Goodbye New Zealand, Hello Australia

Australia, New Zealand  1 Comment

February 6

Charlotte:

Today is Waitangi Day! It’s a celebration of the day the British signed a treaty with the Maori people and New Zealand was born. So all of my family wore New Zealand-like clothes. Dad wore all black (their rugby team), Sam and I wore kiwi shirts, and Mom didn’t have special clothes. Then we went to go to a mall, and while we were walking there we saw no one in New Zealand clothes! We thought it would be like Canada Day with lots of patriotism and celebrations but most people didn’t seem to care.

We got to the mall and went into the knitting store. We got two yarn balls for ourselves and two yarn balls for my Nana. And also Mom and I got a learn to crochet kit. Then we started walking to where our tour was going to start.

Sam:

We decided to go on a free walking tour of Auckland because we have found them to be quite good all over Europe. The tour guide was nice and very knowledgeable. Some of the stuff she talked about we already knew from Waka village, but it was still a good tour. We actually learned quite a bit about the settling of the country and many of the different neighborhoods. We also learned that Waitangi Day isn’t very popular because of many historical issues between the indigenous peoples and the other kiwi citizens. Many issues have been sorted out but there is still some tension.

Long white cloud building
Famous street from when Auckland was a major port. The bar in the black building with the triangular roof still serves cocktails out of teapots in remembrance of prohibition time.
Floral clock with no hands… College kids keep stealing them, so the city no longer replaces them.
The Sky Tower is the tallest building in the southern hemisphere. People can walk along the outside and even bungee jump off of it!
One of six hearts that can be found around Auckland’s CBD (Central business district) that were created by various artists to promote unity.
A very exclusive bar or club for rich people and politicians.
The staircase in this square is currently painted for Pride month. Each month the colours change in honour of different events and celebrations.

After the tour we went back to Uncle Man’s to get some food because we really liked it from the first day. This time Charlotte and I tried some new foods. Then went back to the hostel for the night.

Soto Ayam (rice cubes and shredded chicken in chicken broth) with a side of Bergedil (potato pancake)
Creamy chicken corn soup

February 7

Sam:

This morning we arrived in Sydney after our three and a half hour long flight, it was pouring rain and was supposed to keep pouring for the next few days until we left so we just took an Uber to our hotel called Mercure and slept for awhile.

At dinner time, the rain had let up a bit, so we went for a walk to find somewhere to eat. We ended up going to a busy pub called Down N’ Out where we had delicious waygu burgers, chicken, and fries. We grabbed some snacks and breakfast foods on the way back to our hotel.

Outside the grocery store – a vending machine for flip flops!
Some of the mini bar options in our hotel room…
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jennv26

One thought on “Goodbye New Zealand, Hello Australia”

  1. More adventures. Thank you for sharing as it is nice to see some of the things you are seeing. Wish we could grow palm trees here. Continue to have fun and be safe and happy.

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