Can We Call Auckland, NZ Home? Travel Insights and Adventures

Exploring Auckland: A Hidden Gem for Foodies | We Should Move Here Travels Podcast

In this episode of the We Should Move Here Travels podcast, hosts Brittany and Josh dive into their surprisingly delightful experience in Auckland, New Zealand. Initially skeptical about visiting this major city, they share how Auckland exceeded their expectations with its vibrant food scene, walkability, and unique charm. From a mouth-watering food tour led by an amazing guide named Sarah to exploring rooftop bars and public markets, they reveal why Auckland should be on every traveler's radar. They also discuss the ease of driving in New Zealand compared to other places, the variety of public transportation options, and some quirky bathroom experiences. Tune in for travel tips, food recommendations, and a peek into Auckland's beautiful, inviting atmosphere.

00:00 Introduction to the Podcast

00:20 First Impressions of Auckland

01:26 Driving in New Zealand

03:30 Exploring Auckland on Foot

05:36 Auckland's Food Scene

06:24 Food Tour Highlights

08:13 Unique Dining Experiences

19:34 Public Transportation and Walkability

21:04 Speakeasy Adventures

24:21 Revisiting Favorite Spots

24:51 Exploring Auckland's Diverse Food Scene

25:22 A Day of Culinary Delights

26:15 More Food Adventures and Hidden Gems

28:31 Dining with a View: Queen's Rooftop Bar

30:32 A Fancy Dinner at Harborside Ocean Bar and Grill

32:38 Rating Auckland's Food Scene

33:35 Hotel Rendezvous: A Luxurious Stay

34:46 Auckland's Nightlife and Market Experience

35:12 Access to Nature and Beauty in Auckland

39:04 Practical Souvenirs and Supporting Local Businesses

40:57 Coffee Culture in Auckland

42:29 Pace and Feel of Auckland

49:43 Final Thoughts and Future Plans

@WSMHtravels

Transcript

brit 0:11

Hello and welcome to the We Should Move Here Travels podcast. My name is Brittany.

josh 0:17

I'm Josh

brit 0:18

and we are your host. Today we are gonna be talking about Auckland, which is a really big city that we absolutely loved, which is a rarity to find on this podcast

josh 0:31

for sure. We had talked about Auckland and how much time we were gonna spend there when we were planning the trip, and we were like, it's just another big city. Don't need to spend a lot of time there. But boy, were we wrong?

brit 0:46

We were so wrong. I was looking on social media and there were posts saying how boring Auckland was, and I was like, oh, I we're not gonna have any fun here. But boy, were they wrong? They were so wrong. There's so much to do, especially for foodies. Oh my gosh. The food there.

josh 1:07

Yeah, it's called Auckland Central, but it should be called Foodie Central.

brit 1:12

Honestly, that's

josh 1:12

for sure.

brit 1:13

It was a foodies paradise for sure. Where do we start?

josh 1:17

So we came to Auckland after Rotorua. If you didn't listen to that episode, go back and listen to that, but. We drove from Rotorua to Auckland. And I just wanna point out, there were plenty of people and posts that said driving in New Zealand was harder than they had experienced in Scotland or Ireland. And as someone who has driven in all three, now it's complete false driving in Scotland and Ireland is so much harder than driving in New Zealand, in my eyes.

brit 1:53

You didn't go on all the roads, right? You weren't driving in the South island. Mm-hmm. So maybe they were referring to the south island.

josh 2:01

That could be. That definitely could be. But if you're just driving in the North island. It's totally fine.

brit 2:09

Yeah,

josh 2:09

we, we took some back roads, some scenic routes. Not all of'em, like you said, there might be some out there, but we took some twisty, turny ones through the mountains, through the hills and the roads were still wider and better paved than I've driven on in Ireland and Scotland and you know, Scotland, you were there with me.

brit 2:31

Yeah, those roads were sketchy.

josh 2:34

They were narrow.

brit 2:36

They were narrow. And we had a very wide car.

josh 2:41

Mm-hmm.

brit 2:41

And it was scary. If you didn't listen to the Scotland episode, go back and listen to that because, oh my gosh, did we have fun there? But back to Auckland. So we got there after returning the car. Yep. And I think you were at the point where you were like, thank God we're returning this fucking car.

josh 3:01

Yes. Yeah. I like driving around countries. We are going to be when we go to Ireland in a couple weeks, but in big cities like that, it's like driving through Chicago. To me, it doesn't matter how big the city is or how small it is, I just don't like it.

brit 3:17

And you're on the other side of the car and other side of the road.

josh 3:21

Yeah.

brit 3:21

I don't know how you do it, but you did an amazing job, honestly. Like we could've, I think you would've been just fine driving through Auckland. Really glad that we didn't though'cause it was so walkable.

josh 3:32

Oh, very walkable. Absolutely. And we didn't get to experience any of the public transportation, but there were definitely buses going around, but the streets, like very walkable wide streets. Plenty of sections where it's walking path only no vehicles allowed. So it was very easy to get around.

brit 3:52

Yeah. And at night it's lit up pretty well.

josh 3:55

Mm-hmm.

brit 3:55

It felt really safe.

josh 3:57

Yeah.

brit 3:57

This city also was so clean,

josh 4:01

very clean.

brit 4:02

It was a different kind of big city. Mm-hmm. It really was. Like, some people may find it boring, fine, whatever, but I really disagree with that.

josh 4:13

I would too. And we really. I only got to spend two full days. It wasn't actually two full days, but two full days. As far as time-wise in Auckland Central. We didn't get to go outwards from the main center of Auckland and explore, you know, close to the water. We were thinking about doing that, uh, wine tour where we go to the islands. Mm-hmm. Didn't get to do that. I think you could probably spend a whole week there and be entertained. As far as a foodie, as far as an explorer I don't know, I, maybe someone else has their opinion that it's boring, but. I think it would be awesome.

