I stayed in Auckland (pronounced “Oakland”) for nearly 3 weeks and really enjoyed it. It was the end of summer and rained a lot, but I didn’t let that get me down from exploring.

Random Metrics

Gym: 5/5
* Fitness Portal Auckland, swimming pool, newer equipment, nice sauna and change rooms, friendly staff.
Zumba: 5/5
* Viva Dance Studios, classes Weds/Saturdays, was a blast every time. All Latin music. A little pricy but worth it.
Haircut: 5/5
* Top Barber. Cheap, good, quick. Was definitely nice getting a cut done in an English-speaking country.
Movie Theater: 4/5
* Silky Otter Ponsonby, smaller theaters, saw Dune 2. Can order food/drinks outside and they will deliver during the movie.
* Event Cinemas Queen Street, large theater in a giant mall. Saw The Boy And The Heron. Saw people bring in blankets, which was a good idea in retrospect.
Grocery Store: 2/5
* Four Square Eden Terrace, Cool little cafe inside, but the prices for food seemed really high and stuff would expire or get moldy within a few days. Went through 3 loafs of bread just because they kept growing mold quickly.

Random Notes

• “Auckland” is pronounced like “Oakland” in the USA.
• One of the safest feeling place I’ve ever been.
• Fairly expensive cost of living, property food and basically everything costs quite a bit. Feels very nickel and dime mentality, pay for literally everything: continental breakfast at hotels, sauces and sides when ordering food, etc.
• Normalized to be barefoot, saw people going barefoot all over the place.
• Nerd culture is strong here. It feels like many people are into technology, anime, AI, etc.
• Glow worms only glow in the larvae stage and hunt by extending a string down to catch pray, much like a spider.
• I didn’t touch my credit card, let alone cash. Everything is tap to pay – except the bus/train system I had to buy a specific card for.
• McDonalds is shortened and said as “Macca’s”
• Driving on left side extends to walking on left side for sidewalls and passing people. I nearly crashed into tons of people instinctually walking on the right.
• Tim Tams are delicious, Marmite is not.
• Kiwis take their movie theaters seriously! Ticket prices are pretty high but very comfortable reclining seats, saw people bringing blankets into the theater, no audience noise.
• NZ police department has amazing production quality recruitment ads about saving cats and stuff. Hilarious.
• “Lord of the Fries” amazing fast food vegan place I frequented.
• K street, short for Karangahape, is the main hipster/gay area. Reminds me of Colfax in Denver.
• Māori are the indigenous people of the country and seem to have much more power in society compared to indigenous people of the USA.
• Roads in rural NZ are very curvy, built to follow original Māori walking trails.
• Vape pens are very common here, lots of shops and people using.
• The Lime/Uber scooters – some of them have seats where you can sit down and ride, it’s adorable.
• Meat pies and sausage rolls are delicious. Very dense foods and common in every corner store and coffee shop.

Random Photos