Our first week is coming to a close...and Tracey sure picked the right hood for us. It reminds us a bit of Lincoln Park Chicago with the urban hills and bays of San Francisco and the Seattle area. We have a neat little bungalow booked through Airbnb through the end of the year and it comes with the "dryer" you see pictured...no charge for the clothespins. I can't figure out how to turn it on so I am letting Tracey work it for now.
Tracey picked New Zealand because of the season...it is summer here! But highs in the upper 60s and lows in the 50s feels more like San Fran in June! But even though it is summer here, it is starting to feel a bit like Christmas (see more pics under places)! Residents of Franklin Road in Ponsonby all deck their homes out in lights with thousands walking the street to view the tradition. The Sky Tower is also lit in Christmas colors for season. It looks like Seattle's Space Needle but is almost twice as tall standing 328 m (or 1,076 ft). It is the tallest freestanding structure in New Zealand and the southern hemisphere. It's the 15th tallest structure in the world – shorter than Tokyo Tower (333 m /1,093 ft) in Tokyo, Japan and slightly taller than Eiffel Tower (324 m / 1,063 ft) in Paris, France.
We also saw Santa at Ponsonby Central an outstanding collection of independent restaurants. You will see in the picture the wind blew Santa's skirt up -- it has been quite breezy the last couple days! As you might imagine, we have sampled nearly every restaurant here and many types of cuisine - El Sizzling Chorizo (Argentinian BBQ - lamb of course), Burger Burger, Blue Breeze Inn (Chinese Fusion...very interesting), Maldito Mendez, , and Foxtrot Parlour. Outside of Ponsonby Central we have tried Pane & Vino, the Longroom for cocktails (yes, a Woodford on the rocks), and Yuzu for sushi. There is a Sushi restaurant on every block...so I am happy! We talked about cooking in tonight, but thought better of it. I think we are going for Dante's Pizza at Ponsonby Central! Whew...that's a lot of food for a week, but fortunately we've been walking 6-8 miles per day up and down these city hills taking in the sites, sounds, beer and of course food in Auckland! The strong US dollar has helped us rationalize the logic of eating out versus eating in:)
Looks like you all are making the most of it. Keep on having fun!
Truly, truly, amazing and magical, if that’s possible. Great job Tracey with the accommodations. Miss you both crazy-like. Always found comfort that you were always only 15 miles away. Keep up the experience and thanks for taking us with you! Love you both!
Only a couple flights away 🙂
So happy Auckland is working out so well for you!
Have you met any of your neighbors or made any friends yet? Anyone having trouble understanding you—or vice a versa?
P.S. -Tracey, I just read where Pearl Jam is going to be touring next year. Eddie Vedder, here I come!
Mike, so happy to hear the official bourbon of the Saratoga racecourse is available.
Trace, the clothes dryer must be a strange apparatus to you.
Great to see your adventure is off to a great start and that you have laundry services! Very cool cycle route! Do you intend to try it? (Just found a new kayak fishing spot. Come back soon!)
Great pictures and commentary Mike. I’ve tagged you as the “Sarasota Scribe” Ala Rick Steves
Looks beautiful. What type of weather are you having there this time of year? Miss you all so much Merry Christmas!
The weather changes by the block! One minute warm, next minute cool. Windy, upper 60s to low 70s…the Auckland “summer” so kiwis are in shorts and short sleeves :). It rained most of Christmas Eve. Have a fun safe trip in Nebraska…brrrrrrr! Speaking of Kiwi’s, we had an older Kiwi couple stop and ask us for directions on our walk we just took on the empty Christmas Day streets. When I started to talk she said, “oh, yore naught kiwi’s arr ya?!?” (of course with my stellar sense of direction I was still able to help them on their way:)).