Second day in Kiwiland...

When I call NZ Kiwiland I do it with love. It's sweet and cute, the place and people there are stuck close to my heart now, as everything else and...OK, I stop it, otherwise you're not going to read this in full. 
Second day in sweet Kiwiland (oooooops!!!!), yet the first full day spent in Auckland! We've decided the night before that we'd go out and have breakfast in town, which we did. At a place with an Italian name, Korean waitresses where we had English breakfast - exactly what I love in this part of the world! To my surprise, on top of our flat whites, we had this sight:

...and that's when I knew I should stop being surprised: it's their national symbol, so there would be ferns everywhere, no mistake in expecting to see it from then on.
The day was entirely ours, so obviously, we've went on a stroll, starting with the port. Not for nothing, there's a building there I wanted to see in reality since I had seen pictures with it before, the Ferry Building.

Ferry Building, Auckland NZ, side view.

View from across the street of the Ferry Building.

View of the port, near the Ferry Building.

This old Ferry Building contrasts with the architecture nearby, although, I would discover next day that there are still a few older buildings preserved in the area to keep it company, so to say. Either way, it warms my heart when I see these constructions surviving times and changes. It also tells something about the people living there.
The smartest idea of the day proved to be a boat cruise on which we embarked in the last minute, just enough to add a little drama to our walk. There was enough time though to go sit up on the deck, happy that there weren't many people there, maybe because it was a slightly windy day and the rest of people preferred to stay in the cabin and  have their warm drinks. That's not us! We face the gale, row the boat if we can, eat the pickles not the jam...for rhyme's sake! Boat cruise objective: Rangitoto Island.  It's been an offering trip, with a lot of beautiful sights to enjoy. Sadly, due time and hunger, we could not add to our stops Devonport. One day...
This cruise will be the topic of my next post. A visual log so to say, thus I won't insit now on its details since it's full of too powerful impressions still and perhaps too personal to talk of here.
I should add though about this particular day that there was more walking on the pier, fish'n chips cravings, a visit to the Fish Markets , a bit of rest and lunch, another evening walk which included a visit to an arcade that was closed yet which gave us the chance to take silly photographs. Ah, and we also entered a geek's place where we heard the list of winners after a competition they held there and which is worth mentioning as in the silence of those announcements someone shouted after a guy's name , ''SUCK IT UP!...JACQUES!''. You had to be there to hear the intonation and you'd be walking out laughing your head off. Or you can do this once you finish visiting my silly blog.

From Down Under to the Middle Earth - excerpts from a slightly belated travel log

Yes, I indeed want an 18th Century title for this one!

I'll be sharing some memories from my recent trip to New Zealand, as I've already promised to some of you.  My partner and I planned this for a while and along the way (read months) I missed some opportunities to actually accompany him in one of his job related trips there...well, until it became clear we should actually go for it and enjoy NZ together. One for business, the other for pleasure . All being clear, we've spread our  wings and threw ourselves  in the air, flopping our artificial feathers... well, no, we took a plane like all people with intact synapses, but it was worthy to think of Icarus for a second or two.

Sunshine Coast, Queensland

We left sunny Brisbane how else but in a sunny Saturday, saying good bye to the Sunshine State (where it's sunny no matter the season!), heading to a so called winter, in Auckland NZ- which proved to be fun for me, an European used to ...well, real winters. Spoiler: in my book, it was autumn there. Sunny. Remember this, it's a key word. Sunny.

For an obvious reason I love airports (dang, it's the magic gate to new places!) and it's always worth watching the crowd, without doing it on purpose. OK, I lied.  While waiting to board on our plane, some Kiwis drawn my attention. Reason: their passports. Black passports with a silver fern on it - classy and cute! It may seem a silly thing to like, but for me it was the first taste of NZ, despite the fact that I've already had a few items brought from there. It was my first encounter and it's stuck in my visual and affective memory.
That was only the beginning, as once in the plane , we had in front of us a beautiful Maori woman and her little daughter. This was wonderful since it was the first Maori I've seen in reality. I realize how childish my words seem, but so was the joy of observing all around me . Her dignified features took my eyes a few times, as much as her tattooos which shyly came  out of her short sleeves: another fern to admire! I think I napped a little and took some pictures with the sky, plus had a few traditional ''on the road-laughters" with my partner - all good, but not all can be told.
Good landing, bursting excitement and a pinch of irrational worries given the lore about NZ customs - they have a certain reputation, but I should say I found them much nicer than all rumours say. We walked accompanied by sounds of water towards customs (no lie, the airport has a sweet sound system and they are geniuses for using at max all things connected to LOTR, really well decorated wall as as well - too bad it was late at night and we hurried, otherwise I would have taken some shots). 
Back to reality, let me tell about the first customs officer we presented passports to: I was amazed by accent, thought it's rather Scottish, but it proved later on it's only the way Kiwi people talk. I'm in love with that accent now and enjoyed it every time I could hear it there. We had to meet a second custom officer as well, given that we have different nationalities me and my partner, or so I think about the reason we had to go through another filter.
Either way, since we have no bad agenda or ideas or unusual items, it went smooth, but took a while as a negative thing. Contrary to our expectations, it wasn't me he asked things to, but my partner, since he was the one who traveled many times there with business. The officer soon realized we're what we say we were and kept repeating ''I won't be keeping you here long, guys.'' or ''Is there a taxi waiting for you?''; fact is he just started his comp once we reached his desk, so it took a while for things to be processed. This guy had lovely tattos I kept staring at and since I was tired I gave him a silly answer when he asked me if I like living in Australia: 'Thank you!'' said I and a few seconds later as my neurons started functioning I added'' Yes, thank you, I like it very much.'' He must've thought I'm a bit of an idiot. He let me in, that's all that matters and like my Grandmother says ''it's not like you'll be having coffees together next day''. True. Taxi, hotel, sleep, end of day 1.
See you next post!