Arrived in Auckland!!

Well after what has seemed like days (wait, it has been!), we have finally landed in Auckland.  The flight was actually amazing.  There were tonnes of empty seats at the back of the plane so we both got a whole row to ourselves and were able to lay down and sleep.  The flight attendants were dancing and singing at midnight for the new year and they served Champagne!  We easily found our way to Base Backpackers where we have a reservation and took a little nap before venturing out to explore the city.  The backpacker places here are huge!  Ours could sleep 500 people!  So far we have discovered a few pros and cons to the Base Backpackers.  Pros include very good price, central location and helpful staff.  Cons include VERY thin walls and (unfortunately) a neighbouring asian boy who likes to sing (althougth does not do this well), and no window in the room, which means it's either fluorescent bright or pitch black.  I have the feeling we are going to be a little confused when the alarm goes off tomorrow morning :>)  We are staying at a different place tomorrow on the next block because we couldn't get a private room here...I am crossing my fingers for a window and neighbours without dreams of becoming the next New Zealand Idol.

We had a lovely walk around the city and down to the water after supper tonight.  There is a beautiful park at the top of the hill right near our hostel so we sat on a bench there for awhile as the sun went down and shared a beer.  There were some crazy big trees in the park that looked right out of a fairy tale.  Tomorrow we are hoping to climb up One Tree Hill to get a panoramic view of the city.  Pictures below are first from the beach in LA and the last one is the crazy tree from the park in Aukland.

Thanks for your comments everyone and we'll talk to you later!!

Love Hanna and Daniel