brit 4:51

And there are tons of like local cafes and coffee shops and wine bars, there was a speakeasy that we went to. There's just so many things that you can do there where I feel like we could also live there. Mm-hmm.

josh 5:08

Yeah. And also with Auckland Airport being the major hub there You can very easily get to Queenstown and experience that for a weekend, maybe with fairly inexpensive flights, or go to a Blenheim or Wellington, if. You didn't have a car because again, Auckland Central where we were, was so walkable you might not even choose to have a car.

brit 5:36

Yeah. So when we first got to Auckland, we went on a food tour.

josh 5:42

Mm-hmm.

brit 5:42

And this food tour was incredible. Our guide, Sarah was so amazing. She was so knowledgeable, she was so kind. When we walked into places with her, you could tell that the staff really loved her, which I think is just a sign of a great person. And she really did give that kind of vibe. But the food that we tasted as well was really incredible. I think we got to taste, I don't know, five different places.

josh 6:10

Yeah. Yeah. Five or six different places. Everything was delicious. You know, usually you get a, a stinker or two on a tour where you're like, eh, that's not my thing, but. Everything was good here for us. At least we liked it.

brit 6:22

It's so good.

josh 6:23

Yeah,

brit 6:23

so good. So we started at the lodge with fish and Chips, which was like a open face kind of fish and chips and it was like an alternative approach to it.

josh 6:36

Yeah, like a fancy fish and chips. It was a small chip, a potato chip with the fish on it and some toppings, but really good, really delicious.

brit 6:47

Very fancy.

josh 6:48

Mm-hmm. And we had, uh, dog Point Wine

brit 6:51

with

josh 6:51

that as well.

brit 6:52

Which Dog Point Wine does have the, what is it? AMW logo?

josh 6:57

Yep.

brit 6:57

Yeah. you can get that around here. So I would assume that you can get that in other cities as well.

josh 7:03

Mm-hmm.

brit 7:04

Great wine and then we went to. This food court Where we had dumplings. These dumplings were so delicious. I went back for them the next day.

josh 7:18

Yeah.

brit 7:19

Because I couldn't stop thinking about them. They're in this like chili oil that's like a little spicy and a little sweet from the sesame oil and oh my God. It was so good.

josh 7:33

It was delicious. and when you go to this dumpling noodle shop,'cause it's called Eden Noodler. There is a clear screen so you can see the kitchen, and there's a woman back there constantly making the dumplings. I think they say that she makes four to 5,000 dumplings by hand every day.

brit 7:53

Every day. And they call her the dumpling queen.

josh 7:57

The dumpling queen. I wish I had that nickname.

brit 8:00

That's a powerful name.

josh 8:02

That is, you can do a lot with that name dumpling queen. She should definitely be marketing that.

brit 8:07

Love that for her, But those dumplings were so delicious, honestly. So good. Yeah.

josh 8:13

After that we went to this really cool old school hotel called Hotel Debre. I think they said it was one of the first hotels. In Auckland.

brit 8:27

Yeah.

josh 8:28

inside of it, it's Vive, Vivace, I'll say Vive. And it's V-I-V-A-C-E. it's a newer updated renovated restaurant inside this hotel. it's. So well, like decorated the seating is comfortable. It's amazing. And we had a charcuterie board there with wine and beer and it was delicious.

brit 8:55

Yeah, so the charcuterie board had some local ingredients, on it and it was all from like local producers, which was really nice to see that they're supporting local businesses and local farms. But also the environment is really cool because it used to be an alleyway that was in between two buildings and they just connected the buildings to expand the hotel. And when they connected the buildings, they left like the old brick from the alleyway. So that was really cool. It's just a cool vibe.

josh 9:31

Yeah. And they use the old piping and air ducts that are copper and they kind of decorated the walls with'em. I love that place. I wish we could have gone back and hopefully when we go back, we, we go there because they had the little hotel bar, which they said, you know, not many people go into, even though it's public and it's such a cute little bar. Almost a speakeasy like kind of

brit 9:57

stuff. Yeah. It felt like a speakeasy kind of vibe.

josh 10:00

Mm-hmm.

brit 10:01

Maybe we will stay there. Who knows? We'll look into it.

josh 10:03

It's definitely at least a four star hotel. It might be more. you and me had talked, and I don't know if this is weird, but they had a fantastic bathroom.

brit 10:13

Oh, they did. They had a really clean and fancy bathrooms. I, I did think about should we start raid bathrooms? Because as a traveler, I always wanna know what kind of a bathroom I'm walking into.

josh 10:29

Mm-hmm.

brit 10:31

And like if I'm going to a bar, one of my first thoughts is what does the bathroom look like? Yeah. Because we've been into some places that the bathroom is absolutely fucking disgusting. Mm-hmm. And I don't wanna step foot in there. Yeah. But I have to pee in there. And that's really unfortunate. I'm a little scared of Ireland Bathroom situation in the pubs. Little scared of that. But I mean, we did Amsterdam and the Red Light District and we did those kind of pubs, and that was the worst I think I've ever seen. So

josh 11:07

Yeah, for sure. Some of'em were like college frat house or college bars where the floor was sticky and you're like,

brit 11:16

what is disgusting?

josh 11:18

You're a professional establishment. Use some toxic chemical cleaners. Just get this off the floor and then start over. Start over. But no this bathroom was nice. I walked in and I think I came back and told you, I was like, it's a nice bathroom. Yeah, it was, super clean. I love when a high end bathroom has. they're hand towels, like individually rolled up hand towels. I know that's bougie and I know that's, first world kind of stuff, but it's nice if you're spending a good amount of money on a place or on a tour like we did. You want a nice place to go to the bathroom?

