Auckland, New Zealand

March 13th was our flight out of Honolulu Hawaii; we arrived in Auckland, New Zealand only nine hours later and yet, it was now the morning of the 15th. Somehow, we lost a day... Oh, ya, we crossed the international dateline, so now we are almost a full day ahead of you on the west coast!

New Zealand, from the air is as beautiful as it is from the ground. Island after island in the middle of a huge, blue expanse.

Auckland is not the capital of New Zealand, but it is the financial hub. It is situated on a thin stretch of land between two harbors: one off the Tasman sea to the west, and the other off the Pacific Ocean to the east. It is called the City of Sails because there are more boats per person here than anywhere else in the world. The city is a huge mix of cultures, not unlike San Francisco. They also have their own version of the Seattle space needle, called the Skytower, but here, in true Kiwi fashion, you can pay money to jump from it!

Like any good city there are huge parks with beautiful walks and many chances to escape from the hustle.

In the middle of one of the largest parks sits the Auckland Cultural Museum, where you can learn about New Zealands history, from ancient to modern day wars, from natural history to cultural history. Most interesting to us were the Mauri cultural exhibits. Below is a replica of an ancestoral home, where all the ancestors are represented as ribs supporting the roof of the home. While we were there, there was an art class taking advantage of the interesting subject.