New Zealand 2015 Part 1 - Singapore to Auckland

My trip to New Zealand was back in May 2015. It has been 3.5 months since I got back from NZ, I hope I will be able to recall at least 70% of the trip to share my experience. Photos always help. =) Hop on to my instagram @lynne_chua and search for #LCinOceania if you wish to view more updated pictures for the trip.

Day 1

Taking Air New Zealand from Singapore to Auckland, we arrived after 10pm NZ time at Auckland airport. The flight was 10 hours long..... The comfort, food, service of Air New Zealand was as expected of any legacy airline. 

Initially, we were seated at row 50 of the aircraft, a 3-seater row. However, 2 Indian passengers requested to change seats with us as they are the family of the other Indian woman sitting with us on the same row. We gladly changed seats with them to the last 2-seater row at the back of the aircraft. One negative point of switching the seats, we got served last for breakfast and they ran out of what we wanted. Oh well, at least it's our 二人世界 (two people's world) for the flight journey. 

SIN-AKL

Breakfast

Dinner

Upon arrival at the airport, we went to Vodafone to top up a SIM card that was kindly passed to me from my friend HP who just returned from NZ 1 week before our trip. I spent about NZD 20 for a total of ~1 GB of data and there's a remaining of 90+ minutes of call from HP. You may want to check out their prepaid plans at their website here.

After collecting our car, we drove to our first accommodation at Auckland City using my iPhone 6's Google Map. It's about a 15-20min drive. 

TIP: If you have a smart phone with good GPS and a Google Map app, you don't even need to rent a GPS from the car rental. Although some mountainous area of NZ do not have reception, as long as you've mapped it, GPS will STILL WORK. 

Auckland City Oaks Serviced Apartments

Address: 188 Hobson Street, Auckland City Center, Auckland, New Zealand

Contact : +64 9 337 5800

As we did not pre-book our parking slot (NZD 25 a night), we had to find a parking slot along the street. As long as it's within the white box/line, parking is free! =D We parked at the visitor slot in our apartment first, checked in and deposited our luggage before shifting the car to somewhere else. 

Living Room

Kitchen

Bedroom 1

Bedroom 2

Toilet

Washing machine

It's quite a big apartment for just the 2 of us. It would be cheaper if we have more travel companions. We rested for a while, and set off to Viaduct Harbour to witness the nightlife of Auckland after midnight.

As parking is free within the white lines, it's really not easy to find a parking slot! We parked pretty far away from the main attraction where all the pubs/clubs are. Good thing is that the weather and air were really good! We enjoyed the peaceful walk along the harbour. =)

My Canon S100 was getting really cranky, especially in low light, after dropping it at Alaska during my last trip to USA in April. If you are observant, you'll be able to tell from the photos in all my upcoming NZ blog posts. =( 

Nightlife at Viaduct Harbour, Auckland. Pretty similar to Clarke quay in Singapore. 

Popular club with long queue

Soul Bar and Bistro

Address: 16-18 Corner of Lower Hobson Street and Customs Street West, Auckland 1143, New Zealand

Contact: +64 9 356 7249

We settled down at Soul Bar and Bistro for supper and some drinks. There was only 1 table being occupied at the restaurant section, all the others were partying at the other side. The songs played did not appeal to us at all. Lol.

Fries was da yumz!

We will be leaving Auckland city the next morning, towards Matamata for Hobbiton Movie Tour then to our next accommodation at Taupo. Will update more in New Zealand 2015 Part 2.


New Zealand 2015 Posts:
Part 2 - Hobbiton and Taupo