No this is not SEATTLE....we are in Auckland, baby!

We are in Auckland, New Zealand!
Day 1: Spent the first part of the day procrastinating (Bob), making lists (Bob) and cleaning the house (Bob), getting rid of everything in the fridge (Bob), missing the dogs (Neicey) and finally packing. We wanted to leave fairly early, being an international flight so we left house at around 2:30 pm. SeaTac was hassle free and away we go to LAX. We had a 4 hour uneventful layover in LA and then on the plane to Fiji, yes Fiji.
The big 747’s seating was unfortunately not big enough for Bob even in the window seat. We have no idea how long the flight was because we crossed the international date line so we left on Thursday and now it is Saturday….very strange indeed. A 5 hour layover in a very basic Fiji airport where a tube of hand cream was deemed a “bomb threat”, however our shoes posed no threat on our feet.

We finally land in Auckland on Saturday 27 hours of travel time! Got some cash very Euro and Cnd like….pink 50’s, green 20’s, blue 10’s, purple 5’s and coins for $2 and $1.…pleasantly surprised at the approx $1.40 exchange rate. Got the first cab and the driver mentioned how tired we looked (lol) and dropped us off at our hotel….we were amazed at how many times we were shocked at the wrong side of the road driving.

Hotel……sleep.

Day 2: We met our goal: To buy bicycles x2. Spent the morning walking the downtown area looking for bike shops that Denise had searched for. We were overdressed as the weather was beautiful….the town reminded us of home, home….Halifax. The brick buildings and waterfront…very beautiful. On our exploration we came to a bike shop and went in, we saw many overpriced bikes and thought this store was a bust when a sales clerk chatted up Bob.

The clerk, Doug, ended up being from Sequim, Washington but lived in NZ for 11 year….how weird. He was great, he told us of some used bikes that were barely used bikes. He gave us an amazing deal (I mean amazing) and told us of some key New Zealand hot spots. We are picking the bikes up tomorrow after getting the Campervan (Yes Bob will be driving the van on the wrong side of the road…wish us luck).

We are excited for tomorrow when we start our journey in the van down by the river…..

Denise & Bob
PS….also tried our first NZ beer called Mac’s Gold….YUM, reminded us of Keiths!

Auckland's waterfront's coffee shop!!