Now, I'll be the first to admit that winters here in Auckland are pretty tame, compared to either Boston OR Idaho. I'm not sure there's EVER been snow here, but if so, it was newsworthy and melted in like 10 minutes - instead, the winter seems to be cool (like, sweater + lightweight jacket weather), with ridiculous wind and random, frequent rainstorms. I've had worse. All the same, when I had the opportunity to go north to Australia for a couple of weeks over winter break, the lure of escape proved strong indeed.
I started out with a weekend in Sydney, where I met up with my friend Lydia (she'd been staying there for about a month). Sydney is the city I'd expected Auckland to be ... large, bustling, and clearly international. It's just a cool city, with a fun culture, plus lots of beaches, etc. Also quite expensive - I was grateful I had a free place to stay. All in all, though, I definitely enjoyed my time there (although the weather wasn't much better than what I'd left behind here in Auckland).
I started out with a weekend in Sydney, where I met up with my friend Lydia (she'd been staying there for about a month). Sydney is the city I'd expected Auckland to be ... large, bustling, and clearly international. It's just a cool city, with a fun culture, plus lots of beaches, etc. Also quite expensive - I was grateful I had a free place to stay. All in all, though, I definitely enjoyed my time there (although the weather wasn't much better than what I'd left behind here in Auckland).
The Harbour Bridge is in the back right corner of the above photo - you'll get a closer view of it in a few pictures.
Very cool tree-lined walkway in the middle of Hyde Park - my memory says it smelled like eucalyptus, but I won't guarantee that.
Really really really ugly fountain, also in Hyde Park.
This is Lydia's "favourite church" - I don't know what it's called, but it was pretty spectacular inside and out. (I always feel bad taking photos inside of churches ... I wouldn't want to show up in someone's vacation photos while worshipping, and assume other people feel the same.)
BATS. Lots and lots of them. Apparently, they've taken over this bit of the botanical gardens and are killing the trees (not maliciously, of course). And they're no longer nocturnal, either ... they were swooping overhead and making all sorts of bat-like noises.
MORE BATS. Crazy, right?!
This is called a "bottle tree." Lydia went on the tour of the gardens and says that it's called that NOT because it's shaped like a bottle, but she can't remember the real reason ... any helpers?
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