Week-end 3, we went to Rangitoto : one of the little island surrounding Auckland harbour, and an inactive volcano that erupted approximately 600 years ago.

We got the weather with us, and so the tour of the island was enlighted by the deep blue waters of the bay. 20 minutes is the time it takes to completely change the stage of your day, without leaving the city from sight, thanks to the ferry.

The most memorable fact about this journey is the high contrasts we've felt along the way :

between people influx that asorbs you into Queen Street and the feeling of freedom this island (almost) without human mark offers ;

as for the permanent noise of the crowded streets and the quietness of the place ;

between the density and wilderness of the forest that encompasses the track and the barrenness of the volcanic rocks forming the atoll.

You however feel this general rule in NZ, according to whom there always will be birds around you. The best part is the feeding, within your bare hands.

The second week-end, we went to Auckland Zoo.

Although most zoos must be pretty identical, they do have nice animals there, and they work for the Kiwi preservation. But as Kiwis only live by night, we only saw shapes of some and couldn't bring back interesting photos.

Therefore, here is their specie wikipedia, and a consolation picture of a spider monkey :

There is a great thing about living in the city center, apart from all the beautiful "cultural" feeding, glistening skycrappers and Gucci-based glitter : it is being carried out by all the movement and life that converge there.

Auckland is mostly occidental in its culture, but as jewel of a country where the only history lies in the pacifist union between two peoples (Maori and British settlers), the acceptance of every other people and culture is part of the tradition. Indeed, Auckland is as much the white suited man and the Maori as the whole crowd of Japanese, Korean, Polynesian, Malaysian, Indian, American, and sometimes even European, with his trekking equipment and his thirst for adventure and wilderness. Furthermore, they share this same part in their respective stories : the one when they cross the big blue water to reach Aotearoa.

And also, the Sky Tower looks beautiful at night.

Wherever you are, once in a while save the day, rent a car, and leave the city.

We headed west, toward the Tasmian Sea that separates New Zealand from Australia. The roads are large and locked between two walls of straight and dense vegetation. Sometimes you feel like in a tunnel, or driving to nowhere.

But in the end, when you reach Piha Beach, you finaly realize you're at the other side of the world, far from home.

The air is definitely purer abroad the bay ; as for the prettier zone. Keeps you running, again and again ;)

Would have been a shame traveling so far without locating anything, right ?

I think this phenomenon is of genera truth : wherever you want to settle, get some height. Watching the sunset above Auckland harbour from your couch on the 15th floor of your building is quite soothing...

 We arrived at 10 p.m. in AKL-Auckland International Airport. You definitely want to book a bus shuttle - the Super Shuttle - to reach the city heart, where you can easily find Backpackers beds, that is to say cheap temporary accomodation for reasonably low comfort. New Zealand has plenty of them, which makes it easy day-to-day travelling within the country. We spent the first night at the Cozy Kiwi, and, apart if you like rough trips and cyberpunk/dystopic scenary, this is not a place to stay more than a night. During the day, we marked out coffees on the Queen Street (the Central Business District main street), visited several flats in less than 2 hours thanks to Impression Real Estate Wednesday Bus Tour (a very nice company, if you are lucky enough to stay in Auckland for at least 10 weeks and can affort ~130NZ$/week/person, otherwise, online collocation is another solution). We also checked several banks to try opening an account (which is almost unavoidable) (by the way, if you think that, for a reason or another, banks are cooler in NZ, you're obviously wrong...) We booked the second night at Frienz, a much nicer Backpacker, with several events each weeks, and higher comfort for approximately the same price. The day after we had our appartment, and the day after : hot water for the wknd.