After a 13.5 hour flight from Buenos Aires, we arrived bright eyed and bushy tailed in Auckland, New Zealand. Just kidding, we were exhausted from lack of sleep on the over night flight. At least the kids slept. Mason slept on the floor of the airplane for almost 9 hours while Cooper got around 7 hours laying on Chelsea. We arrived around 5am. And after clearing customs and grabbing a quick bite to eat at McDonald’s, we were off. It took around an hour in an Uber to reach our Airbnb in Whangaparaoa, a suburb of Auckland. We are staying in the guest house on a beautiful 1 acre property. They have a hen house, bird house, bunnies, cats, and a dog named Murphy. We are right next to the neighbors field that has 3 Llamas as well. We arrived to a basket full of fresh eggs, various fruits, home baked bread, jam, and a box of crackers. It was such a nice touch.

For the past 100 days, we have been living in busy locations. Our kids have not been able to run freely since we were in busy major cities other than at the park. It’s such a nice change for them to be able to just run out the door and play without us worrying. They love jumping on the trampoline, playing basketball, checking the hen house for eggs and just being free. Our hosts Greg and Krista could not be any nicer. They have four kids and took in a foster son the day after we arrived. Krista’s dad also lives with them. He insists we call him grandpa and is usually around if we need help during the day.

On our first full day in New Zealand, we took a walk down by the ferry boat which will bring you from Whangaparaoa to Auckland. It’s about a mile from our place and we plan on taking it later in the month. The sea was really rocky that morning. We caught a bus by the ferry which took us into downtown Whangaparaoa. From there we grabbed a quick lunch, got some groceries and called for an Uber back to our place. We decided it was necessary to rent a car since everything is so spread out so we booked one that night.

We took another Uber about 30 minutes over to a near by town to pick up our rental. Neither of us had ever driven on the opposite side of the road before. We were a little apprehensive about it. After the first couple blocks it was fairly smooth sailing. Tom got very close to hitting a few cars parked on the side of the road. He also turned on the windshield wipers everytime he tried to switch on the turn signals since they are reversed. We slowly made our way over to Long Bay Regional Park. The park had a great beach full of shells. We wrote the kids names with shells on the beach and walked around the park a little. The kids then played at the playground while Tom took the car to practice driving. We then grabbed some fish and chips which is a staple here and headed back to our place.

Shakespeare Regional Park is located just a few miles down the road from us. It is a gigantic park with lots of trails and amazing views of the surrounding area. We hiked to Waterfall Gully to see a little waterfall, and then continued on the trail towards the lookout. The trail wound through some heavy vegetation which then spewed out onto a giant green field with sheep and cows. We hiked up hill through the field which joined up with another path leading to the lookout area. The view from a top the lookout platform was breathtaking. You could see for miles in every direction. We could even see downtown Auckland and the Sky Tower off in the distance.

We hiked a different trail back down which lead to another gorgeous beach full of even more shells then the one we visited earlier in the week.

We went back to Shakespeare park a few days later to check out another beach and to take a photo in a giant golden picture frame. Apparently they have the frames all over northern New Zealand at several other regional parks.

Feeling more confident we drove downtown to see the Skytower. What a view! The Skytower is amongst the tallest structures in the southern hemisphere and allows for 360 views of Auckland and the surrounding area. We spent quite a bit of time at both observation decks and then got some coffee and icecream for the boys in the cafe.

After the Skytower we drove over to check out Mount Eden. Mount Eden is a dormant volcano located in Auckland. We hiked up to the top of the crater to check it out. The crater was really cool and has been overgrown with grass. The volcano last erupted around 15,000 years ago. There are also spectacular views of Auckland from this spot as well. Mount Eden was free so if you’re looking to save money and still get that awesome view of the city it’s the place to go.

Chelsea made a great find! Stanmore Bay Pool and Leisure Center is just down the road from us. It is a community pool where the kids can swim for FREE! We hope to visit frequently. Adults are just $4 and it allows us to use the pool and the hot tub.

Gulf Harbour and Marina is about a 15 minute walk from our place. We have enjoyed walking down to the Harbour and throwing frozen peas into the ocean. Tons of fish and the occasional sting ray flock to the surface everytime the peas hit the water. There are also several restaurants, a grocery store and a kids park in that area which has been nice for us.

We decided to explore the area north of us, so we set out to visit Goat Island. Goat Island is situated a little over an hour from us up the Hibiscus Coast Highway. Along the way, we stopped at the Pohuehue Waterfall. From the parking area, it was a 15-20 minute hike. The rainforest was smashing(said like a Kiwi) to hike through. The actual waterfall was not so special.  

Goat Island Reserve has a black sand beach and rock formations. Many people where renting wet suits and snorkeling gear. Even without snorkeling, we were able to see snails and other animals in the tide pools and fish in the water. A young boy even pointed out a giant eel swimming in the river. We climbed up to the University of Auckland’s marine science building. They had an informational session where we saw them feed squid and oysters to the starfish, octopus, and other sea creatures. The kids did a scavenger hunt around the building looking matching photos on the paper they were given.

Before we left the area, we decided to check out another beach nearby called Pakiri Beach. It was only a few miles away, but the road to get there made it take forever. It was super narrow and windy and one lane in many spots. We were beginning to wonder if we were going the right direction since GPS wasn’t picking up the road after a while. We were glad we made time for it. We all took off our shoes and socks and played in the ocean for quite a while.

Our day ended with a picnic dinner on yet one more beach right down the road. They seem to have as many beaches as Minnesota has lakes.

We have loved our time here so far and can’t wait to explore more of the North Island as well as fly down to the South Island coming up soon. New Zealand is an incredibly beautiful country. It’s well worth the long flight if you ever get the chance.