewhat unprompted he took a fast liking to us, and when Grayson casually suggested he come have a nightcap with us he leapt at the opportunity (we had planned on him taking us home). An animated native Aucklander with his hand in multiple ventures, he told us of his romantic first rendezvous with his wife atop One Tree Hill at dusk, all the more intriguing since we had been there 12 hours prior. In turn, the four of us told our stories to his genuine enthusiastic interest (he often interrupted with "yew goise ah so cooool"). It is tough to capture exactly why having two beers with an Uber driver was so enthralling, but it definitely was a surprising highlight, one my old man would call a "slice of life".

The apex of our night on the town with Roderick (front) , David and Grayson

Saturday saw our rain gear get its money's worth as we walked a few kilometers through yet another expansive hilly park called Auckland Domain. Through the winding forest trails and finally atop the hill was the Auckland Museum and War Memorial, a three-story behemoth that covered all facets of New Zealand history. We found among the most interesting the timeline of events between the native Maori and colonizing 'Pakeha' (Brits), which included the Treaty of Waitangi coexistence agreement and subsequent violations of it (primarily by the colonizers) that led to a decade of war between the two sides. The natural history piece provided the mind-boggling context that on top of most of this colonial history happening entirely in the 1800s, it was only 800 years ago that the Maori arrived here themselves. There was also a fun interactive bit about how screwed the city is if one of the many volcanoes surrounding the area were to erupt, but let's just not get into that for the sake of our mothers.

Our Sunday morning led us to the crossroads of the most important financial decision we will (hopefully) have to make in our time here: buying a vehicle. We arrived at the Auckland car fair having already seen a few vehicles we were considering alternatively and having done substantial research on what to look for and look out for. That being said, it was the ultimate free for all. Backpacker vans with built in mattresses dominated the scene, many with over 200,000km, but we were on the lookout for vans that still had their rear seats (hint hint- come visit us!). The plentiful number of people like us provided some tension as we narrowed our options to a few models and circled back to see multiple other parties quite interested. Ultimately, we seized the opportunity to snatch a lower mileage gem (specifically ruby) out from under a few young Frenchmen, and well under our budget too. It was not a good sign that when firing it up to drive it for the first time it almost comically didn't turn over. The battery was dead, but the owner replaced it for us and we were no worse for the wear. After a test drive, inspection, and interior detailing, we were thrilled to get our soccer mom envy-inducing Mazda MPV (AKA Big Red) home and ready for the open road!

Last but certainly not least, Sunday night we were invited to dinner at the gorgeous home of Grayson's friend Andy, a brilliant and passionate retiree originally from the U.K. Somewhere between the five cheese spread, amazing wine, perfect steaks, and intellectual conversation, I felt caught up in a wave of gratitude and joy. Andy shared with us a number of valuable tips, from which places to definitely visit and avoid to how to survive in the rugged wilderness of the south island. It was the perfect end cap to perfect stay in Awe-ckland.

Now it's time to load up Big Red and head North for hopefully a bit more warmth. Plus if I don't end this like right now I think Laura might strangle me. Cheers! ;D