brit 11:58

Yeah. I mean, you said that really well. if you're spending the money, I think you deserve to have a good bathroom. Mm-hmm. There's nothing wrong with that.

josh 12:06

Yeah.

brit 12:07

So

josh 12:08

I just, this whole time we're talking about rating bathrooms. I'm thinking about the karaoke bar in Japan.

brit 12:14

Oh my God. Did we talk about that?

josh 12:17

We did. We did. For sure. If you haven't listened to our Japan episode, go listen to that. But it was like a lot of old bathrooms in Japan. It was. A hole in the ground and you were just supposed to squat over it or stand over it'cause the hole is like elongated.

brit 12:37

And that bathroom specifically had pee all over it. Oh yeah. And it was definitely like a guy's bathroom. Like it was, it was gross.

josh 12:46

Yeah. It was definitely made just to go there and pee. Like if you wanted something clean, you, you better go somewhere else.

brit 12:54

Yeah. Fun bar though.

josh 12:56

It was fun. And it was like a local bar, like it wasn't like super well-known on. The main path. It was a local place that we accidentally went into and then our tour guide took us as well. But anyways, go listen to the Japan episode. That's a good one. But, uh, yeah, so Vives at Hotel Dere charcuterie board was delicious. Some great cheeses. Really good pairings.

brit 13:19

Yes, very good charcuterie board. I really appreciated the different kinds of cheeses. And the Bri loved it. Yeah. They also had a sharp cheddar. Loved it.

josh 13:30

Mm-hmm.

brit 13:30

So good. You really liked the blue?

josh 13:33

I really liked the blue. I think it was bean paired with honey.

brit 13:37

Yeah.

josh 13:38

And they had different kind of crackers, so I don't know what kind of cracker was going well with it, but it, that was delicious. And I was also, at this point in the trip, I was feeling. More like a beer. I really enjoyed the wine, but we had had wine for 12 days straight up to this point. I was like, I could go for a beer.

brit 13:57

Okay. To be fair, you did order beer like almost everywhere throughout the whole trip. Yeah.

josh 14:06

I don't know what I'm saying. Then I, I dunno. I love wine. I don't think it's for me every single day.

brit 14:16

Yeah. Yeah. Well, we didn't drink every single day of the trip, but, uh, practically.

josh 14:21

Oh, I tried to.

brit 14:22

You tried.

josh 14:23

No, I didn't.

brit 14:23

There were some days where I was like, yeah. Not feeling it. Yeah. But we did have a lot of good wine.

josh 14:27

they serve some good beer here. There are a lot of local brew, not lot, but there's a few local breweries in New Zealand and around Auckland that have some really good beer. So if you're a beer lover over wine. They're really good options there for you too.

brit 14:42

Yeah, I would love to go back and check out some of the breweries as well. Mm-hmm. Because we passed one when we were walking and I was like, oh, that looks so fun. It's like a rooftop brewery place.

josh 14:53

I was right on the water too.

brit 14:54

That looks so fun. Mm-hmm. Mm-hmm. So we have to go back.

josh 14:58

Yeah.

brit 14:58

But anyways. Mm-hmm. I digress. Next was Shucker brother.

josh 15:03

Yeah,

brit 15:04

that was incredible. Okay.

josh 15:06

Really good.

brit 15:06

So my mom has never had a oyster before this and we had oysters.

josh 15:14

Oh, I guess I didn't know that, that your mom had never had oysters. I didn't know.

brit 15:18

Not like a raw oyster, like shooting the oysters like we did. I wish I knew that going in. I don't think I fully. Recognized that she had never had an oyster, like we talked about it previously.

josh 15:29

Mm-hmm.

brit 15:29

But I was getting myself mentally prepared to do an oyster shot.

josh 15:35

Yeah.

brit 15:35

So, I was more in my head, but I love when oysters come with that little like, vinegar sauce.

josh 15:43

Oh yes.

brit 15:43

So delicious. Mm-hmm. I put a shit ton of that in the oyster and then some lemon juice and I gave a lemon to my mom and she shot it and she swallowed it. But I think it was really big. It was a really big oyster. Yeah. So it was hard for her.

josh 16:00

Mm-hmm. Yeah. I generally do not like oysters. It's just that the texture and that isn't for me, but it was pretty good here. I, I enjoyed it with a little bit of lemon. Took me a second, but helped go down. It was good flavor.

brit 16:16

Yeah. it was fun to see everybody on the tour kind of shooting the oysters and seeing like, who's the adventurous people in the group?

josh 16:24

It was another tour where we had a good group, I thought. Yeah. We had a good variety of people.

brit 16:31

Oh, this was a great group. Yeah. This might have been my favorite tour of the whole trip.

josh 16:35

Oh, really?

brit 16:35

I shouldn't say that. I really loved the wine tours. But I think with the people that were there, this might've been my favorite.

josh 16:42

I just remember this grandmother with her granddaughter and. The grandmother had this tradition with the grandkids that once they graduated high school, she took'em places or took'em wherever they wanted.

brit 16:54

Yeah.

josh 16:54

And the granddaughter wanted to go to Hobbiton. She didn't wanna go to New Zealand. She wanted to go to Hobbiton. So she was there after graduation, or almost at graduation. I was on this trip with her grandmother.

brit 17:07

Yeah.

josh 17:08

And they were going to this food tour before heading further south to go through Hobbiton. And it was really cool to talk to her and see. And the grandmother was a hoot. She wasn't super adventurous. She tried some things like that. This is it. This is it for me.

brit 17:22

She was very you could read her.

josh 17:25

Mm-hmm.

brit 17:25

Very well. Like, she was very expressive. And she said what she felt,

josh 17:30

oh yeah.

brit 17:31

Like, for sure.

josh 17:32

Mm-hmm.

brit 17:33

No hiding. What she felt.

josh 17:35

Mm-hmm.

