We started out early in the morning, almost missing the check-in time as we had to make a turn back to the house as I had forgotten something. So, instead of dropping off the car first, we checked in before we parked the car.
We flew with Emirates but once again, the flight was delayed but only for an hour. Still, it meant an hour less in Auckland. Not to mention that the both of us were so tired as we barely had any sleep the night before. And I had just gotten off nights the day before.
We flew with Emirates but once again, the flight was delayed but only for an hour. Still, it meant an hour less in Auckland. Not to mention that the both of us were so tired as we barely had any sleep the night before. And I had just gotten off nights the day before.
Our first stop was One Tree Hill as it was on the way towards our hotel. For some reason, the weather seem to be adamant on making us wet. Each time we got off the car it starts raining and it will stop the instant we get back into our car!
Monument @ One Tree HillOne Tree Hill, or also known as Maungakiekie in Maori is actually located on a volcanic peak. I was told that there was summit did actually have a single tree in the past, but was unfortunately removed after acts of vandalism in the past. A monument was built in return for the significance of the lost tree. Till today, there is no specific tree that represents the name of the hill.
The drive towards the summit was actually a pretty tight drive, and there was only a handful of car park spaces. Many had chosen to walk there, but we of course, being the 2 lazy people drove up instead :P. We probably only stayed for 5 minutes here as it started to pour. Even taking photos was becoming a challenge that I just gave up and ran back into the car :( .
We then drove down the hill towards an observatory centre. I initially thought it was an observatory tower to look into the city, but it was actually a proper observatory/planetarium. It is located in Cornwall Park of the One Tree Hill area. There is actually 2 parks in the area, but because they sit right next to each other, they are often perceived as 1 single park.
The drive towards the summit was actually a pretty tight drive, and there was only a handful of car park spaces. Many had chosen to walk there, but we of course, being the 2 lazy people drove up instead :P. We probably only stayed for 5 minutes here as it started to pour. Even taking photos was becoming a challenge that I just gave up and ran back into the car :( .
We then drove down the hill towards an observatory centre. I initially thought it was an observatory tower to look into the city, but it was actually a proper observatory/planetarium. It is located in Cornwall Park of the One Tree Hill area. There is actually 2 parks in the area, but because they sit right next to each other, they are often perceived as 1 single park.
It was actually pretty nice inside, which I am sure I would enjoy if I had the slightest idea in astronomy. So, we only spent a very short time there.
We then drove into the city and checked in at our hotel, Rydges Harbourview. I scored a pretty good deal for the hotel, paying only NZD 95/night for a double room which had 2 double beds. It was recently refurbished, so it was all new and nice. There was a slight confusion at the start where they gave us a king room but it was all good in the end :).
The comfortable bed*with 6 pillows each!*
Large big windows to let the sun in :)By the time we've checked in, it was already about 4 p.m so we only dropped off our bags and quickly left to see other sights of Auckland. We didn't actually had that many things to see, but I was told that it was because we were without a local. Hhmm... Not so sure about it.
Our first stop was meant to be Mission Bay as that was where everyone had recommended to me as the famous Movenpick was there. We however diverted to a weekend market in town, which was closing at 5 p.m. I was expecting a big market, at least something half the size of Victoria Market and was hugely disappointed.
Our first stop was meant to be Mission Bay as that was where everyone had recommended to me as the famous Movenpick was there. We however diverted to a weekend market in town, which was closing at 5 p.m. I was expecting a big market, at least something half the size of Victoria Market and was hugely disappointed.
The market was tiny, located in a gravel car park and there was perhaps, 15 stores? We went on a quick round of the stalls and decided to settle for some food there. I had the taroyaki and Karen had the mini donuts and we got some chips to share. The chips were pretty good and looked pretty too! :D
Chips stall
Your uconventional chips :) *yums*What amazed me in the market was how most people were spending. Most of them were using credit/debit cards and not cash! In a market.. Quite a sight.
From there, after going round and round in the city, we decided to head towards Mission bay before it's too close to dinner time. Everyone that knew we were going to Auckland had recommended the famous Movenpick Ice-cream in Mission Bay. Of course we had to go :).
From there, after going round and round in the city, we decided to head towards Mission bay before it's too close to dinner time. Everyone that knew we were going to Auckland had recommended the famous Movenpick Ice-cream in Mission Bay. Of course we had to go :).
MovenpickI could only wish that the rain would leave us finally.. but no it didn't. Once again it started raining when we got off the car.
The ice-cream everyone raved about...*It was quite good, but not as good as Al Fredo! :P*
A quick shot of Mission Bay before hopping back into the carWe were both so tired that we decided to hea back towards the hotel for some rest before dinner time. And Sky Tower of course. But not before some sleep time. And on our way home, we just had to take a snap shot of this :
NZ's version of Safeway/WooliesI don't know why, but we couldn't stop laughing when we say the name. We were probably so used to associating the green logo with Woolies/Safeway that seeing it being Countdown was just too funny. No offence to any Kiwis :). Even the interior and shelves were similar to the ones in Oz. Heheheh
I took a quick nap while the reliable Karen did all the road planning for the next few days on the GPS *shy*. How I like someone else doing the planning when I'm on holiday. Hahahaha.
I took a quick nap while the reliable Karen did all the road planning for the next few days on the GPS *shy*. How I like someone else doing the planning when I'm on holiday. Hahahaha.
Last tourist stop of the night - Sky Tower!
It was located just a block away from our hotel, which made it really convenient for us to walk to instead of taking the car. We actually decided to valet park our car because it was cheaper than parking it in a public car park. Not to mention that the street parking all had a 120 minutes time limit.
@ the I-site of Sky TowerBeing economically-driven, we had taken quite a few brouchures from the airport while we were queueing for immigration. Tips : If you have yet to book most of your activities, be sure to grab the Rotorua guide and Arrivals guide. There was plenty of discount vouchers in the booklets that will help save heaps. We also purchased the Entertainment Book before we left Melbourne which again, helped us saved quite a bit.
Standing at 328 metres tall with the highest viewing platform at 22 metres, it offers a 360 degrees panaromic view of the city. It takes 40 seconds to get to the observation level. The Tower receives more than 750,000 visitors every year. There steps leading towards the Main Observatory Level and has 1,029 steps which the fastest record time taken to climb it was 5 minutes and 7 seconds.
And now, the pictures will do the talking :
View 1
View 2
View 3To be honest, the Sky Tower was quite a disappointment to us. I may offend some here, but the Tower was small, poor constructed in terms of the viewing windows. It was hard to have a clear view of the city due to the condensation of the windows as well as dirt. I guess have the slanted viewing windows did not help as one's view was always obstructed by trails of water. Maybe it would have been much better if we were there during the day. I can only say that I am proud of the Eurake Towers in Melbourne after this.
We only spent about 20 minutes on the top before making our way to the gift shop which had this :
We only spent about 20 minutes on the top before making our way to the gift shop which had this :
Hehehe... Cutesy :DIt was already 9+ by the time we left the towers to search for dinner. There wasn't much to eat at all, so we settled for Korean nearby. The food wasn't too bad, but we weren't all that hungry. It was more of let's eat so that we can go back to bed later. Hehehe.. Lucky for us, the trip improved tremendously from here on, both in terms of weather and tourist attractions :).
This was the sign outside the Korean Restaurant25: 00 hours *hehehe*
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