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Old 25th January 2018, 06:05   #1
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Dispatches from Kiwiland - New Zealand Travelogues

It's a little scary being perched at the nether end of the world...

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Last edited by noopster : 20th July 2020 at 13:59.
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Old 25th January 2018, 06:40   #2
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re: Dispatches from Kiwiland - New Zealand Travelogues

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As long as I can remember, I've always wanted to visit New Zealand. Just before I got married, I remember making the rounds of travel agents checking for the island country deep down under as a honeymoon destination. But the exorbitant fare (1.05L return each, if memory serves right and this is more than 15 years ago!) led me to look elsewhere.

The yearning remained and when I got a chance to work in Auckland in 2017-18, I grabbed it.

Some background: Auckland, though not the capital city of New Zealand (that honour belongs to Wellington), is easily its most bustling metropolis. Auckland region, which includes not just the metropolitan area but also outlying smaller towns, rural areas and the Hauraki islands, has a population of 1.7 million, which doesn't sound like a lot till you consider the fact that 35% of New Zealand's population lives here.

Putting things in perspective, 9 Indian cities, the smallest of them being Surat, each have a population more than New Zealand. An astounding 53 Indian cities have populations of more than a million, i.e. comparable in population to Auckland. All 5 major Australian cities likewise (Sydney and Melbourne each are almost as populous as NZ).

To someone raised in Mumbai, that sounds piddly. But you get used to it pretty quickly. The downtown is small- you can do a brisk walk around it in 20 minutes- but has character. Greater Auckland has sprawling suburbs, dotted with parkland and well connected by road and a fast-growing rail network. To answer the question every Team BHPian would ask, YES you need a car! Unless you live and work in downtown (which I did). So, although I had residential parking for most of my time there, I didn't have a car (I know...the shame!) and made do with weekend and occasionally longer-term rentals.

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I landed in Auckland via Singapore on the 10th of August, 2017 bang in the middle of winter. The rainy season back home had been unseasonally warm and I had been warned to pack adequately. The night I landed was actually very pleasant but I soon came to understand why they call New Zealand the land of 4 seasons. You can wake up to a perfect day that gets positively hot by noon, but a sudden downpour in the afternoon can leave you shivering later in the day. To be fair, it never goes sub-zero in Auckland but the gusty winds often make it feel that way. Thankfully, it rains pretty much only in summer over there (explains all those rain stoppages at Eden Park eh!) so at least you're spared the misery of being cold AND wet.

Bah who am I kidding? New Zealand has the best climate anywhere I have ever lived for sure. It's hard not to fall in love with the climate, the place and its people. Not necessarily in that order.


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Paying obeisance to the mother ship a night or two after I landed. My company has its headquarters bang downtown at the lower end of Queen Street.


I worked out of my client office which moved to midtown the week I moved and eventually to the North Shore, a short drive across the Bay. This was how my typical commute looked.

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You really don't have to go into the rural hinterland to see sheep. This one is placidly grazing in one the hundred-odd parks in Auckland city. I kid you not!

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This sign always made me homesick. Bombay is the most distant of the far-flung Auckland suburbs, almost 50 km from downtown.

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My first weekend I spent just roaming around downtown by foot or on the red metroline bus (we called it the "atthani" bus because the fare was just 50 cents).

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Elliott Stables was an upmarket downtown food court that actually was a stables till about a generation ago.

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I needed to find myself an apartment and managed to find one just at the edge of downtown. It was in a quiet tree-lined street with the police headquarters at one end and the fire department at the other.

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It had a pool! I figured the kids would love that but turns out you can't really swim too much in an unheated pool so we hardly used it a handful of times. Still you'll admit, it's a nice view.

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Auckland downtown apartments are matchbox sized. The second bedroom is actually a glorified cubbyhole in the living room where they squeeze in a study that pulls down into a queen bed and a closet. Still, it was comfortable and served its purpose as a kids bedroom.

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I could see the Sky Tower (featured here on extreme right) from my terrace! This was such a thrilling revelation for me at the time but I eventually realised that was true of virtually half the partments downtown

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Drive about an hour North of downtown and you will hit some awesome beaches...

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But wait... the initial couple of weekends I didn't drive. Instead I hit the local Rockshop in search of a guitar to spend those cold lonely evenings.

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Ended up buying a Washburn plug-in acoustic that is every bit worth the $299 (about 14K INR) I paid for it. It's still my primary axe of choice.