brit 17:36

Yeah. But it's fun to have people like that around.

josh 17:38

Oh, for sure. I loved it. We thought it was really hot, which it was again.

brit 17:43

Mm-hmm.

josh 17:44

But she was like, oh this is, this is nothing. You know, we're at, a hundred degrees, they were from Australia, a hundred degrees in Australia and She'd say, this is nothing. I'm like well, hot to me this. Yeah. But yeah, another, you kinda have a good group on tours and it then it really helps, with tasting new things to make it fun. Because I don't think she was a fan of the oyster. I don't,

brit 18:09

no,

josh 18:09

I don't think she liked it. The clams here though, at shucker brother.

brit 18:13

Yeah.

josh 18:14

She loved, and those were really good.

brit 18:16

The mussels.

josh 18:17

Oh damn.

brit 18:18

You always get those confused.

josh 18:20

I do. I don't know why.

brit 18:22

It's like we didn't have clams. They were mussels,

josh 18:24

mussels. In a

brit 18:25

d They were really delicious though. No, they were good. They were I don't think they were as good as the mussels that I had in Belgium. Mm-hmm. They weren't like a Belgium style mussel.

josh 18:34

Yeah.

brit 18:34

Which I think is my favorite kind of style of mussel. Mm. That the ones we had in Belgium. I can't,

josh 18:41

we're just gonna have to start plugging all these episodes.'cause we got an episode on Belgium Ghent. Go back and listen to that.

brit 18:48

Yeah.

josh 18:49

One of our favorite places in both of our top threes of places. But the mussels, the mussels were delicious. Really good sauce. They served it with a bread to soak up the sauce that was In the bowl.

brit 19:01

Yeah.

josh 19:02

Really delicious.

brit 19:03

So good. And then we ended the tour with some ice cream.

josh 19:08

Mm-hmm.

brit 19:09

Yeah. I had a, what was it, Ube. I had an Ube flavored ice cream. So delicious. That one was my favorite.

josh 19:17

Yeah. This was at the, uh, miann britomart. Really good place on the way to it when we were walking from Shucker brother, which is at the back of the old ferry building, which is a really cool building. We went there, uh, later for dinner. We'll talk about that in a second. But we walked through this walking only path with small businesses on each side. the walls of this street had local art. Mm-hmm. And they had these partial cones on the ground. That were brought up with a skylight and you looked down and it was the subway Down there to bring natural light in there and to, make it feel more open and more clean down there. And then it was something really cool for us to look down and see.

brit 20:04

Yeah. And we didn't use any of the public transportation, but we know that it's there. Mm-hmm. Which is really cool.

josh 20:11

Yeah.

brit 20:11

As far as public transportation goes, there's the subway, there's buses and metros everywhere. There's also ferries Yeah. That we saw. So tons of public transportation. Yeah.

josh 20:24

I think to really appreciate Auckland, we would need to go back and spend a good amount of time there.

brit 20:29

I mean, it is up there in my list. I feel like it's so livable. I really need to let it digest some more. But I loved it and the food court just really was that extra sprinkle on top, you know,

josh 20:44

So we ended the tour with miann britomart, the ice cream, again, delicious ice cream and sweets there. And our tour guide, Sarah had talked throughout the tour about a couple of her favorite places to get drinks for people that were gonna be there for a couple days. So we were all for it, right? I think in the back of the same building as miann britomart is this speakeasy called Caretaker. And to get into it is super cute. You just see this blue door with a c painted on it and you walk down some steps and then there's the entrance and it's very it's meant to look like a speakeasy'cause the door is surrounded by i, these like fake paint jugs and stuff. So it's not meant to look like a door that you would normally go into, but it's a really cool entrance.

brit 21:38

Yeah, that was a very cool entrance. I think one of the coolest entrances we've been in.

josh 21:44

Mm-hmm.

brit 21:44

As far as Speakies go, it was you walked in and you're like, should I be walking into this place? Mm-hmm. And I love that feeling walking into a speakeasy. And then you walk on the other side and you're like, oh yeah, it is a speakeasy. Hmm. But at first you're like, am I walking into the wrong place? Um. Yeah. Really cool vibe. It had like these big mirrors all around it was like dimly lit. It was kind of a, I wanna say like 1920s kind of feel.

josh 22:19

Really cool decoration and the way they serve drinks is really unique.

brit 22:25

Yes. So they come around and they ask you if you want something sweet or savory or what kind of alcohol you want if you like it creamy or strong or there's a whole bunch of questions that they ask you and then they come back with your perfect drink.

josh 22:45

Yeah.

brit 22:46

And my drink was absolutely perfect. It was a tequila coffee drink. Mm-hmm. Which doesn't sound like it would go well together, but it really did. It was delicious.

josh 22:58

It was amazing. Yeah. I got some gin with some fruit and it was delicious, but it was. Gin, just kind of with es expressed fruit. Yeah. Like very little fruit flavoring. It was what I was feeling that day. And they also ask you like what kind of glass you wanted in. So I had a low glass with a big ice cube on it and felt fancy, felt good. And it's nice if they, if you don't like your drink, you can tell'em and they will remake you one because your mom was like, ah, this isn't it. Or No, they put in, uh, alcohol, um,

brit 23:36

they put

josh 23:36

in brandy and they

brit 23:37

put in brandy. She did not like brandy.

josh 23:38

Mm-hmm.

brit 23:39

So. Definitely tell the waiter if there's something that you don't like

josh 23:43

mm-hmm.

brit 23:44

If you go here. But they remade it for her I think the next one was good for her. Right?

josh 23:49

Yeah. Yeah. She enjoyed the next one. And that's the only way you can order drinks. I think you can maybe get beer, wine, or some straight, um, spirits. Mm-hmm. But they don't have like a menu or a list that they bring around. It's literally just the waiter comes around, asks you what you want, and that's what you get.

