bye bye Brisbane!!!
Auckland bound!
So the adventure has begun in New Zealand, in beautiful Auckland to be more precise. I was lucky enough to have met a YouTuber through a collaboration about a year ago and her and her husband moved to Auckland earlier this year. They were kind enough to offer to put me up for a month. And let me tell you, when you're travelling the world, you don't turn down any offer for a place to stay for free (or cheaper than would be in backpackers/hotels).
I arrived in Auckland on a Saturday night, Jessie and Chris picked me up from the airport and we spent the remainder of the evening enjoying a French dinner with her nan and a bunch of her nan's friends who were extremely well travelled and had many stories to tell which got me even more excited for the trip I have ahead.
On the Sunday Jessie took me out exploring through Auckland city for an hour or so. Later on in the week I took a trip back myself to do explore even more. It is an absolutely beautiful place with many different types of neighbourhoods. You walk a few streets and it's like you've walked from one land to another. In my favourite area, Britomart, you'll find quirky cafes, funky bars and restaurants and people sitting on bean bags in big outdoor grassy areas amidst the big corporate buildings.
Britomart - my favourite spot in Auckland
Britomart Indoor Atrium - upstairs is a whole row of banks, but in Auckland their banks have areas setup just to sit and have a coffee, or glass pods you can go and sit inside for a more private conversation.
Walk a few streets West and you'll find that the feeling has completely changed to that of full on inner city bustle. It's a lot busier in these areas and you will find quite a few homeless people here asking for money. This is also where you can view the infamous SkyTower and if you're feeling game enough you can walk around the edge of the top or for the super adrenalin junkies you can leap off the edge! I would definitely put myself in the super adrenalin junkie category, but unfortunately they do charge quite a bit for you to step off a building....and backpacker budgets don't quite stretch that far!
Auckland City - SkyTower (expect to see a lot of spam of this building)
Now walk West for a few more blocks and you come to the super cool waterfront area of Auckland. If you're as lucky as me you might get to see a baby seal just hanging out on the steps in the middle of the day!
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| This was so exciting for me! haha |
This is another one of my favourite spots. The Wynyard Quarter has been designed to promote sustainability and green living. They have installed beautiful gardens and playgrounds but have also kept some of the original industrial areas which really adds to the history of the area. It is filled with choices of waterfront restaurants to grab a meal or have a beer while watching boats and sailing ships glide past. They have turned things like shipping containers and tanks into both interactive and visually beautiful art.
In one shipping container you can leave a note on a string board which I did and it felt really cool, like I was actually leaving a part of my world story in Auckland.
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| "Travelling the world! First stop beautiful Auckland!" - Bridgitte, EyedolizeMakeup |
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| Massive day beds they've constructed which fill up an area in between the arty shipping containers |
In another area they have commissioned poets to write short poems and have had them painted onto the side of tanks.
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| Some of the poetry tanks |
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| And some more poetry tanks :) |
You can also climb up any number of steel stairways they've added on the edge of this really stunning area and take a photo of the view from a little but higher.
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| One view of part of the Wynyard Quarter from the steel steps |
Along the walk you will see some truly cool, quirky things.
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| Amazing building in Wynyard Quarter...still don't know what this was made from but it looked amazing! |
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| This was a really random carved chair...I'm probably just missing Greg but it kinda looked like a pug to me :P |
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| Along the walk you'll find a few different love-lock bridges :) |
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| And the people of Auckland (or the world) have added their own marks on some parts! I hope Mr. Ed found love! |
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| There is literally art to see every direction you turn :) |
And after a MASSIVE day of walking I felt I deserved a true New Zealand style drink with a Mac's cider :)
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| Chilli + Lime is flippin' delicious!! |
I walked for hours that day but I still feel as though there is so much more of Auckland for me to see! I'm off to Wellington this week and will have a blog post update on my adventures there coming soon. But when I do make it back to Auckland I'll see what other treasures I can find :)
Follow my blog for updates on my world travels & leave me comments below if you have any questions or suggestions of places I should check out while I'm in Aucks or Welly!
xx Bridgitte
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