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Everybody drives in Auckland. And those that don't- mostly students, old people and Indians saving up their "onsite" paychecks- use the super efficient transit system run by Auckland Transport. It's mostly buses, but I managed to take a train in my very first week there. It was nice:

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The city used to have a tram system like most cities built by the British. It's gone now for the most part, but some of it is retained as a heritage site:

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Last edited by noopster : 20th July 2020 at 15:23.
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Old 20th July 2020, 11:57   #3
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re: Dispatches from Kiwiland - New Zealand Travelogues

North Island

New Zealand is divided into two islands- North and South- with the capital Wellington neatly straddling the centre. During my time there, I covered whatever was driveable distance from Auckland (which means almost all of North island except its Eastern and Southern extremes). I did South Island only once- during summer break when my family was visiting- but we spent 12 days driving around and managed to see almost everything of note.

Still there were parts of the country I did not travel to and, if I ever return, would want to see:
  • East Lands- where the first rays of the sun hit
  • Wellington/ Wairarapa- the capital and its surrounding wine country
  • Whanganui- an early settler town known for its pristine natural surroundings and nature trails
  • Taranaki- most famous for the eponymous "mount" and related rugged outdoor activities
  • Manawatu- possibly the most "rural" area in North Island boasts some sandy beaches abutting the Tasman Sea. Palmerston North, its urban centre, is known for its museums and heritage sites.
Phew! That's actually quite a list, never realised it

Our South Island vacation covered most places with the exception of Nelson-Tasman and the wine-producing Marlborough region. A notable miss was the Abel Tasman National Park, where legend has it that you can wake up every morning and discover a new walking trail.

Now that I've listed what I didn't see, let's move to some places that I did visit!

My North Island trips were all made on weekends, in rented Toyotas for the most part, with colleagues and some with the family. Easily the favourite of these destinations was Rotorua
---

Simply put, Rotorua's natural hot springs, bubbling mud pools and active geysers – all of them spectacular thermal wonders on the "Pacific ring of fire"- make it an unmissable destination for any tourist.

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I made 4 trips to Rotorua and each time Wai-O-Tapu was part of the itinerary.

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Only on one of these trips, however, was I able to see the eruption of the Lady Knox geyser (pronounced "guy-zer" much to my surprise). It is "presented" at 10:15 every morning.

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Only on the trip with family did I visit the Skyline park in Rotorua. This has some lovely rides that'll keep the kiddos happy.

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We stayed in a lovely log cabin that trip (one of the rare instances the rental was a Mazda instead of a Toyota!)
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Other scenic spots include Lake Rotorua.

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In fact the whole drive between Auckland and Rotorua is extremely scenic.

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A parting shot from Waiotapu, one that remains my all time favourite Facebook profile pic.
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Old 20th July 2020, 17:56   #4
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re: Dispatches from Kiwiland - New Zealand Travelogues

North Island (cont'd):

Christmas in summer is one of those strange concepts that you end up getting used to in the Southern hemisphere. Like most Western countries, NZ shuts down almost completely around mid-December and IT activity, bar emergency deployments, ceases. Pretty much everyone goes on vacation.

My family joined me just at the start of summer. The Christmas break isn't as abrupt as it seems: by November end, people are already in festive mood. The weekend deployments that had become a way of life for us slowly eased off, and it was a perfect opportunity to drive around the rest of North Island pretty much every weekend.

In addition to Rotorua, we managed to cover the Bay of Islands, Coromandel, Hamilton and a lot of beaches & parks in Greater Auckland in the time that my family was around. On later trips with friends (including moderator benbsb29 from across the ditch) I was also able to visit Mount Ruapehu, Napier, Taranaki and several other places in North Island. Without exception, each was a treat to the eyes and the soul. New Zealand is one of those place, like Ladakh or Switzerland, where there is no such thing as a place not worth visiting.

---

The rest of this post contains a montage of pictures shot across all these wonderful trips.

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Cape Reinga, the Northernmost tip of New Zealand, from where the Maoris believe man's soul ascends up to heaven, is a must-visit, though not on every tourist's itinerary because it is relatively far to drive to.

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I made a wonderful bunch of friends, mostly from work, with whom I'd take long walks on weekend mornings. The climate makes any form of exercise highly bearable and Kiwis are indeed some of the fittest people I have seen.

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Old 21st July 2020, 15:17   #5
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re: Dispatches from Kiwiland - New Zealand Travelogues

North Island (concluded)

And finally, some shots of the beautiful city of Auckland that I called home for about a year and a half. Trust me, returning was not easy!

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Old 22nd July 2020, 05:31   #6
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re: Dispatches from Kiwiland - New Zealand Travelogues

Thread moved out from the Assembly Line. Thanks for sharing!
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Old 22nd July 2020, 07:27   #7
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re: Dispatches from Kiwiland - New Zealand Travelogues

Superb ! You do not have to be a big country to be amazing. Time to say 'even small is beautiful'
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Old 22nd July 2020, 09:21   #8
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Re: Dispatches from Kiwiland - New Zealand Travelogues

@noopster - Lovely Travelogue, thanks for sharing. Glad it went live after 2.5 years in the making, better late than never!

