Auckland and Our Return to NY and Beyond
- Jun 7
- 3 min read
May 31 - June 4, 2026. Stay at the JW Marriott and prepare to re-enter the Norther Hemisphere. This is the longest stretch of time (just under 3 months) either of us have not been on a plane for 10+ years. Auckland is New Zealand's largest and most populous city, home to over 1.6 million residents. Nicknamed the "City of Sails", it boasts the highest boat ownership per capita in the world and sits on a volcanic field featuring more than 50 dormant volcanic cones. Auckland was the colonial capital of New Zealand, before it moved to Wellington. We decided not to do the "coast to coast" walk, so that will be something for the next visit.
May 31 - Backtrack Piahia to Auckland.
We drove through Auckland to get to Piahia (from Hamilton). Our return route was via the coast with rain forest views. At least it was all paved. In this video you can see quite a few kauri on the way to our one stop
to see Tane Mahuta, an amazing kauri that is over 2000 years old! Chris is in the photo for scale purposes.
We arrived at the JW Marriott which was a lovely change to AirBnBs.
We had access to the exec lounge, so more champagne and food was enjoyed by all.
We normally had breakfast in the exec lounge, but Monday was a holiday (The King's Birthday), so breakfast was in the normal restaurant. It was huge! So many choices.
These three days we rested and there isn't a lot to report. We went to a movie and saw this interesting gate next to the theater.
We saw the oldest pub in town.
and celebrated our last night in New Zealand by eating at Orbit, the revolving restaurant at the top of the TV tower. (can you spot Buni in this video?)
It was a window elevator to the top, which would have had much better views in the daytime.
The views from the restaurant were very pretty, especially with the full moon
We had a set 3-course menu with champagne.
Course 1: venison tartar and prawns.
Course 2: chicken and butcher's cut (short ribs).
Dessert - some disgusting vegan thing that I ordered and something that tasted like sticky toffee pudding that Chris ordered.
Chris told them it was our anniversary (earlier on the trip) and we got a special cupcake which was quite good. This was Buni's dessert.
When we descended, we noticed there was a glass BOTTOM elevator too. (not sure how we missed this on the way up....)
Here's the TV tower during the day and during the night.
The next day was a travel day. The most difficult task was trying to pack everything back into our suitcases after 3 months of not having to worry about it because we were in a car. I donated a garbage bag full of clothing to charity.
Arriving at the Auckland Airport
We went straight to the lounge for champagne
and more food.
I was a bit concerned about the state of our plane. It didn't look airworthy,
but the flight to NY was quite nice, even though quite long - 15+ hours.
with great flying weather.
Dinner
Sleepy time
Breakfast - avocado toast (pretty tasty)
Not sure what this is, but it was never going to get through US customs! (a haunch of meat, or really big fish).
We had about 4 hours layover in NY before catching the next flight to Jax Beach, which left early. All strapped in.
and ready for a nice sunset and end to this segment of travel.
Posts will start again mid-summer when I do my next hike with the Girls in Ireland in July.
I'm sure I'll be feeling fernweh before then.
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