Arrival in New Zealand

Another country totally new to me! After a long red-eye flight, where I managed to get a few hours of sleep, we touched down and began the process of clearing customs. Still groggy, we made our way outside and were greeted by the first dry, cool air I had felt in some time. From there, we collected our car rental, and I began the process of learning how to drive on the left side of the road. I was already bracing for difficulty with exposed right turns, but found myself surprised by the turn signal located on the right side of the wheel. Regardless of my lack of sleep, driving went smoothly and we made our way out of Auckland to enjoy some beaches and a small bird sanctuary to the west. For lunch we enjoyed a local staple of savory pies from a small bakery on the side of the road. After the meal and a little more driving, we both found ourselves too sleepy for comfort and ended up taking an impromptu nap on the side of the road. As we continued driving along the coast, we found a number of closed roads due to recent storms, but ended up stumbling upon a beautiful farm/restaurant/cooking school. We were lucky enough to be there on a day when the whole premises were open to the public; we got to tour the gardens and the owner invited me to say hello to his sheep, which I enthusiastically accepted. Buying some beautiful fresh greens and herbs, all picked fresh that morning, we took our leave and began wandering back in the Auckland direction, with the intent of finding lodging for the night. My grandmother voiced her preference for something a little further from the city center, which we tried to accommodate, but we unfortunately discovered that every set of accommodations we came to was fully booked. Certain we would be able to find something in a hostel or cheap hotel in the city, we made our way into the urban center, only to discover that all of the budget lodging, hostels or otherwise was booked there as well (apparently there were 3 major concerts in the city that evening, prompting an influx of visitors). Starting to panic and wanting to avoid booking luxurious rooms purely by necessity, I expanded my search and found one remaining cost effective room for us both in Coromandel. I promptly booked the room, only to discover that it was 2.5 hours away, on a peninsula across the water from Auckland. Accepting that the rest of our afternoon would be spent driving, we headed off and looked for a dinner of fish and chips (another local specialty) along the way. After a pleasant but greasy dinner, we continued our drive into the sunset, and up the Coromandel peninsula, eventually seeing some truly incredible views as we wound our way along the coast and into the mountains. When we eventually arrived (just after 8), we found the office closed but noticed several others drinking and eating outside in the cool night air. Eventually someone who worked at the hotel roused the owner, who came out in her evening robe to tell us off for being late, and luckily give us the key. Finally assured we would have beds to sleep in for the evening, we thanked her and settled in to our room. I took a long awaited shower and then took an hour or two to enjoy the company of the other visitors. After booking the next nights accommodations, (lesson learned, at least for now), I settled in to sleep and set myself up for easier and more alert driving the next day. Now, we’re about to head off for another day, making our way back to Auckland for an early train the next morning.