When we finally arrived in Auckland and got through customs, the first thing you notice in New Zealand is that everything is so green. We rode a bus from the airport to downtown where Ashlyn was meeting us. So great to finally see her!
There are two islands... a north island that was created by volcanic activity with rolling hills and good farm land, and a south island that was created by tectonic activity with huge mountain peaks (and still growing!). The natives are Maori, and locals are called Kiwi like the green fruit.
Auckland is in the northern area of the north island, and we arrived at the tail end of their summer. It gets colder the further south you travel.
Our first hike was to the city's Eden Crater..a volcanic crater in the heart of Auckland. Great views of the city from here!
This was on the bucket list of our little one, so we made sure to cross it off right away. Above is Eden Crater.
We stayed in hostels when possible. They are usually very clean, although simple. We share a kitchen with other guests and label our food in the fridge. Since NZ, in general, is quite expensive, cooking our own meals was an affordable alternative.
We arrived on St. Patrick's Day, so why not attend St. Patrick's Cathedral that night for our weekend Mass? We were a bit jet lagged, so the extra singing that night by the awesome choir was unfortunately not appreciated by this tired crew.
The city lit it's famous tower up in green to celebrate the holiday. Our son was hoping for his first beer since you only have to be 18 here to buy alcohol, but the rest of us couldn't wait to hit the beds.