brit 24:09

Yeah. So cool. Such a cool like idea concept. I always wanted to go to a place that did that. But we just never have come across it, so.

josh 24:19

Right.

brit 24:20

Yeah. Super fun.

josh 24:21

Yeah. We the next two days. Then so our, our full day there and then our half day before leaving, we went back to the food court that we went to on the tour because we loved Eden Noodler with the dumplings and we were both like, we gotta have those dumplings again.

brit 24:42

I couldn't stop thinking about them. I still can't stop thinking about them. I'm really sad that I can't get them. They're so good.

josh 24:50

Yes.

brit 24:51

If you go to Auckland and you don't go here, you're missing now, man.

josh 24:54

Yeah. But the amount of food that is there, I have a video. Showing all the different places. It's insane. You could eat there every single day for a month and probably go to a different place.

brit 25:07

Yeah.

josh 25:08

It's crazy how many different places there are and different varieties of food. Like you can have different dietary restrictions. You can be vegan, gluten free, they got all that stuff. Vegetarian.

brit 25:20

Mm-hmm.

josh 25:20

You have all those options there for you.

brit 25:22

Yeah. I mean that one day when we went back, the day after the tour

josh 25:26

mm-hmm.

brit 25:26

So we went there and we got spring rolls. We got a cheeseburger, a vegan cheeseburger. We got tacos, we got noodles, we got dumplings, and we got baklava. So many incredible dishes. And they were all so delicious. Mm-hmm. The vegan cheeseburger, I will say I wasn't a fan of the cheese on there.

josh 25:47

Mm.

brit 25:48

But the patty itself, I loved. Yeah. And the sauces on it were delicious. And the noodles my mom really loved. I wasn't a huge fan of those noodles, but she loved them. And the dumplings obviously were the same. Mm-hmm. Dumplings as the day before. You have to get that. Spring rolls. Amazing tacos. Ooh, those tacos. So delicious. Just go here.

josh 26:14

Yeah. Because we went the next, early morning, afternoon as well to have lunch before we went to the airport. And your mom got the noodles again with, uh, stuff in a bowl around it. Like some prawns, I believe veggies, some like kind of sesame chicken. Mm-hmm. That was really good. We had gotten some pastries, a cinnamon roll and this kind of like biscoff donut thing again. Biscoff cookie crumbled on it, loved it. I got some sort of sesame salmon salad.

brit 26:53

Oh, that was really good. Mm-hmm. I loved that. And I got a vegan empanada. The empanadas were really delicious too. I loved it. it was so good.

josh 27:02

Yeah. Overall, just, yeah, a really solid place. Definitely gotta go there. I think it's on one Queen Street. It's right across from the old ferry building. Lots of good food in there, affordably priced. We also, the first day that we came to Auckland, I think it was right before the tour as well, we got minced pies there.

brit 27:26

Yes. And the butter chicken pie. Was that good? You ordered that before? I could, but there were three different options and we ordered three obviously. And we shared them all. But oh my gosh. We should have ordered two of the butter chicken.'cause they were so

josh 27:46

good. They were delicious. That was at roti Bros. Mm. That's in the, like first floor near the street of The building that the food market's in, I bet there's even more places outside of the food market in that building. Oh, just all over the place.

brit 28:00

There were tons of food markets. Like we were passing, food markets everywhere.

josh 28:07

Hmm.

brit 28:07

I saw a ton of cafes like the one that we went into there. Mm-hmm. I think that's probably the biggest one, or the most well-known one. But there were tons that we passed that we didn't go into because we had just eaten or we didn't have the time or whatever. But yeah, there were a lot.

josh 28:25

Yeah. I saw several, uh, food court signs for sure when we were walking around,

brit 28:29

but also on the rooftop mm-hmm. Of this place was the Queen's rooftop bar.

josh 28:35

Yeah.

brit 28:36

And we went there for dinner one night. And it was I had made the reservation maybe like two months prior to us going. Mm-hmm. And it was so fun. The view was insane. It was so beautiful. The view over the water just. Absolutely stunning. Yeah. So beautiful. And the food was really good as well. We got, I mean, we didn't get a whole lot there. I don't think we were like super hungry when we went. Yeah.'Cause I think this was the same day as the food tour.

josh 29:11

It was,

brit 29:12

but we got like chicken skewers

josh 29:15

mm-hmm.

brit 29:16

With these peppers. The peppers were so good.

josh 29:19

Delicious.

brit 29:20

And it was like a yogurt sauce. And then we got fries and garlic aioli, and then we got a dessert. What was this dessert? It was a strawberry crumble on top. And like a custard, I wanna say.

josh 29:34

Yeah. It was, I think it was supposed to be a deconstructed strawberry cheesecake in a cup.

brit 29:40

Ah, yes. Really delicious.

josh 29:43

Super good. The views, like you said, were just amazing. We were there for sunset, got to see the fairies coming in and out of ports and some boats.

brit 29:54

Mm-hmm.

josh 29:55

It was really fun. Definitely I think pricier than the food court for sure.

brit 30:02

Oh yeah, absolutely.

josh 30:03

But a lot of good options on the menu. And a lot of good drink options as well.

brit 30:10

Yeah. If you're looking for something kind of fancy with a good view and just like a special kind of dinner Go here.

josh 30:19

Yeah. You can go here or go to where your mom took us for dinner on our last night.

brit 30:24

Yes. That was a very special place as well.

josh 30:27

Mm-hmm.

brit 30:27

That was so fancy. Very fancy. I was like, I am out of place.

josh 30:32

That was the Harborside Ocean Bar and Grill that was inside of the old ferry building right on the water. And that was a great dinner. We got a 16 sliced variety plate of sashimi.

brit 30:49

Mm-hmm.

