Dec 15 - Auckland Arrival

Air New Zealand was very nice... food was better than we've had on any other flight!  We actually slept on the plane and arrived at the airport in good spirits.  We then purchased some spirits (Glenfiddich 18, Tanqueray, and Grand Marnier) in the duty free shop (what a good deal!) and moved to get bags and go through customs.  Bummer for Dazee!  The dog cookies we purchased in Hawaii did not have an ingredients list so they said they had to confiscate them.  We understand and will have to pick up something else for her here.

View from the Condo

The Corporate Cab driver was extremely nice and pointed out some highlights of the city as we drove to the Harbor.  Chris met us and showed us the condo - beautiful!!  We walked over to a restaurant nearby, Mecca, and had a couple of "Long Blacks" (coffee) with milk while Chris got some breakfast.  He showed us some interesting places to eat and drink in the area, then took us for a drive to a grocery store nearby.  It was good instruction for driving and a useful way to the interstate we will need for trips to the North.

After we walked Chris to the ferry terminal, we had lunch at the Irish Pub "O'Hagan's".  Lee had a Guinness and I tried a lager called Oranjeboom... Doug and Ad would like that one! 

Di then drove to the grocery store - with (of course) some hints on improvement from Lee.  The manual shifting came back fine, but it felt very odd doing that left-handed.  We bought, among other things, some lamb and a fillet of a fish called Tarakihi.  The grocery store was fascinating and took us awhile since we needed to figure out what exactly we looking at and where things were.  Very nice store. 

We had the Tarakihi for dinner - what a good grilling fish!  Mild flavor and sturdy texture.  We are finding good wines here, too!  So far, so good!