Home » New Zealand » High Times in the City of Sails November 10, 2004

Auckland is nothing much on its own, but the city is a useful transit hub. Our flight from Sydney arrived around rush hour. We grabbed a shared, door-to-door shuttle -- cheaper than a cap, even for two people ($27NZ shuttle versus $50NZ taxi) -- but it took nearly an hour to get to the city center.
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High Times in the City of Sails November 10, 2004

Ttrealtravels
2005-12-26 16:04:35

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Auckland is nothing much on its own, but the city is a useful transit hub. Our flight from Sydney arrived around rush hour. We grabbed a shared, door-to-door shuttle -- cheaper than a cap, even for two people ($27NZ shuttle versus $50NZ taxi) -- but it took nearly an hour to get to the city center.

The room at the Kiwi International Hotel was relatively cheap and adequately serviceable. Tiny room, saggy bed, but great location on Queen Street about two miles from the bay. The hotel was surround by Asian restaurants and dirt-cheap 24-hour Internet cafes.

We walked about a mile to the Sky Tower for a great view of the city. The tower is the tallest structure in the Southern Hemisphere at 328 meters. For about $20NZ, you can go to the top and gaze at the sunset -- which seems pretty popular, even with locals. Before the sun sank, we got a fantastic explanation of why Auckland is called the City of Sails. The harbor was filled with sailboats of all sizes, and the city probably has more boats per capita than any other in the world.

Nearby, we found a lively Mexican restaurant that wasn't half bad. Not as spicy as we like it, but fairly authentic. Also very popular because of the live Brazilian music.

There may be more to see in Auckland, but the rest of New Zealand has such superlative sights, it'd be a shame to waste too much time in the cities. Auckland's a great place to land, rent a car, and get out of town!