The Bumpkin Effect!

Auckland Museum
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We arrived in Auckland very early in the morning after travelling throughout the night from Cairns. We got into the city centre where as we prepared to take the first well-earned bite of our breakfast, the city was plunged into darkness. As usual, nothing got between us and our food and we made it through breakfast by candlelight!

A wet city without electricity isn't a particularly exciting place to be so we took advantage of the situation and 'gained entry' into the main Auckland hostel - the security system was down as a result so we could come and go even though we weren't staying there.

A wet city without electricity isn't a particularly exciting place to be

Auckland skyline.
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We had planned to stay with Toni and Gary - (distant relatives of Vicki's) in Auckland and after a quick phone call, Gary came to rescue us from the dark city! The last time Vicki saw these guys, she was 8 - she has obviously changed a bit since then as Gary approached the wrong backpacker giving her a bit of a fright!!

We stayed with Toni and Gary on the North Shore and once settled in we braved the elements and took a walk around the area. That evening we we were treated to a fantastic roast dinner with Gary Toni and their daughter Miranda. We spent the whole of the next day in Auckland doing the tourist things. We started at the Auckland museum which we highly recommend and then once the clouds had cleared, we went to the top of the sky Tower for fantastic views of the city. We waited...and waited...and waited for someone to do the base jump off the tower but no-one (including us!!) was up for it that day! We were planning to also venture to the aquarium, but following the power cut the day before the aquarium that sits on a sewage works, was not the place to be that day!!

View across the docks.
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That evening , we went for sushi with Toni and Miranda followed by a few drinks at some nice venues around the city (including endless cups of hot chocolate for Jenn as she was driving - can I (Vicki) just say what a damn good job she did too?!!!!