Auckland

This morning we arrived in Auckland after a thirteen-hour flight from LAX. The flight itself wasn't too bad. I slept better on this flight than on most international flights and got mostly a full night's sleep. Plus, I watched a couple of movies. Alison didn't have as much luck, she only got a few hours of sleep and made sure to stand up often during the flight to help decrease her risk of a blood clot. Pregnancy brings all kinds of complications to every part of life. 

Most of the immigration process after we landed was a breeze. New Zealand had some of the most automated systems I have seen. The tricky part is biosecurity. They take it very seriously - rightly so. We had lots of snacks, due in large part to the pregnancy. Among the snacks were chomp meat sticks. They were approved (we looked them up ahead of time), but it meant extra scrutiny at the biosecurity check. It took some time, but they did eventually approve all of our snacks. 

After we picked up our luggage we proceeded to get our rental car. New Zealand drives on the left side of the road and this was my first time personally driving on the left side of the road. It is somewhat trippy and I keep hitting the windshield wipers when I mean to use my turn signal, but I got the hang of it quick enough and I am sure it will only become more comfortable the more I drive. 

We headed to our hotel in Aukland. We are staying at the Hilton Aukland. It is in a great location at the end of Princes Wharf. It is right near downtown. They upgraded us to a harbor view room, which did have truly impressive views. 

We landed around 8 am and we were at the hotel before 10 am. They didn't have room for us, but they did have showers in a gym area they let us use to freshen up. One of the true pleasures in life is a hot shower after a 10+ hour flight. Once we were cleaned up and feeling good we headed out. The first order of business was getting something to eat. It was kind of an awkward time. It was a Sunday at around 11:30 am. Most breakfast places were closed and lunch places were quite yet open. Fortunately, there was a Wahlburgers near our hotel. Normally this wouldn't be our first choice, but we knew they would be able to get us food quick, which was our top priority. They were quick and the food was good. This Wahlburgers' location seemed a little fancier than most of the ones back in the States. 

After lunch, we were ready for an adventure. We took a ferry from Aukland to Devonport. Devonport is a quaint seaside town across the bay from Aukland. We went for a walk up Takarunga/Mount Victoria. From the top of this hill, we had panoramic views of the Aukland skyline. 

Then we headed back toward the Ferry station where we walked up and down the beaches. It was a really pleasant day and we enjoyed being by the water. 

These WWII-style planes flew over us a few times while we were walking along the bay

We exhausted the walking trails by the water's edge and so we took the ferry back to Aukland. We were trying really hard to beat jetlag as quickly as possible on this trip so we did not want to be back at our hotel any earlier than 5 pm. We had a little time left before this deadline so we went for a walk through Aukland. Aukland is a really nice modern city. We headed toward the Sky Tower and we considered going up but decided it wasn't worth it. So we continued our walk and ended up back at our hotel right around 5 pm. 

Our room has a nice balcony overlooking the bay so we ordered room service, which we ate out on the balcony. It was a very pleasant meal. Afterward, Alison headed to bed and I followed a bit later in the evening. We accomplished our twin goals of not going to bed too early and having a fun-filled day.