Auckland, First Day

Greetings, fellow travelers! Time once again to beckon you to join me, this time to beautiful New Zealand.

https://www.tripadvisor.com/Tourism-g1811027-Auckland_North_Island-Vacations.html

While flying the direct 13-hour route to Auckland abroad American Airlines, we passed by Bora-Bora and Pago Pago — exotic locals that I only heard about in old Hollywood films when I was growing up.

As you can calculate from the above photo, New Zealand is three hours behind California time… but they are a whole day ahead!

Can you tell what this is that I saw in a wash basin in an Auckland Airport mens room?

The metal rod at the right is a soap dispenser. The central rod automatically sprays water. The side rods are air-blasting hand dryers!

On our first day in Auckland, we hired a four-hour tour/shuttle to get us from the airport to our hotel. My honey, my favorite daughter, and I were driven by John S., a local guide. This arrangement gave us maximum schedule flexibility and his complete attention to all our questions.

https://www.toursbylocals.com/Auckland-TourGuide

For most of our drive time, there were very, very few stop signs, so we were constantly in motion. Here’s the reason why.

Can you guess what this caution triangle sign is about?

That’s a roundabout ahead! The first time I encountered one was in the U.S. Midwest. At that time, I thought it was the dumbest idea for streets. Now I realize it’s a feature that would speed up life in California’s big cities quite a bit.

For those in the U.S., notice something else in the above photo? Driving is on the left side.

The first stop was at the Arataki Visitor Centre, a park with a modest-sized nature center.

https://www.tripadvisor.com/Attraction_Review-g255106-d300532-Reviews-Waitakere_Ranges-Auckland_Central_North_Island.html

https://www.yelp.co.nz/biz/arataki-visitor-centre-auckland

John pointed out the silver fern as a national symbol. It’s also on their currency.

There is no trash in New Zealand, but there is rubbish! (Sounds very British, what?)

This plaque has good insight into what it means to be human.

Next stop was Lion Rock, a massive rock formation on the very windy South Piha Beach.

https://www.yelp.com/biz/piha-beach-auckland?osq=lion+rock%2C+south+piha

One of the highlights in visiting a different country is to peruse their grocery stores and find curiosities.

Funny, after finding this, I felt like turning myself around. I guess that’s what it’s all about. The Hokey Pokey is an ice cream flavor we found everywhere.