At that very moment, we both looked at each other with this new sense of excitement. This surreal but very real feeling of Holy Crap, we're really doing this! A feeling that we hadn't quite felt yet because of the packing, moving and all the planning, but this...this is the doing! And now, it's here! We started making funny weird faces at each other and then giggling like school girls. So silly but quite hilarious to us!
We managed to seamlessly find all our luggage including the giant bike box which was thoroughly inspected by many it seemed. We had to take it apart at customs as well so they could inspect it for any foreign dirt and such. We were given the OK by the nice gentleman and headed on our way.
When we stepped out of the airport to look for our cab, our senses were heightened with all the new smells and sounds and scenery. The trees look so different and the constant chirping of birds, even at the airport. The air was kind of what got me. Can't quite describe it but it was warm.
We found our cab (which we ordered in advance because we needed a van to be able to hold all our luggage) and he took us to our hotel in Parnell, a town just 10 minutes from downtown Auckland (aka the CBD - Central Business District). About a 30 minute drive from the airport, we arrive at the Quality Hotel. And it's exactly that. Perfect for what we
need. A king bed, shower, instant coffee and teas and a small carton
of milk in the fridge.
We dropped off our stuff and then hopped on the bus down to the CBD, where we were able to get new cell numbers and data plans in a matter of
minutes. Cool!
0279044552 (Michelle)
0279044553 (Ryan)
So cheap! $19/month for unlimited text, 100 minutes talk time and 500mb data. WHAT? And there are these little pink superman-like phone booths everywhere (all over town) that allows to use 1gb per day if you're close by. Ryan will probably spend a little more than me but it's perfect the amount of interwebbing I do!
The phone guy Eden, who was super nice, recommended this place up the street for food and beverages that carried
Monteith's beer. (Ryan has been talking about Monteith's Beer since I met him. And ever since we've been planning this trip, he's been talking about it even more.) So we headed over to the Bluestone Room and Ryan got
his Summer Ale, which is refreshingly gingery, and I got a darker beer
called Monteith's Black. Quite nice, rich but not too sweet and not bitter like some darker beers can be.
They had a special on for the next week where any burger (normally $20) or a 200gm Steak dinner (normally $25.50) was on special for only $10. We've seen the prices so far in Auckland and it's not cheap so we jumped at a $10 meal. And it was awesome. Came just how we like it, medium rare with salad, fries and mushroom sauce!
As we're on a budget, we stopped at a grocery store and picked up some
deli meat and bananas for our breakfasts for the next few days. The hotel already had coffee and
milk.
Luckily the time difference is almost a full day so no concern for jet lag but we were pretty bagged from traveling in general!
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