josh 30:50

You got salmon.

brit 30:52

Obviously last night in New Zealand you're getting the salmon.

josh 30:56

Yeah.

brit 30:58

Uh, Yeah, the salmon was really delicious too. I think it came with like a miso glaze.

josh 31:02

Mm-hmm.

brit 31:04

Mm. I love a good miso as well.

josh 31:06

And your mom got a red snapper. Ooh,

brit 31:09

yeah. That was really good too.

josh 31:10

Yep, yep. And then we had a, uh, a chocolate mousse with like a crispy chocolate sort of chip on top and bottom. That was really good. Chocolate ice cream is just triple chocolate.

brit 31:23

Triple chocolate.

josh 31:24

And then another like raspberry cheesecake cup sort of thing. Yeah.

brit 31:29

Yeah, that was a really special meal. I really loved it there and. Even though like it was really fancy and I felt a little out of place it was really nice that the waiter was so, helpful.

josh 31:41

Yeah.

brit 31:42

we got the scallops as a appetizer.

josh 31:46

Mm-hmm.

brit 31:47

And he had recommended those and they were so good.

josh 31:50

Yeah. Ugh.

brit 31:50

They melted in your mouth. And we all liked them so much that there were four. And the last one I split into third so we could each have some more.

josh 32:01

Another good place with a good bathroom.

brit 32:04

Yes. Oh, the women's bathroom has like a huge window when you walk in. It's so unique, but. It's not in the stalls, obviously, it's like in the washing area. But it it was really cool. Yeah. Great bathroom. I think that's pretty good for food.

josh 32:20

Mm-hmm. Food scene. Absolutely delicious. Wish we had more time there to explore more of the food. Like you said, there were food court signs all over the place, so I assume there are more food courts. There were tons of little cafe shops everywhere we walked. Lots You can try and eat there.

brit 32:38

Mm-hmm.

josh 32:38

What would you rank the food scene in Auckland?

brit 32:42

Honestly, it is high. Mm-hmm. It is like 8.5.

josh 32:46

Yeah.

brit 32:47

Nine.

josh 32:47

Yeah.

brit 32:48

It's so good. Mm-hmm. There you could find anything there. Mm-hmm. And everywhere we went it was delicious.

josh 32:57

Yes,

brit 32:57

we did go to some like higher end places, some fancier places, but we also went to the food court a lot, which I think kind of evened it out. Mm-hmm. Um, And I think if we went back we would try out more food courts

josh 33:12

for sure. Absolutely. We would spread it around a little bit.'cause if you look on a Google map of it, we stayed. In Auckland Central for most of our food journey there.

brit 33:23

Yeah.

josh 33:24

And so we would try to explore out of that, but I, I would agree it eight, 8.5, it was delicious, really good food. Didn't have any problems with it and all readily available.

brit 33:35

Yeah. I also wanna mention that we stayed at Hotel Rendezvous. And this place had a rooftop pool. Which was open until 11. So we had a late night swim that was gorgeous. Stunning. So the Auckland Sky Tower is like lit up at night. So we have some beautiful images of when we were walking back and I was just like, oh, this is a perfect picture. So beautiful. But also when we were swimming, you could see it all lit up because we're like right next to it with the hotel being right there and oh, it was just, it was so beautiful. I would recommend this hotel for sure.

josh 34:18

Yeah. Really nice. Like you said, the pool was great. I think it was another heated pool.

brit 34:24

Yeah.

josh 34:24

So it wasn't, it wasn't super cold or super hot. Really nice. And then it had a covered hot tub up there on the roof as well.

brit 34:34

Yeah,

josh 34:35

and that's where I think the fitness center was there. Really nice area, good size pool. We were up there a couple times where there were quite a few people up there and we didn't feel crowded.

brit 34:45

No, no. I will also say at night there's a different kind of like feeling in Auckland. It's just, it's so beautiful. Mm-hmm. And the streets are kind of like lit up. There's some that have stringy lights mm-hmm. Above the walking paths. Yeah. And it's just so beautiful and it feels so inviting, just warm and inviting and I just, I loved it.

josh 35:11

Yeah. And I guess that we can go then and rate access to nature and beauty of Auckland as well.

brit 35:19

It is in New Zealand, so you could see maybe in the distance that there were some mountains or hills or whatever. Mm-hmm. And then the water being right there and knowing that there's islands over there. Mm-hmm. There's a wine island over there mm-hmm. That we didn't get to go to. But so Cool. And. I think it would be maybe like a nine, nine out of 10 for me.

josh 35:44

Oh,

brit 35:45

wow. I mean, it wasn't as beautiful as the other places that we went. Mm-hmm. So, it's, I gotta rank it honestly. Mm-hmm.

josh 35:53

Yeah. No, that's fair. I would say access to nature, it's very accessible. You are not in nature. Like you, we were in Queenstown or Blenheim where Mountain was right there, and vineyards were right there, stuff like that. But the water's right there, you can take a ferry to like those wine islands like you were talking about. So I would probably give it like probably an eight.

brit 36:18

An eight.

josh 36:18

Yeah. It seemed very accessible to get there. And again, Auckland Airport, the major hub of the city right there in a Auckland, you could easily get on a plane. Fly into Queenstown and be center mountains or fly into Blenheim and be right there.

brit 36:35

I mean, you could just stay there for a weekend. Could you imagine being able to do that, just staying in Queenstown for the weekend? Mm-hmm. Like that's insane.

josh 36:43

Yeah. And I, I don't know if I ever mentioned it, but the flights out of Auckland airport to Queenstown or from Queenstown to Auckland we're not overly priced. I thought, if I remember correctly, I think we paid maybe oh a hundred US dollar per person round trip. To get from Auckland to Queenstown and Queenstown to Auckland, if I remember correctly. That's

brit 37:07

what I remember too. Yeah.

