Campbells Bay, New Zealand

Temperature: high of about 50ºF, low of about 30ºF
Location: Just north of Auckland, on the North Shore

We spent a day in Auckland wandering around and chatting with people in the tourist bureau.  The woman who helped us looked a bit like Nanny Ogg and the woman next to her definitely looked like Granny Weatherwax.  They were somewhat forcefully helpful, setting us up with appointments and reservations and bookings that we barely knew we needed.  They booked us a coach tour, two rental cars (one on each island), a train ride the length of the North Island, and a ferry ride to the South Island.  Phew.


Time for a tourist checklist!

Walked up and down Queen Street
 yes
Took a ferry across the bay to a touristy town
 yes
Attended the Auckland Linux Users Group
 no
Saw the beach where much of Xena was filmed
 yes
Saw Xena
 no
Had dinner in the rotating restaurant in Sky Tower (tallest building in the southern hemisphere)
 yes
Bungy jumped from the top of Sky Tower
 not yet
Rented a car and drove on the left side of the road
 yes


I had to get a bit of cloud photos in.  These clouds are stateside.
Here we have some nice New Zealand clouds.
Sailing is big deal in Auckland.  Our guide told us that 1 in 4 people in Auckland have a boat.  The tallest thing in this photo is the Sky Tower, which features in the next photo.
At night, the tower is lit up with blue lights.
Behind us here is a cove on the western shore of the North Island, near Auckland.  Our guide said Xena was supposed to meet us here, but she must have been busy.
Here we are taking in a bit of the local corporate culture.  To be fair, Julie has only been to Starbucks once in New Zealand and I've not been to McDonalds at all.  I can't say I don't want it though.



How to contact us:
    rfd@finninday.net
    jfd@finninday.net