Auckland

After another 11 hours I am getting a bit tired as I could not really sleep this time. Arriving at 06.00, trying to get through customs with my Cheese from Amsterdam. This is rather difficult to get in, aswith any other food, did not realise that before. They checked my sealed Cheese and allowed it although it was not packaged the right way. They were very friendly though ....

I am in, getting the bus to the rental company. They are not open yet, so one of the cleaners let me in. One hour later they brought me to the airport again as there was the car :-(.

It is a small but very new car. It is the first time I drive on the left side and I needed to get into the city at 08.00 in the morning, so it was rather crowded. It's not so hectic as in Amsterdam though and I managed to find the hotel in the middle of the town. My first impression is rather different from Shangai. I mean especially the people are very different. Many Asians though, but less friendly. Again most workers here are from Asian origin and also speak bad English. The hotel itself is OK. As I could not go into the room I had to do something until 13.00. Having a harbour boat trip is one of my favorite past times, so I took the 1,5 hour one. Auckland is beautifully located and the trip was worth the money, but not very spectacular.

From Wikipedia:

The Auckland metropolitan area or Greater Auckland, in the North Island of New Zealand, is the largest and most populous urban area in the country, with around 1.3 million residents, over a quarter of the country's population. Demographic trends indicate that it will continue to grow faster than the rest of the country. Increasingly cosmopolitan, Auckland also has the largest Polynesian population of any city in the world.

It is a conurbation, made up of Auckland City (excluding the Hauraki Gulf islands), North Shore City, and the urban parts of Waitakere and Manukau cities, along with Papakura District and some nearby urban parts of Rodney and Franklin Districts. In Māori its name is Tāmaki-makau-rau, or the transliterated version of Auckland, Ākarana.

Auckland lies between the Hauraki Gulf of the Pacific Ocean to the east, the low Hunua Ranges to the south-east, the Manukau Harbour to the south-west, and the Waitakere Ranges and smaller ranges to the west and north-west. The central part of the urban area occupies a narrow isthmus between the Manukau Harbour on the Tasman Sea and the Waitemata Harbour on the Pacific Ocean. It is one of the few cities in the world to have harbours on two separate major bodies of water.



I am not sure but it is less overwhelming then I expected. Maybe it is because it is wintertime (15 degrees C), but cities like Boston, Oslo and Vancouver which I visited and which are comparable located are to my opinion much nicer. I also think that people leave from the harbour itself to the many islands in the bay for the weekend and parties. Driving up to the city gave some spectacular views though already of the surrounding areas with the sun coming up.

It is a rather relaxed city, you see this especially in how people drive, not in how they walk, they tend to walk very fast.

After flying for over 23 hours I took the liberty to sleep some hours in the afternoon and now I an writing this entry from an Internet bar.

I think tomorrow my real adventure will begin with driving along the coast and afterwards ending up with my friends where I will stay for two days. I hope to be posting everyday, next stop Rotorua.