New Zealand has a population of 4.7 million people, and 1/4 of them live in Auckland, making it the country's largest city, and also making the rest of the country largely uninhabited! Although, as cities go, I found Auckland to be a lot smaller than expected. There are still the skyscrapers and tall buildings that give it that sense of grandiose, though the majority of this large industrial and consumer section of the city is centred around one long road - Queen's Street - and not spread out for miles and miles like much larger cities such as London, Paris and Sydney. Having said that, the suburbs are very spread out, giving Auckland a nice size, but giving it's inhabitants a good bit of breathing space - the perfect balance for city life.
The city itself is rather beautiful. on a scale of 1 to Sydney, I'd give it a perfect 5/7. Unfortunately I didn't get to take many pictures as I thought I'd be there longer! You can take a walk down by the harbour and look out across the water. The view from the harbour bridge looking into the city is immense! The shopping areas are great, there are bountiful shopping centres and leisure parks, and for some reason the malls in this country actually look stunning and I enjoyed just admiring them rather than buying anything. My favourite has got to be the Queens St Metro building which is home to a 3 floor cinema, bowling alley, laser tag, and mini golf with dinosaurs. Yes, DINOSAURS!
There are many many places to visit within a short drive or bus ride from Auckland, including beautiful beaches, islands, and mountains. But unfortunately, we didn't get to go to them this time because we were primarily job searching. We will be back in Auckland in a month or so and will definitely put them on the list.
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| View from the skytower |
During our stay, we were offered free tickets to the Auckland Skytower (normally $30 each) which is a viewing platform 328m high (60 storeys). Someone in our hostel had gone earlier in the day when it was cloudy, and couldn't see a thing so got offered another free entry for the same day. They weren't going to use it so gave it to us and we couldn't turn down such an opportunity. At first it was the same story. Nothing but clouds and not a lot to see. But as the clouds started moving suddenly the whole city lit up below us and we could see for miles and miles over the skyscrapers, across the bridge to north shore, over to mount Eden and the islands off the coast. It was sensational! Whether or not you like the city life, everything looks beautiful from a height, and you can put yourself away from the hustle and bustle for just a few minutes to look down on life below. It's awesome!
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| View of the city from the skytower |
While in Auckland, we stayed in 3 different hostels which I like to call "The Good, The Bad, and The Ugly". Now, let me explain why...
The Good - Borders Beyond
This is where we spent most of our time, and would have spent a lot longer if we didn't find a job out of town. "Borders Beyond" is a small hostel located in the suburb of Grey's Lynn, a 30 minute walk from the city centre. It's everything you could want in a hostel: great company, comfortable bedrooms, good facilities. We were in a room of only 4 beds, and prices are cheaper than all the places in the city. It's run by a French guy, and a lot of the guests are French so it's a perfect opportunity to practise the language - though mostly they prefer to practise their English, but everyone is welcoming and there's a great social atmosphere unlike I've seen in any other hostel.
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| A good bunch at Borders Beyond |
The Bad - Fat Camel Nomads
Ok, so this one isn't bad as such, but lets just say it could be better. We were in a room with 8 beds, and each floor had a shared kitchen and a couple of toilets/showers. The facilities were clean and the place seemed well managed. The staff could help you book tours and coaches, etc. It is located right in the city centre, very close to the main train/bus station. The best thing about this hostel was the free snack you get in the bar every night which would be something like fish and chips, nachos or chicken salad. Now, this was only a snack, so don't expect piles of food, but you can upgrade to a full plate for only $3, which is not bad! The bar was also a pretty cool place to chill out, and played some great cheesy music, but can be annoying when you're trying to sleep.
The Ugly - Silverfern Backpackers
Just the sight of the front entrance scared us. The reception desk had bars infront of it like you'd see in a bank, post office, or a prison. The guy behind the desk was screaming at the small crowd infront of him "Check outs only! You can't check in until 11!". But when check in time came around, we found our room - in the basement - with 14 beds. And for a much less peaceful room, we paid almost double the price of our room of 4 at Borders Beyond. There was no locker in the room (but there were down the corridor), and wifi was pretty expensive for just an hour or so of browsing. However, despite our first impressions, we found that the facilites were pretty good and bathrooms etc were clean and well maintained.
So, where are we now? 5 days ago we found a job in a small town called Warkworth, which is located 45 minutes north of Auckland. The role included 2 days of cleaning and running the front desk of a beautiful motel called Warkworth Lodge in return for free accommodation, and a few extra hours of cleaning during the week paid hourly. The motel is stunning, with a pool, jacuzzi and large lounge. They even offer chauffered limo hire and tours of the Matakana wine region.
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| Warkworth Lodge (picture taken from their website) |
The town, being in the middle of the Matakana wine trail has many glorious vineyards operating tours and tastings, as well as good proximity to beautiful country walks, beaches and areas for snorkling, surfing and more. So that's where I'm going to be for the next month and a half. I can't wait to see what's in store, and when I do, I'll tell you all about it!
