Busy city, windy beach

Today we explored Auckland! It was absolutely wonderful. I will share a few pictures that capture our day quite well. This hotel is the only one that has complimentary breakfast, and we enjoyed it quite a bit. To answer your question, Bethany, one of the things we miss in America is cold milk. Our cereal was just not quite the same with warm milk. Free is good, though. :)

We took a ferry into the city. It was spectacular to be out on the ocean again - it just feels like home. Auckland is quite large - we found tall buildings for all of the big 4 accounting firms. I told Grant he could go back to EY and request a transfer to New Zealand, but I was joking of course. The people we talked to don't really seem to enjoy living in Auckland - the consensus is that the south island is much better and that Auckland is only a popular city to live in because the jobs are here.

Our first stop in Auckland - the sky tower. It is by far the tallest landmark in downtown Auckland. We went up to the highest observation deck, which is the ring of windows that you see at the very top. What a fabulous way to see Auckland and the surrounding islands!

Here we are on the main observation deck! Don't fall!

We ate lunch at the cafe in the Sky Tower. We had a delicious lasagne and real Sprite! On the airplanes, Grant had lemonade several times because they don't have Sprite in much of Australia. He said that it is similar, though.

We did some shopping, walked through Victoria Park to check out a cricket field, and then headed back to our hotel for a bit. Our ferry was a fun ride itself. In the background is part of downtown Auckland's skyline.

A gentleman we talked to on the ferry suggested that we check out Auckland's west coast for the beautiful beaches and rainforest. So, we did a bit of research and headed to Muriwai Beach, which was amazing! The waves and the wind were so strong (windier than Kansas really!). We brought our swimsuits, but even with a jacket and pants, I was still COLD! We walked on the sand, dipped about one toe in the frigid water, and hiked around for about an hour. The sand is black, supposedly from iron. It was very sparkly and quite beautiful.

You can't see them very well, but these are gannets. They are birds that nest on this rock, which is known for them. They get a boost off of the incredibly strong wind gusts and head to Australia once mature, where they stay for several years. Amazingly, they then return to this exact rock, mate, and rasie their young to head to Australia. It was a lot of fun to watch and listen to the hundreds of birds gathered here.

We were quite hungry after our day and lunch was light, so we stopped at a place called Kabob. I got a lamb salad and Grant got a chicken kabob on pita. I was a bit nervous to try lamb, but I really liked it. All of the food was delicious! Then, we stopped on the side of the road and shared a fresh strawberry and mango smoothie. Mmmm! Our next stop was the grocery store. Food here is expensive, so we will try to make as many meals as we can. I ran a couple of miles in the workout room at our hotel, and then we had a slow paced evening, cooking and reading.

We made some coffee and had cold milk from the grocery store. We ate on the patio off of our hotel room. The sound of the nearby ocean, the much gentler breeze, and music drifting out from our room was the perfect ambiance for a relaxing midwest favorite: corn on the cob. Grant teased me a bit for picking corn on the cob out of everything at the grocery store. What can I say? It sounded good...and it was! :)

All in all, we had an amazing day! I still can't believe that we did so much in just one day. Tomorrow, we have to be up bright and early, as we have two tours booked on our way to Rotorua. 

We were excited to see that KU advanced to the Final Four. Wish we were there - we were supposed to go to the Final Four games last year and when KU lost, we sold our tickets at the last minute. We find it a bit ironic that they have done well this year. That's how life works, right?

One final caution: Beware the crazed Americans when driving in New Zealand. Just kidding. Grant has done a fine job of adjusting to the roads - he did try to get in the passenger seat while a local watched. He got a laugh out of that! ;)

Okay, off to bed. Hope life in the States is peachy.

Love, the George family