Touchdown in New Zealand

I was disappointed to learn that indeed we lost a day crossing the international date line. Leaving Thursday night, and being very impressed with Air New Zealand (why does Air Canada so under par?), we arrived on Saturday morning in Auckland.

It was the beginning of spring here so the temperature was a chilly 15 degrees, slightly wet having rained at night.

The tourist information desk was very helpful with sorting ourselves out on the first day. We got a 2degree SIM card and got 30 mins of NZ calling, 2500 texts and 50 mb data for $16. Strangely, calling Canada was 22c/min whereas calling NZ was 44c/min. The agent also supplied us with all sorts of useful tips about renting a camper van, car and getting around Auckland.

Before going to the city however, we had to make a stop at the Icebreaker outlet store, located at the airport shops NZ$1 away. There we manage to somehow spend three hours and come away with several shirts. Not only were the clothes cheaper in NZ dollars, but we happened to go on the first day of their sale, getting some clothes for 50% off the outlet price.

We found Kiwi International hotel on my cell phone while riding the Airbus shuttle into Auckland CBD. We got a private room for $56 without an ensuite. The room was definitely ghetto, especially since we've been totally spoiled up until now.

The room didn't seem to have heat, the walls were painted gray with energy savings lights emphasizing the grayness. I'm writing this entry at 1:20am and the bar across the street is blasting loud alternative music. Doors slam easily and sounds conduct throughout the room and hallway. It was clean at least, and there we crashed for a couple of hours in the afternoon.

Waking up, we went for a walk down Queen Street, the happenin' street of Auckland. It was a Saturday so unfortunately stores were winding down to a close.

Our first stop was BBQ Duck Café, spotted from across the street to be full of Asians, and the Chinese only menus on the wall. This place has got to be good!

I got a delicious wonton noodle soup with a side of BBQ duck while Shannon ordered spicy beef lunch special. The duck here cost about twice the amount back home, and the spicy beef was damn spicy. In fact, it was the spiciest thing we've ever eaten, even after we asked for a bowl of water so that we could soak the beef in it to make it less spicy.

We ended up at the cinema across from the main square where the 99% city occupation was taking place. They had free wifi and using Kayak, we found and checked out another nearby hotel. All-Seasons looked like a much better deal. FWecor about $10 more, we got an ensuite, kitchenette and tv! We booked it for tomorrow.

My mom and dad got my email and was our fist caller on our trip. We caught up and I promised to post more pictures. Sounds like the iPad was a hit for mom.

We watched Debt, which was a really good movie. A real spy movie, a good twist and dilemma to mull over. Highly recommend.

Overall, today was a very lazy day. Didn't accomplish much, but what an entirely different feeling it is when we've got months of traveling to do with no fixed itinerary. We'll see if any of the sights are open tomorrow. Otherwise, we'll hang out at an Internet cafe where they charge a measly $1.60 an hour, and try to book a camper van.