Day 7
Pretty boring day. Lazy all day even though it was warm and sunny out but at this point we are starting to get bored of the city and excited to start the rest of our journey. Highlight of the day was Rebecca and her friend Jo made everyone mussels. Only $12 for 3 big pots of them! I've only ate mussels from restaurants before but apparently from the grocery store you have to check for crabs which was so unappealing after finding several! Ugh!
Day 8
Char and I woke up early to walk to a car fair across town to look for a van. There wasn't much selection and most of them were out of our price range. At that point we decided we had to book a tour and we realized the Kiwi Experience office was down the street. We booked the tour called the Funky Chicken! Added bonus was it was 50% off!! Highlight of the day was Charlotte took me to the England vs Scotland rugby game at Eden Park stadium. We painted our faces and dressed in red and white! Despite the rain we walked the FanTrail, which is a walk to the stadium that had entertainment and food along the way. Once we got there we realized the ticket were 3 rows up from the field!! Best seats I've ever had for anything haha!! It was a once in a lifetime opportunity and thankfully England won in the last 5 min after trailing the entire game!
Day 9
Another day full of rugby! Rebecca, Jo, Charlotte and I went to a pub called the Cavalier for the All Blacks vs Canada game. I went with the Canada flag although that didn't help the All Blacks from beating Canada badly! Later on there was another rubgy game on but a different league with different rules. Confusing! The Australia team won against the New Zealand Warriors! Before heading home we all headed to the Chapel again for a dance or two!
Day 10
Monday was another lazy day but our excuse was that it was cold and rainy. Also since it's Monday that means dinner party night. R for Rebecca! She made rabbit stew with kumura, rustic bread and rhubarb crumble. I was alittle hesitant with trying rabbit but after I got my mind around it, it tasted yum!
Day 11
Amanda had a day off work so she offered to take us to Piha beach west of the city. Piha is another black sand beach but it has a crazy surf and in the summer the Piha town is apparently super busy with people from Auckland. Our Lonely Planet book told us there was a penguin nest on the beach so we went on a penguin hunt but no luck :( We spent a couple hours here with our picnic lunch, our walk and a FruJu popsicle from the general store. For dinner Michael, Rebecca, Char and I went to Bolliwood for $10 curry night! I feel like I'm always talking about food haha!
Day 12
Wednesday started off on a bad note because even though we were on a waiting list to get on the Kiwi Experience bus we were told there was a good chance we would get on if we showed up. We didn't get on and we were quite frustrated that we had to spend 2 more days in Auckland. To cheer ourselves up we went to see Crazy Stupid Love. Funny with alot of shirtless Ryan Gosling!! Since we didn't leave we all headed to Rebecca's family home in Kawakawa Bay about an hour drive east of the city. We had a big meal and tried new things like whitebait fritters, which is whitebait and egg. We were told it was one of those things you had to try in New Zealand. I wouldn't have those again but at least it can be checked off the to do list!
Day 13
It turned out to be the warmest day in New Zealand so far! Great for our last day in the city! Charlotte and I just walked around and had lunch by the waterfront. We watched one of the most crazy and graphic show I have ever seen called Embarassing Fat Bodies! It is this British show that I have never seen and I'm pretty sure it would NOT be allowed in primetime TV at home. YouTube it.
Amanda, Rebecca and Michael were really good hosts and I appreciate all that they did for us and I feel like I really got to truly experience Auckland and not just completely like a tourist.
“One’s destination is never a place, but a new way of seeing things.” – Henry Miller
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