March 16&17 – Auckland

March 16 & 17, 2016 – Sydney to Auckland
It was an uneventful trip to New Zealand other than the long walks within each airport. By the time we got on the bus for our Auckland hotel, we had walked 2.5 miles. Obviously my ankle let me know that this was a bit much.
We met Alan who is our New Zealand guide. He gave us some introductory info on the way to the hotel. Since we are 2 time zones ahead of Australia, we got to the hotel at 5:15pm. We went out for our Welcome Dinner on the waterfront.
After dinner, the bus drove us to the other side of the bay to look back at the city center. Back at the hotel we all went to bed early.
On Thursday morning we met at 8am and took a city bus to meet a Maori named Prince. He greeted us with a Maori greeting and then as we walked around the park explained about himself and his Maori background. While they did have a bad relationship with the English, they now live in harmony. The most surprising thing is that Hawaiians, Fijians, Tahitians, and Maori are all considered Polynesians. At the end of the walk we met his wife who is 7th generation English. We had tea with them and then touched our nose and forehead in their manner of greeting.
Some of the group went to the Auckland Museum but others of us went to an Irish Pub for lunch to celebrate St. Patrick’s Day. After lunch we took a ferry across the bay to hike up a volcano (dormant). I didn’t do the hike to spare my ankle.
Seven of us went to the home of a friend of our guides. We had wine and snacks and talked until after 9pm. We talked about the difference between the aboriginals and the Maori among other topics.
My ankle is improving every day.
Tomorrow we are off to Rotorua.