A return to Auckland

This post is a short one, and essentially dedicated to a short stay we spent in Auckland before we would travel south to a town named Te Aroha, where we would make some new furry friends 😀.

By the time we arrived once more in Auckland, we had been travelling in our van, Geraldine, for four weeks. It was interesting to reflect on how much we had already explored New Zealand since the last time we visited the large city. Unsurprisingly, the urban lifestyle was a stark change after spending so much time in more remote regions. However, it was a pleasure to enjoy things that had not been accessible to us over the last four weeks!

One focus of the visit to Auckland was undoubtedly food. As vegans, both Phoebe and I get excited as the options we have to eat out expand drastically as we enter populated areas. An unexpected discovery of our trip to the southern hemisphere has been Lord of the Fries - a fully vegan fast food chain with restaurants scattered across both Australia and New Zealand. Since our arrival, we have probably eaten at different sites five or six times, most recently just last night in Hamilton! So, obviously, after four weeks in the northland region I was excited to enioy another visit to Lord of the Fries in Auckland! We both love to support fully vegan businesses, and it is an incredible success that a fully vegan fast food chain with multiple restaurants actually exists!

Food aside, the primary reason we returned to Auckland was to attend two different events, one a comedian, another a musician. We saw the talented comedian Luke Kidgell at the theatre on Aotea Square, a beautiful and large venue. Like any good comedian, he was hilarious, and we enjoyed his good humour about visiting the stuck up Brits in Oxford. It took quite something to top that evening out, but Tash Sultana did so at the Spark Arena. Without a doubt, they are one of the most talented musicians in the world (100% fact, not at all subjective 😜) and put on a performance that I am certain any other artist would look to replicate. I felt particularly emotional listening to their music live, but to any of you reading who do not know of them, I wholeheartedly recommend exploring their records.

One other important event occured during our Auckland visit: a haircut! To save money, I had it cut by an apprentice, but this certainly did not save time. Before he started, I joked with the barber about how Phoebe took two hours to cut my hair during the covid lockdown, unbeknownst to me this was in poor taste, as it took the apprentice near to two hours as well! Nevertheless, I think he did a fantastic job 😄.

On the way out of Auckland, we evidently missed the nature we had become accustomed to, so we stopped for a short walk in the botanical gardens, before moving on to spent the night at Hunua falls. The following day we hiked the Hunua falls loop, and passed a group of school children. Their guide and teacher sparked a conversation with us about the local birds, and we discussed what we had seen. Although the region is popular for sightings of the legendary kōkako, Phoebe and I were not fortunate enough to spot one 😞. However, we spent one more night on the outskirts of Auckland before heading on to Te Aroha, and during this time we enjoyed some wonderful bird sightings. The Kaiaua/Pukorokoro coast hosted a beautiful array of both native and migrating birds, and stopping here for the night allowed us to enjoy them and the spectacular landscape they live upon.