Tuesday, July 23, 2019:
My daughter Rebekah and I connected in the morning. I went to her room to say hi! She and I then went across the street from the hotel to a place called The Coffee Club and had a nice continental breakfast together. We then took a long scooter ride (Rebekah walked) through Auckland which included the Foreshore Heritage Walk and New World Victoria Park. We had a really nice snack at a place called Buoy that overlooked the harbor.
After returning to our hotel, we rested a bit, and got some Japanese fast food at St. Pierre's Sushi + Bento Bowl that was across the street from our hotel and then we got an Uber that took us to the Beth Shalom progressive congregation for Israeli dancing!
Marta Cullen, the dance teacher, is from Holland, but lived in Israel and now lives in New Zealand. The class was really fun. We were invited out for coffee afterward with the class. I wish we had gone, but we were just too tired and headed back to the hotel.
Wednesday, July 24, 2019
After a nice breakfast in an area called Imperial Lane, we got an Uber and went to the Auckland Zoo. It was a really nice zoo which is set up where the animals are living in their habitats. The zoo is divided by the world's continents. It was a really relaxing and fun zoo experience. I remembered the crowded day my daughter Annabelle and I had at the Jerusalem zoo. This was a very different experience. It was fun to see the elephant balance on a chair and hold up his feet! I liked seeing the penguins and the Koala bear and the birds were so close to us.
When our day at the zoo ended, we had a little snack in a cafe in front of the zoo and then did a scooter-walk towards a vegan restaurant called The Butcher's Son. The GPS directions delightfully surprised us when we ended up going on a hike through the Jaggers Bush Reserve.
Our meal was more than delightful. I had an amazing Caesar's Salad.
We took and Uber back to our hotel. The driver gave us all sorts of ideas of things to do during our trip.
Thursday, July 25, 2019
We booked a day tour with a company called Great Sights New Zealand Tours. A bus (called Coach) in New Zealand, picked us up at 7:25 am from our hotel and took us to a bus station where the rest of the people joining us on the tour boarded the bus.
It was a long bus ride, and we arrived in Hobbiton at about 10:30 am. The bus than drove us to Hobbiton! It was awesome to see the set of where the Lord of the Rings movies were made. The tour was fun and we took tons of photos. Then there was a chance for beverages (I had non alcoholic ginger beer) and then there was a buffet lunch in a tent.
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| A cat in front of the hobbit hole where the trilogy ends |
After boarding the bus again at 1 pm, we were off to the Waitomo Caves. We arrived at the caves around 2:15 pm and enjoyed another tour. The highlight of that tour is riding on a boat through the cave in the dark in total silence. Also, there is a section of the cave that is like a music hall. One of the people in our group sang New Zealand's national anthem which brought tears to my eyes.
We boarded the bus again at 3:35 pm and headed back to Auckland. There was a short five minute stop to use the restrooms and for the bus to refuel.
When we arrived back to a stop near our hotel, at 6:20 pm, as I exited the middle back door of the bus, the driver began to close the door and almost crushed my arm! Fortunatelly, he heard my screams as I put my backpack in the door to try to stop the door and I got off the bus safely. When I returned to my hotel room I called the Great Sights company to register a complaint. I hope I receive some sort of refund. My arm hurt for a few hours after the incident.
Then, off Rebekah and I went to Imperial Lane again and had a light meal of salad and veggies and then we were off to bed.
We look forward to more New Zealand adventures!
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