josh 37:09

And which is very comparable to what we pay for our small town airport just to get to Chicago.

brit 37:15

Mm-hmm.

josh 37:15

Which is about a two and a half hour drive where this is from the tip of the north island to the near tip of the south island.

brit 37:24

Yeah.

josh 37:24

So it seems like a pretty good deal. And that was on, uh, air New Zealand and I know they got a couple other airlines that fly it, so I'm not sure what their prices are, but yeah.

brit 37:35

Mm-hmm.

josh 37:35

So I think, yeah, like an eight I think is a good ranking. Nine is probably a good ranking. Very accessible, like you said. Can see the water, the islands really beautiful.

brit 37:44

Yeah. There's also a lot to do there, like we were saying. And there is a Saturday morning market that we went to.

josh 37:52

Yeah.

brit 37:53

So this is kind of on the street where it's like all lit up. Mm-hmm. And it's a walking path and cars don't really drive through it. my mom and I really had a lot of fun shopping around, looking at all of the little shops that were set up. It was, it was really like a farmer's market. It was so cute. And there were a lot of crafty items and just so fun.

josh 38:17

Mm-hmm.

brit 38:18

It was really hot though. I do remember it being really fricking hot this day.

josh 38:23

Yeah. Really fun market. Like you said, tons of crafts and it, it is just nice to see a place. Have that available to its residents to do, to be able to express themselves with things they love to make with their art, their, homemade goods. You bought some, uh, handmade wooden utensils, like, uh,

brit 38:49

yeah. The salad tongs.

josh 38:50

Yep. The salad tongs. We didn't have any. And you're like, oh my gosh, this is great. You know, we love to buy oh, what would you call it?

brit 38:58

Practical. Souvenirs.

josh 39:00

Yeah. We love to buy practical souvenirs.

brit 39:03

Yeah. I think that's maybe a tip that we have

josh 39:06

mm-hmm.

brit 39:06

Or that I would have is to buy practical things because yes, I have a couple of sweatshirts or t-shirts or things like that that I have bought in places. But I think I'm starting to get away from that because I really don't wear them a whole lot, except aside from my Scotland sweater, which is different. Um, but. I think it's really important to buy things that you're gonna use. and it just doesn't make sense to spend your money wherever you are on things that you're not gonna use. Mm-hmm. Like, this is based on a feeling, and really assessing if this is something that you're gonna use or something that you need. So we did buy, uh, the salad tongs. We bought a wooden spatula as well, and then we also bought a towel.

josh 39:57

Yeah.

brit 39:58

And you can never have enough towels. So

josh 40:01

a, a little, a little kitchen towel or a little bathroom towel.

brit 40:05

Yeah.

josh 40:05

Mm-hmm. And these were all made in New Zealand, like small business made stuff. And that's something too, because you walk around Auckland and you walk around places with a lot of tourism, you typically see a lot of shops that are like souvenirs or take gifts home, stuff like that. And they're mass produced things, typically not from that country. Some are, but most of it's not. And you know, you're, you're besides that business, you're not supporting the locals that much at all.

brit 40:40

Yeah.

josh 40:41

So just like anywhere, we live in Appleton, Wisconsin and there's always small business Saturday and there's always promotions to buy a local. And so we try to do that as much as we can when we travel as well.

brit 40:53

Yeah, for sure.

josh 40:54

Mm-hmm. So I like that Tip of yours. I like that. How would you rate the coffee scene?

brit 40:59

I did think that most of the coffee was pretty milk forward. Again, very repetitive from the last episode. Throughout

josh 41:07

New Zealand, like you said.

brit 41:08

Yeah. Throughout New Zealand, however corner coffee. Absolutely delicious. I loved it there. And that was our very last day and I had told the lady as we were leaving, I'm like, this is the best coffee I've had in New Zealand. So I thanked her for that because it was a really good espresso flavor. You could taste the espresso. It wasn't too much milk. It was so delicious. I would highly recommend trying out that coffee.

josh 41:40

They also had a little pastry sandwich that we had that was pretty decent. Like a egg and cheese, bacon. Really Dele.

brit 41:50

Dele,

josh 41:51

really dele a really cute little shop. A very. I don't know, just quaint and another nice place where you could like meet up a friend and like sit down. People watch a little bit. Yeah. And that was the same for the other place Remedy that we went to, that our tour guide Sarah, from the day before had recommended as well, like a sit down place, meet some friends there. It was closer to the college that's there in Auckland. So very busy with college kids, but really nice sit down places.

brit 42:28

Yeah, I agree. that kind of goes into I think the pace of Auckland. Mm-hmm. I do think that shops still, opened later and closed earlier than what we are normally used to When we talked about, that, that's so good for the workers. Mm-hmm.

josh 42:46

Yeah. Just makes you like worker conscious. It makes us feel like, and I'm sure it makes the workers feel like you care about their wellbeing.

brit 42:54

Yeah. Mm-hmm. No, and that's, that's amazing. We love that. And I feel like that goes into pace as well. I think that even though it's a big city, it still had that New Zealand kind of slower paced feel. Which I think you, you don't normally get in a big city. There were a lot of tourists and a lot of people, that kind of made it feel more faster paced, I think. But the locals, and when you went to, local spots, people took their time and it didn't feel rushed. And many places and I think that's so important and rare to find in countries.

josh 43:37

Yeah.

brit 43:38

And New Zealand, I think all throughout just had that kind of slower pace lifestyle and I love that.

josh 43:45

Yeah. Same. I like to be places where, like you said, I don't like to feel rushed and typically in big cities. You just do. Yeah.'cause it's hustle culture. Like when we went to Tokyo, Japan, love Tokyo, Japan, but it's hustle culture there. Yeah. People are moving and if you're not moving, you're getting run over. Now Auckland not even close to the number of people there, but it's so slow. You take your time, you look at the water, like the coffee places. You grab your coffee, you sit down, talk with your friend, you just enjoy your coffee. Like not a lot of people were grab and go. There wasn't a lot of that.

