We left on 12/24 and were greeting by Qantas’ pet at the airport. So cute.
The flight was good but I barely slept. When we got to Sydney, girls couldn’t help but to nap at the lounge.
we got to Auckland 3pm and arrived at our apartment hotel 3:30pm. I was exhausted and very sleepy so I suggested we go out to find “dinner” early so I can go to bed. We spent 30 min to find an open restaurant, almost giving up as everywhere was closed by then. Fortunately on the way back we found an open chinese restaurant so chinese would do for our Christmas dinner.
I went to bed 7pm and woke up 6am, glorious sleep!!! Sofia and daddy woke up at 1am, quite jet lagged as there’s 6 hours time difference with Jakarta.
12/26. We went to Weta Unleashed tour, to learn how movies are made. It was a 90 min tour for 3 movie sets (horror, fancy, and sci-fi). This castle took 5 months to assemble!
It was super interesting to learn the details of movie making and how long it takes to do everything
we are not a big fan of Lord of Rings, otherwise we’d appreciate it even more
After that, we walked down to the harbor area, looking for lunch. We decided to go for italian food, girls’ favorite.
we explored the harbor area a bit more, super nice day and sunny. The rest of auckland is pretty empty but the harbor area was quite busy.
we saw the moving bridge twice in action
we explored some gift shops and found very cute alpaca and kiwi, insanely expensive though
We then went to the supermarket to get fruits and snacks as we were leaving the next day to start the nature-focused NZ road trip.
I went to bed 8pm, read a bit and slept until 6am. Love how much I can sleep here.
First impression of Auckland, very similar to Perth, even the stores are the same brand. But we didn’t come here for city so I am glad that we only have 1 full day. I want to see the real NZ!
I haven’t ran since Sunday and it seems that I will not keep up with my running schedule this trip as we are on the road and husband is worried about me running alone in the middle of nowhere. I think he’s right. It’s good to take a running break when it calls for. 🙂
Our New Journey 
It’s a good call to skip running for this trip. I bet you will get plenty of activity in and can get right back into it when you get back. I am not into LOTR either but I know many are obsessed with it. I can’t wait to hear what you think of the South Island. It is SO GORGEOUS!!
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Have the best time!!! So excited for you! New Zealand is so high on my places I’d love to visit!
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Isn’t it the best feeling to get a proper night’s sleep after a long flight?
Funny coincidence—we were both up in the air at the same time! I had a night flight from Cape Town to Zurich via Frankfurt, but thankfully, no time zones to adjust to on my end.
Wishing you an amazing time in New Zealand! Can’t wait to hear all about your adventures!
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Oh, what glorious sleep! Auckland looks amazing. I’m looking forward to your nature post. ❤
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