Jan30 we drove to Auckland airport to meet our cruising friends, Elaine and Karl. They had been on their boat in Australia but were returning to her place in Whangaparoa, where we had stayed for the first week when we arrived. At the airport, we rented a car and returned Elaine’s car to her. It was so great to see them again, relive old stories at dinner, and catch up on people that we knew together. It was also great to have been able to use her place and car when starting this trip .
That afternoon, we checked into the Whangaparoa Lodge, overlooking Little Manly Beach.
It had a small, but decent kitchen, and breakfast was included each morning!
We may have mentioned that we are kinda considering moving from the US to NZ. We saw an open house across the street from our hotel and decided to take a look. The place is on a cliff above the beach, with its own walkway down to the sand. 3 bdrm, 2 bath, good kitchen and a huge deck with views of the water and the Auckland skyline (a long ways off).
The house checks a lot of boxes for us and is reasonably priced (from our California perspective). It has a lot going for it but the timing is not quite right for us and we want to see more of NZ before picking a location.
The next day, we drove into Auckland, about an hour away. We had hoped to take the ferry, but it only runs on week days and this was a Sunday.
We spent the day walking around the waterfront and downtown. What a nice city!
We checked out some beautiful old wooden sailboats, some historical sites, and had dinner at a small place right on the harbor.
Now it was time to get ready for the next phase of our trip. Tomorrow, Robby & Ryan, Peggy’s nephews, arrive from California!
At New Line Cinema, a number of our employees spent lots of time in New Zealand during Lord of the Rings. Everyone loved it there and especially liked the people. I know of seven former New Liners who ended up eventually relocating there.
I knew you would love it there! But I don’t want to lose you. Ugh.