DAILY UPDATE #17 – AUSTRALIA & NEW ZEALAND 2018

Driving across a country

Granted New Zealand is not a large country, we landed in Auckland, on the west side of the North Island, and by the end of the day we arrived in Napier, right on the eastern side of the island.  We have a good day, and the driving was enjoyable!

Flight

Our flight from Sydney to Auckland departed and landed on time, and all stops making our way through Auckland airport were short, enabling us to arrive at our hotel for the night just past 2am.

New Zealand first impressions

I love it.  Reasons start with the simple — there are no longer constant warning signs for wildlife that might bounce, fall, or ramble onto the road.  Traffic is light.  This is most likely biased as traffic at 1am should be light, and even driving for 4 hours today, traffic was no different than a weekday in a popular weekend resort — light.

Scenery!

If you want to experience driving through a country for hours, in which you spend most of your time remarking “Wow”, “unbelievable”, or “spectacular” at the scenery going by, this is the place.  For example, the above picture is what we greeted as we drove through Taupo, on the main state highway through the town.

As we approached Taupo, there were signs for a waterfall.  After a few signs advertising 30, 25, and 15 minute walks to the falls, we found the main parking lot and was greeted by this a mere five minute walk away:

The Huka Falls comes from the sole exit of Lake Taupo and is channeled through a narrow section of rock with this at the end as the river begins a more calm fashion traveling through the landscape.

What’s in Napier?

Two things that should make Amber’s day — wineries, and the National Aquarium of New Zealand.  We’re going to check those out tomorrow.  A neat fact for me is that Napier is billed as the capital of Art Deco buildings.  This was a result of the downtown being re-built in the 1930s after a devastating earthquake.  Stay tuned for tomorrow to find out what we do then.