Hello from 30,000 feet! I am writing this blog post en route to Denver, thinking about the last time I was on a plane. While travel without a toddler is much easier, I don’t think this work trip will be quite as much fun as our time in New Zealand…
Day 1: Heritage Hotel
Since we’d pretty immediately left Auckland for our first four days in Hahei, our first real day in Auckland was actually our return. We returned our rental car to the CBD Europcar location – an adventure of its own, considering the lack of parking available – and we made the walk to our Airbnb at Heritage Hotel.
Our apartment was lovely, and we were ready to stock it with groceries to cover us for the next week. We scoped out Good To Go as an option, but ultimately decided that Countdown (our new fave) was the way to go. We picked up dinner as well, then headed back to the apartment for an early night.
Day 2: Albert Park
After getting ready for the day, our first stop was Remedy Coffee. This coffee shop is super cute with great reviews, and we had a tasty breakfast there. Definitely would recommend! It’s very close to Albert Park, which we hit up next. You generally will take stairs to access the park, but we managed to find a very steep ramp that would accommodate the stroller.
From there, we kept bopping to nearby locations. We walked through the University of Auckland campus, picking up another round of coffee at the Shaky Isles, and then headed into Auckland Domain. We did a little bit of exploring there before heading back to the Airbnb for naptime.
Post-nap, we met up with Tyler’s parents – you may remember them from our trips to Scotland, Puerto Rico, or Ireland – at Dr Rudi’s Rooftop Brewing Co. for dinner. We almost didn’t get in due to their no sandal policy, but we promised to be out before it got too late. We felt the food was okay, but the energy was bopping – it’s definitely a hotspot. We were much happier with the ice cream we got at the nearby Melt pop-up before heading back to our respective apartments.
Day 3: Scratch Bakers
We bumped into Tyler’s mom Diane on our walk to breakfast at Scratch Bakers for breakfast. Our son loved his croissant here, and we thought our pastries were pretty great as well – another solid breakfast spot. We then walked over to Victoria Park to scope out their playground offering.
It was at this point that we decided we really needed to replace the cupholder on our stroller. It had fallen off the plane in transit on our way, but it turns out, it was harder to find a replacement than we expected! We hit up Electrify NZ, Kathmandu, and Farmers before calling it quits.
For drinks, we met up with my in-laws at The Brewers Co-Operative, which was a laid-back restaurant with a great beer selection. I ended up eating dinner at the apartment, but Tyler picked up pizza from Hell for dinner, and he said he’d recommend it.
Day 4: Silo Park
Tyler had to work in the morning, so I packed up the dude, and we went off on an adventure! I’d already looked into Myers Park, which has a humongous playground, which we both found very fun. If you’re traveling with toddlers, this is a must-do.
We then made our way through Aotea Square and stumbled upon the window display at Smith & Caughey’s. It was brand new, so it had drawn quite a crowd! He and I had brunch at Chuffed, which is a fairly small space, but has good food and fun vibes. We then went back for naptime and to get Tyler.
Our afternoon consisted of more park visits, including Daldy Street Park and Silo Park. We actually met up with Tyler’s parents at the second spot and walked all through Halsey Wharf. We then left the dude with them for a sleepover, as we had a big day the next day – our Waitomo Glowworm Caves visit!
Note: after doing some research online, we attempted to visit the Sky Cafe without purchasing an observation pass for Sky Tower, but this is not possible. We didn’t think it was worth it to purchase the pass, but something to know!
Day 5: Waitomo Glowworm Caves
We started our day bright and early, as this was the day we’d planned to take our tour. A 16-person bus picked us up from our hotel, and we made our way to the caves. Along the way, we stopped for snacks, as well as a quick ostrich visit.
Unfortunately, you can’t take pictures inside the Waitomo Glowworm Caves until the very end of the tour – external light can upset the worms and cause them to “turn off” – but I don’t know that any pictures would do it justice. This was a really cool experience, and since glowworms are only located in New Zealand and Australia, I’m so glad we did it. I would highly recommend adding this to your itinerary, as we got to see the inside of the caves, as well as take a quick boat ride.
The second feature of our tour was Te Puia. This was not what we expected it to be, and knowing what I know now, I don’t know that I would go again. Highlights were the geysers, as well as the Kiwi Conservation Centre – we got to see three kiwi birds, which isn’t something I’d expected! It was a long drive back, but I had pineapple lumps to munch on. We picked up the little guy just in time for dinner and bed.
Day 6: Waiheke Island
After grabbing coffee at Camper Coffee Roasting Co., we caught the Fullers360 ferry at the downtown terminal. There are a ton of nearby islands that are accessible by ferry, but we opted for a trip to Waiheke Island. This came highly recommended by my in-laws, who had spent their first half of the trip there while we were in Hahei, as well as my friend Kim.
We only spent a few hours there, but we would recommend it to! It’s a very different vibe compared to the Auckland CBD area, but it was refreshing. Despite the rain, we enjoyed the walk to Oneroa Village. On the way, we hit up Alison Park and Havana Coffee Works, before ultimately landing on Little Oneroa Beach. There is a great playground here, and we basically had the place to ourselves.
We hustled back for naptime, and the rest of our day was spent locally. We enjoyed the holiday displays being set up in the Britomart area, made another stop at the Smith & Caughey’s display for Tyler to see the wonders of The Chaos Before Christmas, and picked up some more groceries from Countdown to carry us through the trip.
Day 7: Britomart
Tyler had another morning of work, so the kiddo and I hit up the Britomart area. There are tons of stores over here, and it made for a nice walk. We got some macarons from Bluebells Cakery and admired the setup at Freyberg Square, then wound up back at Remedy Coffee (it’s that good).
After running back to the apartment to grab Ty, we went to the Auckland Art Gallery Toi o Tāmaki, which is free to visit (some exhibits are paid). We then went on the hunt for ice cream, landing at Island Gelato – it was very good, and worth the bad weather we had to brave to get there!
Our evening was low-key, as we packed up and made the last Countdown run of the trip for plane snacks. Tyler picked up Potstickers for our dinner, and they had some seriously good dumplings. We ate it while watching TV in bed, then called it a night.
The next morning, we hit up the Round the Corner Cafe for coffee before boarding the SkyDrive bus to the airport, where I learned what SSSS means. We had such a wonderful time, though I know I’ll have to go back to visit the South Island!