Auckland, Jet Lag and an Impending Cyclone

After months of planning, the vast majority of the details having been worked out by Brian prior to the trip, the time had arrived to start our excursion to “down under!” We departed Portland on United Air Canada enroute to Vancouver British Columbia in mid-afternoon arriving approximately an hour later. After a two-hour layover we took our seats for the next leg of the journey aboard Air New Zealand and flew off into the wild blue yonder to our first destination, Auckland, New Zealand.

We crossed the International Date Line while traversing the western Pacific, consequently losing an entire day, (where did March 13^th go to?) arriving thirteen hours later shortly before 6:00 AM on Friday March 14^th. Having thought to bring earplugs, a sleeping pill and a comfy home made compact pillow along with us for the flight we were able to sleep at least during part of the journey.

Auckland is a city of 1.3 million people located near the top eastern side of the North Island of New Zealand and lies south of the equator, just east and south of Australia. The country is comprised of a two islands, north and south. Because of its location below the equator the further south a person travels in New Zealand the cooler it becomes. Auckland is quite similar in climate to Portland, Oregon but somewhat more humid and has a similar rainy season, however, the seasons are reversed. It’s the beginning of fall here right now; the leaves are turning and beginning to drop from the trees. Christmas is the hottest time of the year, July the coolest. Portland Oregon is located just north of the northern 45th parallel, New Zealand at the southern 45th parallel. Down here we're half way to the south pole, in Oregon we're halfway to the north pole.  

Downtown Auckland from the island of Devonport

People drive on the left side of the road here, pretty intimidating. Even standing in entrance and exit lines is reversed and can become somewhat disorienting. We find ourselves continually trying to avoid bumping into folks on the sidewalks because they (or we) seem to be on the wrong side. It will take some getting used to.

Stepping off of the curb is an adventure unto itself. Our instinct from home is to look left before stepping into the street. Staying focused on getting from one side of the street to the other alive here is the number one priority. Here, one looks right first, then left and if it's clear then it's time to  run like hell.

Breakfast Guinness
It's 5:00 in Portland so no worries!

We checked into our quaint and cozy B&B in the Grafton district of the city where Brian had made our reservations for the first two nights. We then walked about town a bit. And eventually hopped on a bus to take us down to the ferry terminal. The local ferry travelled a short distance across Stanley Bay to Devonport, a late 1800’s era town on a small island fifteen minutes from downtown Auckland. After a leisurely stroll through town, a tasty lunch and cold Guinness beer we headed back across the bay toward our lodgings.

A quick train ride on Auckland’s remarkably clean and modern local metro train system brought us within two blocks of our B & B.

We’ll go out for a quick dinner locally in a few hours and then call it quits for the day. A good nights rest will get us both back on track for tomorrow’s adventures. The newspaper headlines tell us that a cyclone is scheduled to hit Auckland tonight and tomorrow. We have alternate plans if the weather is terrible. More on that after it develops. So ends our first complete day in New Zealand. The people are friendly and helpful.