My sister arrived in Auckland!
Unlike for my brother, we were able to pick her up at the airport, a surprisingly quick and easy trip. (At least that's how it felt on this end. I'm sure that the full day of travel time was less easy on her part.) Now, I would like to mention here that I'd been warning my sister about the not-so-great weather, but she had been assuring me with full confidence that she'd bring the sun. Who am I to be skeptical? As we walked back to our faithful Zigfrond, the clouds hovering over Auckland parted and let loose good old New Zealand sun.
(To give you a sense of how grey it's been, my brother saw the Sky Tower and startled. "I didn't even see it last time!")
In our search for a good vegetarian lunch, Claire and I actually ended up coming across New Flavour, the place that Craig, our couch surfing friend, had taken us for vegan dumplings. Sadly, it was closed. Instead, we dragged the siblings over to a Vietnamese restaurant that our hostelkeep had recommended, and we feasted on pho and good times.
Rather than walk through the relatively uninteresting Auckland CBD, Claire and I made the executive decision to head over to One Tree Hill for a leisurely walk. It was a beautiful crisp day and we ate oranges at the top of the hill, baa-ing at the sheep and maa-ing at the goats.
Dramatic sheep.
We also rolled down the hill at Cornwall Park, a surprisingly intense and exhilarating ride.
Then, to keep my jet-lagged sister on her toes, we whisked her away to Coromandel. The drive out of the city was much more beautiful than the drive in, due to the sun (thank you, sister weather magic!) and the fact that we were heading out towards open country.
On the Coromandel Peninsula, water just spread out to our left and we paused for some Magnum GOLD?!s to eat along the waterfront.
Stereoscopic jumping on the beach
We skipped rocks for a little while along the beach before heading to Coromandel Town. There, we got settled in a sweet little private room. For dinner, Claire had a hankering and we stopped by a fish and chip shop to grab some luscious fresh fish. A delicious way to end the day.
Evening in Coromandel Town
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