The Land of Kiwis: Auckland, New Zealand

When I landed in Auckland, New Zealand I was certain that I fell in love with this country. From the airport window, New Zealand looked like a pretty countryside already.

My mom and I planned on going to the Auckland War Memorial Museum. We didn't know which stop to get off at, so we ended up taking a tour of Auckland from a bus. We didn't mind. Thanks to O (who told me about Devonport), we caught a ferry going there in the afternoon. The sun was out and it was lovely weather. After we got off the ferry, we took a short horse carriage ride. Then we walked up to Mt Victoria. The view on top of Mt Victoria is indescribably beautiful. I don't know if there are words to describe how beautiful it is up there. The grass is so green, from every direction there's an incredibly gorgeous view. From one point you can see Rangitoto Island (which was closed while we were there), the ocean and the Auckland skyline. Also, you can see the rooftops of pretty houses in Devonport. I love their cafes and shops. I want to live in Devonport. Before heading back to the ferry, we ate at a restaurant called Mecca. We had really good soup and they have the most interesting wine cellar. You can actually see the cellar from the floor you're standing on. Before heading back to the hotel, we went to Valentino's Gelato. So good! My favourite flavours there are Passion Fruit and Hokey Pokey (carmel & honey).

We took a bus to see Sheep World. Again, we loved it there! Did you know they have pink sheep? Not even kidding. We saw a dog and sheep show. All the sheep are so cute. The most shocking and sad thing we saw was the sheep being sheared. It just shocked me. I learned that it doesn't hurt the sheep when they're sheared, but still sad. The sheep herder invited everyone to shear the sheep and my brother went up there. Let me say that after seeing a sheep getting sheared, I can never look at my Uggs the same way again. We fed the farm animals, the sheep and ram. The ram terrified me! And one sheep bit my hand. I screamed a little and nobody cared although it didn't terribly hurt. We saw more farm animals. There was this one sheep who looked half dog/half sheep. Not even kidding. My mom and I still laugh when we think of that one sheep-dog?! After Sheep World, we shopped a little in downtown Auckland, which was pretty amazing that we even made it to the stores. All the stores in Auckland close early at 7 pm. The same in Sydney. And I thought our stores in America closed way too early...

My last day in Auckland, New Zealand was sad. I didn't want to leave. My mom and I eventually figured out how to get to the Auckland War Memorial Museum. It is one of the coolest museums I've been to and I learned a lot. They had all these cool dresses they wore decades ago. Surprisingly, they did not look vintage at all. I would wear them. They featured everything and even modern design. I spotted a Mies van der Rohe chair! Although I'm not a big fan of the chair itself. We watched a little bit about Sir Edmund Hillary. I remember reading about him in Time Magazine. I even think Mr. B talked a little bit about him and/or the Sherpas. Then we learned about volcanoes by experiencing a generated earthquake/volcano. While I watched the news reel, I half-believed that this volcano eruption happened. I was standing up the entire time and the floor moved. It scared me. The next day I heard about an actual earthquake that occurred between New South Wales and the South Island of New Zealand. That freaked me out.

So I fell in love with New Zealand. I am going to live there one day. It's literally off the edge of the world and in a different world too. New Zealand is one of most beautiful places I have ever seen so far in the world. They have the greenest hills during the winter. Everyone is really friendly and it's very multi-cultural. I love kiwis-both the people and the bird. I like their laws and it seems like a quiet, peaceful place to live. I'll just have to work on liking LOTR. At least I think I like rugby and the guys who play it. Kia kaha.

I am so grateful and blessed to have been able to see Australia and New Zealand. It's been lots of fun and one of my favourite vacations yet. I miss Australia and New Zealand quite terribly and I wish I could go back right now. My dreams of going to Australia and New Zealand came true. Now I'm off to conquer Antarctica. You better believe it. And the adventures will continue on...

Next stop: London, England