brit 44:29

No. And it's quite shocking as an American to walk into that kind of lifestyle for the two weeks that we did. And to see that everywhere, because you're like a part of you is like. Let's go. Mm-hmm. Because we're trained to do that.

josh 44:48

Mm-hmm.

brit 44:48

I think here in America, but then y you talk to yourself and you're like, okay, slow down. What are you in a rush for? Mm-hmm. You're on vacation, you're exploring this other country who clearly has their shit together, you know, slow the fuck down.

josh 45:07

It makes so much sense why some things are the way they are just by looking at this country.

brit 45:15

Yeah.

josh 45:15

Because, you know me, I eat way too fast. I shovel in food like it's going outta style. Mm. Uh, I eat a meal in half a second, but then when we were on this vacation, I was like. Just eating slower. Yeah. Just like appreciating it. Like, I think it's the environment around you. Don't get me wrong, it's, there's something with me as well, but I think the environment around you as well, like, has a lot to do with that.

brit 45:44

Yeah, no, I totally agree. And I think for me, it, it's the walking, it's really hard to slow down walking, but I felt like I had to at certain points and it was, it was a challenge for me, that was hard sometimes. It was, it was hard to slow down, but I tried.

josh 46:05

Mm-hmm.

brit 46:07

Maybe I need more work on that, but,

josh 46:12

so what would you, what would you rate the coffee.

brit 46:14

Oh, sorry.

josh 46:16

No, that's fine.

brit 46:18

Um, I, I don't know if I can, because we did not spend enough time there. I think I got two coffees there and one was amazing. One was too milky. I think it would be unfair of me to give it a rating.

josh 46:30

Sure. That's fair enough. I was gonna think like five or six for the same thing. Like the coffee was decent. I had a really good one at Remedy that I thought was delicious. Wasn't your standard latte? Uh, I like my fun coffee. So I had that and I really liked the social aspects of both the places. So I was gonna say like a five or six, but we need to go back and do more in person research.

brit 46:54

In-person research, baby. Oh yeah.

josh 46:57

And we've talked about the pace and feel of the wellness of the community.

brit 47:02

Yeah.

josh 47:02

it's very similar to other places like it, it needs more investigation by us, but it seems like a seven or an eight, it, it does.

brit 47:11

Yeah. I would agree with that.

josh 47:12

Really well paced. And especially for when we were around, the college area. Like you still didn't feel like the college kids were being rushed at all.

brit 47:23

I also think that if, and when we go back to Auckland, I would love to do the skywalk. I think that would be really scary.

josh 47:34

Mm-hmm.

brit 47:34

But I think it would be so fun.

josh 47:37

Yeah. Yeah. I think it would be too, if we would've had more time, I bet we would've done it.

brit 47:41

Yeah. Or my mom would've jumped off a building, not a bridge, a building a.

josh 47:46

Jumping off a building with concrete below you is,

brit 47:50

that's terrifying.

josh 47:51

Little nuts. I mean, not that if you jump off a bridge and there's water below you at that height that you're gonna live either way, but something with it just being concrete,

brit 48:01

it's a mental shift. Yeah. Either way, it's a freaking mental shift. I don't, I don't know how people do it, but

josh 48:07

not for me,

brit 48:08

not for me, dog. No, but you can go bunche jumping on that building too. And so there's quite a few things that I think we need to do in Auckland before giving it a really fair rating overall because I, I did get the feeling there. Mm. I got it there and I got it really strong. Yeah. There while we were there, but. We weren't there long enough for me to really even consider putting it in the top three because there's so much I don't know about it,

josh 48:45

yeah. I mean, we just had the one full complete day there, and then we had two half days and we spent most of it again in the Auckland Central area. We didn't get to spread out throughout Auckland. We didn't get to go to the ferries to kind of go to the opposite side or really dive into the college section or the manufacturing district, so there's tons of Auckland that we didn't get to explore or see, and I would love to do that more. Of course, no matter how long you spend there, even if you live in a place, you're never gonna see it all, but a little more time would be very beneficial for us.

brit 49:26

Yeah, I agree.

josh 49:28

Do you got anything else about Auckland that you can think about that we missed or No, man, I miss it.

brit 49:35

I miss it too. Mm-hmm. I do. We gotta go back. Yeah.

josh 49:43

Yeah. We'll have to kinda talk about our feelings, um, what we wanna do, what we're gonna do next with, this information we gathered from this trip when we record our next episode, the review of New Zealand.

brit 49:58

Yeah.

josh 49:58

So, and we'll have to talk about what it was like being the three of us on this trip instead of just the two of us. And, how long we're gonna wait before we go to back Auckland and maybe, or not, you know?

brit 50:11

No, we have to, we have to at this point. So like you said, next episode will be reviewing the New Zealand trip and kind of talking about how this changes things or doesn't. Don't forget to like, subscribe and follow on all of our socials at Wsm h travels on TikTok, Instagram and YouTube.

josh 50:35

You can listen to our podcast on Spotify and Apple as well as you can watch the video record version on YouTube where we have pictures and some short clips from our trip, and that is at Wsm h Travels. Also, don't forget to please leave your comments or send us messages for things you wanna see, maybe things you want us to talk about as far as the trips, maybe if you have suggestions on where we should go or where we should visit. We love getting those, we have been getting more of'em and it's really fun to say. Oh, we gotta go here. We gotta try to go here. I had a ongoing comment section conversation with someone talking about France and places in France we have to go. I don't know. That's never a place that I think I really considered, but maybe we gotta look into it.

brit 51:29

Thank you again so much for listening. Until next time.