We used the opportunity to stop at the Parnell Rose Gardens and head down to Judges Bay. Stepping off the bus, the floral scent of the resident flowers was beautifully string. This was our second stop on the Auckland Explorer Bus Hop on, Hop off tour.
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New Zealand: Bastion Point with Auckland Explorer Bus
Our first stop with the Auckland Explorer Bus Hop on, Hop off tour was this Bastion Point overlooking the city of Auckland and Waitemata Harbor. It was windy, but beautiful.
Continue readingNew Zealand: The Views from Auckland’s Orbit Restaurant in the Sky Tower
Orbit is Auckland’s revolving restaurant inside the Sky Tower. We were able to get lunch as part of our Aucky Walky tour. The Sky Tower is said to be the tallest building in the southern hemisphere.
Continue readingNew Zealand: Photos from Kelly Tarlton’s Sea Life Aquarium in Auckland
We decided to go to Kelly Tarlton’s Sea Life Aquarium after seeing the building on our Auckland Explorer Bus, Hop on Hop off tour. We went to see the penguins. Kelly Tarlton was a diver who wanted people to see the ocean the way that divers could. This attraction in Auckland brings his dream to life. The exhibition opens with an exhibition on life in Antarctica at Scott’s Base. Many of the explorations of the southern most continent used New Zealand as their last place to get outfitted before they went to the coldest, most inhospitable place. Kelly Tarlton’s then has the penguins, and moves to the underwater exhibitions with sharks, rays, and other fish. Here are some photos from our trip to the Sea Life Aquarium in Auckland, New Zealand.
Continue readingNew Zealand: SuperShuttle, a Super Way to and from the Airport
SuperShuttle in New Zealand is one of the most convenient, inexpensive, and easy ways to arrange transportation to and from the airport. The company has drivers and vehicles in several airports. They charge a fixed fee per person based on your preferred travel method, and they take you to the door of your hotel. The drivers are courteous, and the whole experience is one that I can highly recommend. Even if you don’t make a reservation, you can still find space on the van and get a ride into town (unless the space is sold out).
Continue readingNew Zealand: Monarch Cruises and Penguin Place Combo Offer Penguins, Dolphins, Albatrosses
The Monarch Cruises and Penguin Place combination tour in Dunedin, New Zealand, was one of our favorite experiences. The cruise gave us another view of the albatrosses we had seen at the Royal Albatross Center the evening before. Here we could see them glide just above the water on the ocean. It also brought us close to gulls nesting on buoys and boats, which apparently hadn’t been used in a while. However, the two best sightings were the dusky dolphins that swam along with our boat, and a lone blue penguin floating on the water.
Continue readingNew Zealand: Saving Money on Food and Gifts at the Grocery Store
I underestimated the budget required for food while in New Zealand. A meal for one person runs about $30 NZ for an entrée and a drink. You can save about $5 NZ if you opt for tap water, which is free at every restaurant and available even if you’re not ordering a meal. (They provide water free to encourage people to bring their reusable water bottle with them and avoid buying bottle water.) Dinners may be more expensive at about $50, and breakfasts can be less expensive at about $10 NZ. You can split meals if you and your travel companion are light eaters, but we found we would be hungry again just before we went to bed. Two people eating out three meals a day and sharing should expect to budget about $70 NZ minus any midday snacks like Hokey Pokey or chocolate fish.
Finding a grocery store can help, especially if you have a hotel room with a kitchenette. Because grocery stores cater to Kiwis rather than having tourists as their target market, they are more likely to offer reasonable prices (and you can get a variety of fresh fruits there). The other advantage to grocery stores is that, at least at Countdown and World Market, they accepted my Discover card, which meant I had a little extra cash for the many places that did not accept Discover. (Visa and Mastercard are almost universally accepted – just be sure that you get a card that doesn’t charge foreign transaction fees.)
If you do go to Countdown, grab a discount card before you enter the store. The clerk can use this to ring up your groceries, which will give you some immediate discounts. If you spend $200 NZ, you’ll get an $15 NZ in credit loaded onto your card. Our first purchase at the store without the card amounted to $92 NZ. We were in New Zealand long enough that we probably could have used the $15 NZ. At World Market, the friendly cashiers use a card they have at their station, so you don’t mis out on the discounts and you don’t have to sign up for a card. (We did not make it to Pak’nSave, allegedly the least expensive grocery store in the country, because we did not find any within walking distance of our hotels.)
Grocery stores aren’t only a good place to get groceries, they’re also a good place to get gifts for the people back home. You can find a lot of New Zealand foods here, especially chocolate and coffee, for less than what you would pay in a tourist store. Cookie Time anyone!
New Zealand: Take a Spin over Auckland with Orbit Restaurant
Orbit Restaurant, in Auckland’s Sky Tower, features good food, service, and views. We booked our lunch as part of the Aulky Walky Tour we had taken earlier in the day. The Sky Tower is the tallest building in the southern hemisphere, so on a good day, diners can see from sea to sea as the restaurant revolves during the meal.
Continue readingNew Zealand: Weta Workshop Tour Reveals Secrets to Movie Making Magic in New Zealand
[This article contains affiliate links. By clicking on a link and purchasing an item, I may make some money. However, it will not cost you more than going to Amazon on your own.] The Weta Workshop and its partner companies are responsible for some of the greatest special effects and movies of all time. They’ve worked on shows from “Hercules: The Legendary Journeys” with Kevin Sorbo to the “Thunderbirds Are Go” reboot for a new generation. They’ve done effects for the Lord of the Rings trilogy and are working on James Cameron’s Avatar series. They’ve accomplished this from the production lot near Wellington, New Zealand, which is a complete movie studio capable of delivering everything a movie production needs.
Continue readingNew Zealand: The Christchurch Earthquake: Unexpected Conflicts and Congregations
In 2011, Christchurch experienced a devastating earthquake that left 185 people dead and destroyed much of the center of town. As the city started its recovery, local businesses created a shopping mall out of shipping containers. They sprang up organically, and according to many locals, they gave the shopping area a unique appeal providing Christchurch with something that few other places in the world could boast about. There was a debate about the area, but in the end, the city planning committee decided to remove the containers and build a new shopping mall. Those containers are gone.
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Penguinate! Positive Creativity 