What a way to start the morning for me, woke up before 5:30am and this was my first read

Those outdoors and scenic locales are to die for, lovely pictures capture the bright blue skies and is breathtaking.
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Old 22nd July 2020, 12:10   #9
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Re: Dispatches from Kiwiland - New Zealand Travelogues

@noopster, good stuff. Roturua and surrounds are superb spots. Looks like skipped South Island. The glaciers - both Fox and Franz Josef are excellent spots not to mention Milford Sound. The roads are awesome. Wellington, Wanaka are excellent spots. Loved your pics.
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Old 22nd July 2020, 14:21   #10
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Re: Dispatches from Kiwiland - New Zealand Travelogues

Thank you for sharing.
NZ has always been in my list of places to visit and do a road trip. It is good that you got to spend some time there. The vistas you have shared are truly breath-taking. It looks like an ideal place for people who like the laid-back out-doorsy lifestyle.

By the way, you might know this already, but, NZ has the highest per capita boat ownership of any country in the world and if my memory serves me right Auckland is the boat capital of the world. I remember Stockholm, Sweden also being mentioned in that list.

Did you visit the South Island at all, or is that reserved for another time?

Cheerio!.
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Old 22nd July 2020, 15:46   #11
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Re: Dispatches from Kiwiland - New Zealand Travelogues

Thank you for bringing back memories.

I did a solo driving trip form Auckland to Wellington last November, then toured South island on buses and train. Returned to Auckland and did a two day riding trip along coromandel peninsula

Short video from ride

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Old 22nd July 2020, 20:35   #12
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Re: Dispatches from Kiwiland - New Zealand Travelogues

An amazing travelogue, indeed! By the way, just curious, what guitar did you buy?
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Old 22nd July 2020, 23:18   #13
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Re: Dispatches from Kiwiland - New Zealand Travelogues

Awesome travelogue. Thanks for sharing the beautiful pictures especially during these secluded times. !!
Hows does the washburn guitar sound. I also have the habit of visiting guitar stores in any new country !!
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Old 23rd July 2020, 00:20   #14
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Re: Dispatches from Kiwiland - New Zealand Travelogues

What a wonderful travelogue.

I was deputed to Melbourne for 4 years from 2016 to 2020 (through Infosys only, we may have probably interacted ) and was managing New Zealand as well. My team member is based in our Auckland office.

One of my biggest regrets is that I was not able to visit New Zealand during my 4 years down under.
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Old 23rd July 2020, 13:11   #15
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Re: Dispatches from Kiwiland - New Zealand Travelogues

Quote:
Originally Posted by NPV View Post
@noopster - Lovely Travelogue, thanks for sharing. Glad it went live after 2.5 years in the making, better late than never!
Thanks for the kind words. I'm glad I managed to put this thread up at last!

Quote:
Originally Posted by Bsimhan View Post
@noopster, good stuff. Roturua and surrounds are superb spots. Looks like skipped South Island.
No, no--- I did visit South Island but the problem is I haven't got around to sorting and picking from the literally thousands of snaps we clicked there! I will update the thread in due course.

Quote:
Originally Posted by alphadog View Post
By the way, you might know this already, but, NZ has the highest per capita boat ownership of any country in the world and if my memory serves me right Auckland is the boat capital of the world. I remember Stockholm, Sweden also being mentioned in that list.
The private marina somewhere near the Hilton Auckland was my favourite place for a leisurely late afternoon walk simply to ogle at those magnificent beauties moored there. I would look at them and say....Someday!

Quote:
Originally Posted by crazybiker46 View Post
Thank you for bringing back memories.
I did a solo driving trip form Auckland to Wellington last November, then toured South island on buses and train. Returned to Auckland and did a two day riding trip along coromandel peninsula
Lovely video crazybiker! It always amazed me how Kiwis would stick to the 100 speed limit even on twisties like this, till I got used to it and started doing it myself! Am not a biker but some of my colleagues were and their experiences match yours.

Quote:
Originally Posted by vredesbyrd View Post
An amazing travelogue, indeed! By the way, just curious, what guitar did you buy?
Quote:
Originally Posted by Rubbertramps View Post
Hows does the washburn guitar sound. I also have the habit of visiting guitar stores in any new country !!
You can see the Washburn in one of the pictures, the one with a cut to reach the higher frets. I had it setup just before I left New Zealand and it plays beautifully.

Quote:
Originally Posted by venkats2001 View Post
I was deputed to Melbourne for 4 years from 2016 to 2020 (through Infosys only, we may have probably interacted ) and was managing New Zealand as well. My team member is based in our Auckland office.
We have quite a few common acquaintances then! You should have come over. I visited Brisbane & Gold Coast during Easter break 2018, with moderator benbsb29 (Benny) hosting me. Returned the favour October of that year and we did a nice winter trip to the hills as well. I really need to post those pics!
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