One of the things we wanted to do was visit Auckland Museum, a grand old building on top of a hill in one of the city's many parks. Upon arrival we saw it said $10 mandatory donation appreciated, so we did the only sensible thing and sneaked our way in. Money was tight what can I say. The museum was expansive and interactive with a fascinating invertebrates collection, If we weren't so poor we would have felt guilty for not paying.
Over the next few days we visited many of Auckland's parks, most of which are ancient volcanoes and rise dramatically above the flat suburbs. We had exhausted much of what central Auckland had to offer, so with our last few days in the country we used the rental car to good effect and went further afield to see some great sights that we had missed on our first pass through. A few hours drive there was a waterfall marked on our map called Hunua Falls which appeared to be one of the only waterfalls marked on the map we hadn't journeyed to see. It was well and truly in the middle of nowhere and all the better for it, with no one else around we sat and watched the tumbling water as it cascaded 100 feet to the pool below. On the drive back towards the city we discovered a wonderful botanical gardens that we strolled around for hours and talked about what we would and wouldn't miss about the country and travelling around in general. The spectacular waterfalls being one of them.
We were sad to leave the country. The rivers, mountains and beaches. But with the excesses of the USA awaiting the thing we would miss most would be the tranquility and relaxed atmosphere that seems to be all around us. Nevertheless America was waiting, and even though we were nervous about jumping into a city with more than double the population of the country we were leaving, excitement had begun to brew.
Bye NZ
Hi USA
Over the next few days we visited many of Auckland's parks, most of which are ancient volcanoes and rise dramatically above the flat suburbs. We had exhausted much of what central Auckland had to offer, so with our last few days in the country we used the rental car to good effect and went further afield to see some great sights that we had missed on our first pass through. A few hours drive there was a waterfall marked on our map called Hunua Falls which appeared to be one of the only waterfalls marked on the map we hadn't journeyed to see. It was well and truly in the middle of nowhere and all the better for it, with no one else around we sat and watched the tumbling water as it cascaded 100 feet to the pool below. On the drive back towards the city we discovered a wonderful botanical gardens that we strolled around for hours and talked about what we would and wouldn't miss about the country and travelling around in general. The spectacular waterfalls being one of them.
We were sad to leave the country. The rivers, mountains and beaches. But with the excesses of the USA awaiting the thing we would miss most would be the tranquility and relaxed atmosphere that seems to be all around us. Nevertheless America was waiting, and even though we were nervous about jumping into a city with more than double the population of the country we were leaving, excitement had begun to brew.
Bye NZ
Hi USA
