The time had come to part with our huge campervan, which we had grown rather fond of despite how woefully unsuited it was to the narrow snaking roads of NZ. Bags in hand, we headed out to the street to try to catch the city bus to our hostel in downtown Auckland. Somehow we had yet to take a public bus on our adventure so far (maybe we’re bad backpackers, because isn’t that a ritual of backpacking?) so we were mentally preparing ourselves for all the different transfers we’d need to take to get to our hostel. We’d been waiting at the bus stop for about 30 seconds when a sedan ducked out of the rush hour traffic and pulled up next to us. The driver asked if we were heading downtown and if we wanted a ride. Dana, forgetting all basic safety rules like “don’t hop into cars with strangers”, (although in the age of Uber is that still a rule?) promptly chirped “Awesome, thanks!” and hopped in. Thankfully he was just a nice guy and not a serial killer, so we made it downtown without incident, and failed yet again in taking the public bus. Then we had a long talk about jumping in cars with random guys.
It being the week before Christmas, the main shopping street in Auckland was all abuzz with the consumer spirit.
We took a walking tour to get some local history, which turned out to be rather lackluster. The most entertaining part of the tour was hearing about the shenanigans of the sailors who would come ashore searching for entertainment.
The coolest part of Auckland was the marina, which was lined with nice bars and restuarants and was clearly the place to be at happy hour.
Christmas was coming up, and we’d decided we didn’t want to spend it in the city, which is apparently pretty dead around the holidays. So we rented a car and drove four hours north to spend a few days exploring the beachy communities on the peninsula north of Auckland. Apparently it’s a Kiwi tradition to go camping on the beach for Christmas, so we were in good company on our drive. It’s probably the most traffic this island ever sees!
Christmas day dawned sunny and beautiful, and we decided to follow local tradition by heading to the beach. We packed a lunch and a waterbottle of wine (‘cuz we classy) and drove to the Karikari Peninsula, where we found a miles-long stretch of pure white sand, and only a handful of other people in sight. We went for a long walk with only seagulls and the occasional swan for company. Apparently wild swans are a thing here, and they hang out at the beach? After a few miles the sun got a little overbearing, the surf looked mighty inviting, and for some reason we hadn’t brought swim suits. But with no one else in sight who needs suits? That was definitely a Christmas first for both of us!
After a very different and very special holiday, we made our way slowly back down to Auckland, taking a few stops along the way. There are trees in New Zealand called Kauri trees, which are comparable in size to the California redwoods, at least in terms of their huge girth. They used to cover the islands but were nearly wiped out once the Europeans discovered they make great ship masts. There are still a few tiny groves left on the North Island, one of which, Puketi Forest, was not too far from Mangonui. We stopped off to take a hike to see the trees, and they were truly astounding!
Our final stop before we got back to Auckland to catch our flight was Bay of Islands, which is a popular tourist destination known for its beautiful scenery and watersports. We found an awesome little hostel with a few great backpacker bars nearby (read: cheap beer and cheaper food). We only spent one night there but really enjoyed exploring the little touristy town and taking in the scenery.
After enjoying our Christmas beach week, we had to head back to the city to catch a flight to Melbourne. We had an evening flight, so had one more day to kill in Auckland. We went to the zoo, decided it was too expensive, and instead got ice cream and wandered around a nearby park, sneaking peeks of the elephants through the zoo fence. It was actually a great way to spend our last day in the country.
