days 1-3

We are just 2 of the 1 million people here in Auckland. There are only about 4 million people in the entire country, so Auckland is a busy place. It is Monday here and there is a lot of hustle and bustle around the town as work and university start back up again today.

Saturday, after we arrived, we took a bit of a rest before heading out for a walk down to the harbor. It was a beautiful evening and we had some dinner by the water. John had a beer for his friends at Wenck and a one for his friends at Target, cheers mates!

After dinner we headed to the Auckland Domain for a free symphony concert. It was a nice evening and the concert was fantastic, at least the first half. Yes, we only made it for 1/2 of a symphony concert as we were too tired to last the entire thing. The locals say there are usually about 150,000 people there, but it seemed like even more than that.

Sunday we slept in some before starting the day. We headed out to grab a bite to eat. John had some NZ native green mussels, they were yummy.

Later in the evening we headed to the Sky Tower, which is the highest building in the southern hemisphere. It is 328 meters high and provided beautiful views of the city and harbor. This is a view down through 38 mm glass in the floor of the view deck which was 220 meters above the street.

There was a cafe there where we had a drink to enjoy the sunset before heading out to dinner. So it was a nice enjoyable day.

Today it was down to business! We had our orientation at the IEP office (International Exchange Program) and got a lot of information about what to do in New Zealand and how to navigate the country, so we are excited to get "off the beaten path" a bit more. Then we opened a bank account and got our IRD/Tax number so that we can work while we are here. There are a lot of job openings coming up soon to pick Kiwi Fruit, so we may look at doing that. Down here you have to say kiwifruit, you cannot just say kiwi because the kiwi's/locals may think you are eating their national birds.

We will be in Auckland for a few more days before heading off somewhere, we are still not quite sure where we will go next.

Auckland is the largest Polynesian city in the world, interesting fact for you!

John has taken a few showers now, no worries.

Tipping is not common here in New Zealand, so the first few waiters/waitresses we had must have been pleased with the added cash they made from us.