We arrived this morning in Auckland. Qantas made the flight about as pleasant as possible, given that it was a twelve-and-a-half hour flight. This was helped in part by having a flight that wasn’t entirely full, but also by the fact that Qantas’ international flight crews are among the most thoughtful I’ve encountered on any airplane in a long time. Nicely done.
We busied ourselves today by settling into our hotel and doing an extensive walking tour of Auckland’s central business district. I’ll post more shortly on the photoblog about some striking similarities between Auckland and Seattle, but we’ve found the city very relaxed and amazingly well-kept.
I must rant for a minute about the delightful meal we’ve just enjoyed. If you ever find yourself in Auckland, do yourself a favor and truck on over to La Zeppa, a tapas bar on the west side of the Central Business District. The food was absolutely delightful (we especially enjoyed the lamb koftas and the profiteroles) and the service was also top-notch. Highly recommended.
