Greetings from Auckland, New Zealand!  It’s my first morning here in this city, so I’m still feeling my way around.  I can’t yet offer tips or advice about the area yet, but I can provide you with my first impressions.  After a few bumps along the way, I finally made it to my first stop, Auckland.  Arriving at my hostel around 9:00 am (check-in isn’t until 2:00 pm) I dropped my belongings in the luggage storage room, packed my valuables into my purse, and set out to explore for a few hours. Here’s a glimpse into my phone’s notepad as I jotted down random observations I made on my first morning of wandering.

• Beautiful! I don’t think I’ve seen enough of the city to say that I’m in love yet, but I walked down to the water’s edge and just lay on a bench enjoying the water, wind, and sun in peace.
• This city is BIG.  Now, I could be completely wrong (and tired, which sometimes proves to make me be more incorrect about things), but it seems to me that this is a really large city.  I’m staying on Queen Street and I feel like I’m in the middle of something huge, like I’ve barely skimmed the edge of where I am.
• There are a lot of American fast food places…
• The people are so friendly!  From the airport to the coffee shop workers, everyone I have interacted with so far has been incredibly kind and helpful. So many smiles makes me smile.
• There are a lot of trees in the city, which makes me happy.  Trees should be everywhere.
• Hilly. My goodness, I feel like I’m in San Francisco (I’ve never been to SF so do with that what you will)
• Barefooted people.  Many people don’t seem to feel the desire to wear shoes… interesting…
• Bottled water is damn expensive.  I’m talking $4.00 for a regular sized bottle of water!

I expect that I will be able to provide you all with much more information and fun stories as the week progresses, but for now I’m off to Waiheke Island to meet people and celebrate Australia Day!

Do you have any tips or suggestions on where I should go and what I should do while in Auckland?