City of Sails - Blogabond

Feeling dazed and disgusting after a sleepless flight and the shameless theft by some higher power of my 29th November 2007, we arrive in New Zealand to comically dire warnings telling us, in effect, that Kiwi customs officials are an elite, highly trained and ruthless force who will not hesitate to inflict all kinds of pain and retribution on any individual found with so much as a spec of dirt on their walking shoes. Luckily neither myself nor either of my two new companions, Alan and Mark, are thus apprehended and before long I am united with Brent, a family friend who has very generously offered to pick me up at this ungodly hour and put me up in his fabulous home for the weekend.

Auckland turns out ot me a gorgeous city, with the skyline not far from aesthetically perfect, and the myriad boats at every turn truly earning its nickname 'the city of sails'. The ever hospitable couple I am staying with invite my two Irishmen to come and stay as well (having never met me before, let alone these two complete strangers!), and arrange for a friend of their son's to come round and say hi as they will be away for the weekend. He in turn takes it upon himself to drive us around the city showing us the sights and entertaining us, demonstrating from the off the unswerving friendliness and obliging nature of New Zealanders. Despite relishing the (more than) home comforts, we decided to make the most of our time and get out of Auckland for the weekend to explore the north, so we hired a car and set off into the unknown.

written by

Alex Kent on November 30, 2007 from Auckland, New Zealand

from the travel blog: On the Varieties of Nature

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