New Zealand
After a long wait, my partner, Marc, and I finally embarked on our three week tour of Auckland, New Zealand as well as Sydney and Melbourne, Australia. It just never dawned on me that I would be visiting these two countries this year. They certainly were on my bucket list of places to see in my lifetime. However, "Not just yet," I thought. We were planning on going to Eastern Europe this summer. However, I was glad just the same where we went this month.
I must say time flew so quickly. It was a hectic trip given the culture vultures that we are. We were determined to see as much as we could during the very limited time we were in each city.
The trip began with our flight from San Francisco to Auckland on Air New Zealand. The trip took 12 hours. Despite the fact that I normally cannot sleep on flights, domestic or international, I was glad to have slept (a first in a very long time) a total of 5 1/2 hours. We flew out of SFO at night and the time of the flight definitely helped me doze off for part of the plane ride. By the time we arrived in Auckland, I felt fine and awake.
I was quite excited to fly on Air New Zealand for the very first time. I have heard so many good reviews about the airline on the net. The seats were okay and I did not feel squished. For sure the empty seat next to mine helped. Each passenger had his own entertainment screen or TV to watch movies and/or listen to music. The food was okay but nothing to really rave about. I remember I had beef lasagna for dinner and just fruits for breakfast.
The dinner I had a couple of hours after take off from San Francisco.
Now here's my breakfast shortly before we touched down in Auckland. I loved this meal. It had ice cream!
This was the guide each passenger had. It listed the movies and music on which channel. I didn't use the guide as much since I slept for half of the trip.
This is the screen on the back of each seat facing each passenger.
It took me a while to learn how to use the remote control. In fact, Marc had to help me a bit. Once I learned how to operate it though, everything else was a breeze. I usually fly UNITED every time I travel and their remote is operated differently. At any rate, it was really easy to handle once you got the hang of it.
We arrived in Auckland very early in the day. We arrived at 5:12 am and given that our summer in the US is winter in the Southern Hemisphere, it was still dark when we reached New Zealand. It was very warm inside the airport. I got the impression that for the Kiwi winter, coats and sweaters were not necessary. In fact, other passengers from the US only wore shorts, t-shirts, and flip flops.
Here I am upon arrival in the airport. We were on our way to immigration and customs.
Going through immigration was a breeze. In minutes, Marc and I both went to the baggage carousel to pick up our suitcases which took forever to come out.
Here we are after we finally collected our suitcases. We walked around the airport a little bit and took a look at Auckland's International Airport. Both the arrival and departures area aren't much to look at. In fact they looked pretty ugly and utilitarian. "No high end architectural designs here, " I thought to myself. The inside part of the airport though past immigration in the departures hall was the complete opposite. It was spacious, modern, clean and beautiful. It looked like a huge mall with lots of souvenir shops, bookstalls, and restaurants.
An Air New Zealand ground staff graciously took this picture.
After a half hour wait, we proceeded to get out of the airport and take the Skybus to Auckland's city center. A very kind elderly KIWI gentleman with Maori features at the information desk told us how get to the stop from where to catch the shuttle. Mind you, it was still dark and very early in the morning when all this transpired. It was a bit nippy outside the airport.
When we finally arrived in Auckland's Central Business District or CBD, the sun was just beginning to come out and people were now walking all over the city to go to work in the morning of July 4, 2011, a Monday. The shuttle driver told us to get off at stop number 4 to go to our hotel, The SEBEL on Customs Street. We got lost a little bit after turning right on the corner of Customs and Queen Streets when we should have turned left instead. At any rate, we did find our hotel and we were very surprised to find out that we could already go to our studio type suite at take this, 7 o'clock in the morning. We thought we would have to leave our luggage with the hotel concierge and return at 2 pm before we could go to our room.
2 pm after all is the usual time when hotel guests are told to check in on any given day. I was truly, truly surprised and pleased. The SEBEL certainly scored points, big ones, with me for this gesture. I highly recommend this hotel by the way. It costs a pretty penny to stay here but thanks to Marc's hotel points with American Express, our 6 day stay was virtually free.
The SEBEL at Auckland's swank Viaduct Basin
It is said that if you're a fan of all things nautical, you will feel right at home at the popular SEBEL Suites. It is located right in the middle of the action surrounded by by classy restaurants and bars right on the doorstep. Their all-suite accomodations were built for the America's Cup and many marina suites have separate living rooms, and balconies overlooking the water.
This is how our room looked inside the SEBEL.
Our queen size bed
The arm chairs next to our bed
The small writing table which could also double as a dining table
A TV with the kitchenette in the background.
The entertainment center came complete with a DVD and CD player.
More goodies in the kitchen. But other than the instant coffee and tea, it all came at a cost.
A washer and dryer. You wouldn’t believe how convenient that is going to be on a three-week trip!
The on suite bathroom
The bath tub
The separate shower
The sink and toilet
I just had to take a picture of my HEYS trunks. I bought them recently for my international trips and I was quite apprehensive at first about its quality. This was the first time I was going to travel with suitcases made out of polycarbonate material and I wasn't quite sure how they were going to hold up especially once they're checked in at the airport and they go through the hands of many baggage handlers and carousels. Well, I am glad to say they held up just fine! So well I didn't see any scratches or dents at all. I know that someday, they are sure to show some wear and tear. However, not on this trip from San Francisco to New Zealand to Australia and then back to San Francisco. At least none thus far.
This type of luggage is so popular in the US they are now sold practically everywhere under many different brand names. A few travelers have commented how nice these trunks looked and I must say, I agree. I especially like the black ones with a matte finish.