The trip over to New Zealand went very smoothly. My 6 bags and I made it on the plane in Portland without a hitch, and, as luck would have it, the taps were open at the Laurelwood pub before 11am, so I enjoyed one last Oregon brew before heading out. The 6 hour layover in LAX went pretty quickly, and, rather surprisingly, so did the 13 hr flight to Auckland! The wide selection of movies/games, wine with dinner, and non-rowdy seat neighbors made for a very easy (read: sleepy) trip.
After collecting my serious stack of luggage, and after only a few questions, a sniff from a fruit-dog, and giving a detailed explanation of candy corn (“It is yellow, and shaped like corn, but is only sugar and has nothing to do with real food”), I cleared customs and was officially in NZ!!!
Despite the early hour, Matt was insistent on picking me up at the airport (lovely gentleman that he is), so I came through the gate scouring the crowd for my handsome fiancé, and spotted him, surprising me with flowers in hand and with his “Mo”(stache).
Once I got in and settled, we were pretty busy for the rest of the weekend, going on a driving tour of Auckland and catching up with old friends for a BBQ and the All-Whites game on Saturday. Sunday was a little rainy, but dampness aside me, Matt and Joad went on a road trip to the Waitkatere Range. The Waitakeres are on the west coast of the island (probably a 45 minute drive from our place in Herne Bay), and are a pretty awesome series of craggy-looking mountains on the beach. Our trip was pretty quick, hitting a blacksand beach in our search for the hiking trail, then hiking up said trail, and made a quick stop at a nearby waterfall on our way out.
After such exertion, a little food was in order, so we stopped at a place recommended by the Joad, the Hallertau Brewbar. They make 4 beers - all are very good - and also cook up some legit food as well, including some ostrich skewers and cheese kranskies.
Pictures are below!
Team America on the beach
Hikers!
Waterfall
sick dude! that's really all i have to say. keep the updates coming!
ReplyDelete- shan