Day 22 - 24: Blues vs. Chiefs

02/02/18 - 03/04/18: Auckland - Piha Beach - Port Albert - Mangawhai Cliffs - Whangarei

After our super dinner in the pub last night and a fairly quiet night, we got up a bit earlier today. We want to go to Auckland today and have about three to four hours of driving ahead of us.

In advance, we looked for a camping or parking space in Auckland where we can spend the night and decided on Westhaven Parking, right in the middle of the city. You pay 20 dollars and can park for 24 hours. It has showers and toilets secured with a code. So everything is great. Once we parked and paid for the van, the next question was: How do we get to Eden Park? That is the goal of our desires. There is a rugby game taking place there tonight :). First thought: walk for about an hour. But at that moment, it started raining. Second thought: Uber, too expensive. Third thought: public transportation. So off to the bus and standing around a bit lost in the area. Luckily, a woman took us in and explained how the bus works in New Zealand. In the end, we arrived at Eden Park on time and 14 dollars poorer. It is the largest stadium in Auckland and can accommodate 20,000 people. Bought tickets of the highest class and then went to a pub to wait for the admission.

The game (a Super Rugby game) between the Blues and the Chiefs started exactly on time at 7:35 PM. The atmosphere was great. We had looked up the rules beforehand (there are not many). Do not throw the ball forward, only kick or run with it, no checks above the shoulder, if the ball goes out of bounds the other team can throw it in through the tunnel, etc. In theory, everything was clear. In practice, not so much. But it was great.

When the game ended with a score of 21-27, we actually wanted to take an Uber back, but all the drivers refused. Shortly after leaving the stadium, we saw why. The streets around the stadium were closed and the others were congested. So we had to walk. Eventually, we found a taxi that took us back to our parking spot. There we took photos of the Sky Tower, the moon, and a super cool illuminated bridge.

The next morning, we decided to drive to Pahia Beach. According to the map from Nadine that we got three years ago and is still worth its weight in gold, it should be very beautiful. And it was. We could hike up Lion Rock and had a great view over the beautiful and rich.

Back in the van, we looked for a free camping spot and found a very nice one in Port Albert. Unfortunately, the toilets were out of order, so we had to go to a café :).

This morning, we continued to the Mangawhai Cliffs. There was a nine-kilometer long walkway. Determined to get some exercise, we got out of the van and a few steps later, it started raining... So we changed our plans and went to a winery. To our surprise, they had good wine and a cold plate. The weather quickly calmed down, so we went back to the walkway. It was great. First, we walked uphill a bit, then about an hour with a great view of the sea and the beach, and then walked back along the beach. Fortunately, it was not so hot, and we got quite sweaty.

Now we are at a campsite in Whangarei, and Phil is cooking mashed potatoes (homemade) with sliced chicken in sauce and salad. And a bottle of wine from the winery at lunch today. Yum. Enjoy and see you soon.