AUCKLAND

I was here: in November 2004. Twelve years already, my goddess …
Number of days: 4
My score: 3’5 / 5 (is something like, I’d repeat, but is not like I’m looking forward to repeat).

Auckland reminds me of a bad copy of Sydney. This might seem a disparaging remark, but it is actually a compliment.

My first day in Auckland was full of impatience. I had 3 weeks to see all of New Zealand, and I had gone so far to see nature, what was I doing wasting time in a modern city? I landed at 11 am; inevitably, after 31 hours of travel, at least I was spending a day here, but that thought did not allow me to enjoy the city not even for a moment.

My second day was just when back from the South Island, near the end of the trip. I had already seen almost everything, and not feeling that impatience, suddenly I saw it with different eyes, it even seemed nice, but I had yet to see the Northland.

Upon returning with nowhere else to visit and surrounded by perhaps the best group of backpackers I’ve ever met in all my travels, those last two days it not only seemed a city downright nice to visit, but I realized that it probably offered an excellent quality of life. The last day I was going down the street with several backpackers who I had been traveling with for more than two weeks, sauntering; we passed nearby a Japanese guy I had met a few days earlier in the Bay of Islands and we fived without stopping or say a word. Strangely, at that moment, surrounded by friends and finding acquaintances in the street, I felt that city I had been willing to leave that first day, as home. What I’m trying to say is: give it a chance, it is really nice here.