New Zealand Road Trip: Auckland (my last stop!)

The next stop on our New Zealand north island road trip took us to my last stop—Auckland! We arrived on Halloween evening, returned the van, and stayed in an Airbnb in the Ponsonby area.

The view from our patio was impeccable, and we were just off the beaten path enough to feel at peace, because Ponsonby Road is quite bustling with a lot of bars, restaurants, and shops.

My friend Mike (who I visited in Sydney) was just starting off a New Zealand adventure with another friend, so our paths overlapped for the night. We set off to see what Halloween in New Zealand was all about.

I was actually surprised to see so many people dressed up and places decorated:

We hit a few bars on Ponsonby Rd., including Parade where it was nice enough to sit outside. Then we had a delicious dinner (and a giant beer tower!) at Eden Noodles.

Auckland is a foodie city, and we definitely made plenty of time for eating. The next day was hanging around waiting for my flight, so we did brunch (not pictured) and walked along the streets in Ponsonby and K-Road.

There was a perfect secondhand bookstore called The Open Book where I bought the first book in my new favorite series (The Little Shop of Found Things.)

We did some more eating and shopping at Ponsonby Central. Grown Up Donuts (sadly not pictured) were a big hit.

Then it was already time for me to head to the airport and fly on home. That was a wrap on an amazing two weeks in New Zealand. Bryan would carry on to explore the South Island.

Thanks for following along on the blog journey!