I left Sydney last night and arrived at 1am at the Auckland International airport. Buses and trains to the city didn't start running until 5am so I slept on a bench while one obnoxious fly kept crawling up my pant leg. At 4:30am I went to look for the bus station and along the way found (strategically placed I'm sure) a Sky Bus; a relatively inexpensive direct ride to the city that runs 24 hours a day. Lucky me. I was the only person on the bus so the driver offered to let me know which stop in the city to get off at. We drove the bus circuit through the CBD and picked up several airport-bound passengers. As we were getting on the highway heading back to the airport I realized I missed something. The driver was very apologetic and even though I told her how much I enjoyed the tour of the city she gave me a voucher for my return trip to the airport next week. I disembarked at my stop over two hours after boarding.
I found the hostel where I was staying, crawled into a top bunk in my shared room, and slept for a few hours.
As my first day playing tourist in Auckland I took myself to the New Zealand Maritime Museum. The exhibits were set up roughly chronologically beginning with early South Pacific canoes and ending with a modern racing yacht that only fit into the building because more than half the mast had snapped off. I noticed about 100 years of history was missing from the timeline. Roughtly 1775-1860. Colonization was in full swing I know, but in the next few days I'd like to find a reliable account of the specifics.
There was one boat that I fell in love with. I took several pictures then came back and took more. She's called the Rewa.
