North of Auckland

Over the weekend, we rented a car and explored north of Auckland. Our trip marked a number of firsts; our first time outside of the city, our first glimpses of the famed NZ beaches and the first time driving on the left side of the road.

As New Zealand became a British colony in 1840, many kiwi traditions and customs are hallmarks of their English background. Tea, fish and chips and driving on the left are all part of New Zealand life!

Mat was an excellent driver, his only instructions by the rental company were, “keep telling yourself to stay left”. We repeated the mantra over and over as we made the first couple turns and then before we knew it, we were out of the city and onto the 2 lane “major highway”.
We explored a few small towns, a couple beaches, a vineyard and enjoyed the beautiful countryside. Please follow the link to view our pictures:
http://picasaweb.google.com/megan.leanderson/November

The NZ countryside is beautiful with rolling hills and lush fauna. It is particularly striking how few people inhabit this country once you are outside of the city. New Zealand’s population is about 4 million total and about 1/3 of those Kiwi’s live in Auckland. Therefore, as soon as you leave the city you see more livestock than humans by far. (Fun Fact there are nearly 10 sheep for every human in this country).

We found it amazing that there were so few people at this amazing beach!

Overall, it was relatively easy to get out and explore. The adventures we had this weekend only made us more excited to have visitors……. Hint hint!