Fancy a trip to the big city, can’t get to New York, London or Tokyo? Don’t worry we have the bright lights of Auckland on our doorstep. Two friends and I went up for a weekend in July and had a great time, eating, drinking, shopping and generally spending money to boost the ol economy! I thought I’d share what we did (mainly where we ate and shopped) as there were some places that I was blown away by.
The pandemic has caused a lot of reflection for people and one of those reflections for me was to think about what this blog was going to be about going forward. Having written lots of posts for ex-pats moving to New Zealand, I realised that this might not be quite so in demand for a while, so maybe it was time for a little pivot. If I’m honest I haven’t done a whole lot of great thinking around where I want it to go yet, but one thing I really want to write more about is New Zealand travel. We are all pretty much stuck here now, so for the foreseeable future we will need some home turf holiday inspo so this feels like a great direction.
This new travel direction for the blog is the reason why I am popping this post up despite having the worst photos of our trip – writing about it was a complete after-thought. Apologies in advance for the crappy photos.
I really enjoyed spending time in Auckland, having only ever passed through to go to Waiheke previously, I have been dying to have some time shopping with the gals and soaking up the city. Post-pandemic with all plans wiped from the diary, this was a great time to go. Our friend Gemma has lived in Auckland before so could guide Allie and me around all the best places to eat and drink and this really made it great. I loved the change from Wellington and exploring all the best spots.
Anyway, a weekend in Auckland – here is a breakdown of what we did and my recommendations:
Where we stayed:
We used Airbnb to book a little 2 bed apartment in the CBD just to the North near K Road (is what the locals call Karangapape Road) which was a great location as there are tonnes of great places to eat near there. The apartment was comfortable and clean, although nothing too characterful to rave about. I think there is a tonne of Air BnBs like this on the site for Auckland so its worth having a peek and see what you can find. If you have never used Air BnB before, you can use my code for $50 off your first booking by clicking HERE or on my sidebar.
We loved having an apartment as we could spread out and make platters for snacks with wine before we went out in the evenings. There are tonnes of lovely looking hotels in Auckland too, which I would be keen to check out next time I’m there.
What we did:
SO MUCH SHOPPING!
We spent the whole of an afternoon wandering around Ponsonby, which is the suburb just next to the CBD with lovely old houses and more boutique little spots. Shops I would recommend on Ponsonby High Street were:
Standard Issue for lovely New Zealand made merino and wool, their tulle is so worth it.
Tattys for vintage finds that are a bit more high end. You can get some absolutely beautiful designer things for a fraction of the price
Flotsam and Jetsam for curated vintage home pieces and nick-nacks like candles, and kitchen bits and bobs.
Widdess for beautiful simple New Zealand made clothing that I haven’t seen anywhere else. The cuts are simple and the fabrics are absolutely sumptuous.
Groundd – we came across a pop-up store for New Zealand made weighted blankets (heavy blankets that feel like a hug when you have them on) and would highly recommend.
We also wandered around the CBD and checked out the new Commercial Bay shopping centre near the harbour which has lots of lovely stores in it including Yu Mei and the brand COS. I can also recommend shopping on Lorne Street which runs adjacent to Queens Street (the main drag) as this had a lot of cute little shops on it including another Tattys vintage store that was slightly cheaper than the Ponsonby one.
EATING + DRINKING!
We never really stopped eating and here are the places we ate that I would RATE:
Ozone – A coffee shop in Grey Lynn that has a Melbourne style cafe feel. It is big and lofty and the food selection is healthy and yummy. I had their smoked fish kedgeree for breakfast. Their coffee was fantastic and although I didn’t eat one, their pastry and cake selection looked insane.
Orphans Kitchen – This was one of my faves for sure, on Ponsonby Road, a small cafe/restaurant with trendy foody feel. We went for breakfast – they have great coffee and lots of selections of toasts with interesting toppings. We fell in love with their crumpets which have lashings of housemade honey on top. The honey is made on location and you can bee watch from the toilet window. I loved this place. A definite favourite.
Federal Delicatessen – “The Fed” as the locals call it is a great pit stop for a hangover breakfast. Set up like a proper American New York diner, the waitresses are wearing cute lil green outfits. The food is decedent to the max, think fried and bagels and poutine deliciousness! Don’t go if you want to be healthy, but definitely check out this spot it has a great vibe.
Peach Pit – This little spot on K road was fun. A sweet place for drinks that also does really nice food. We had some bottles of sparkling wine and some deep-fried aubergine which was one of the most delicious things we tried in Auckland. The waiter was great, and Chloe Swarbrick of Green Party fame was on the table next to us and I couldn’t help overhear her drop Jacinda’s name several times to her friends, and one of them told me I have nice hair – which was great.
Clay – For a proper good selection of natural wines, all served on one big friendly table, Clay is a really homely lil bar on K road that is really worth it for a pre or post-dinner wine. The staff are uber lovely and they have a great looking menu that we didn’t try.
Coco Cantina – Another K road love was the Italian restaurant Coco Cantina – this is apparently quite the local institution and I can see why. The staff were so lovely and accomodating when we showed up at around 9:30pm for dinner and the food was SO good. We loved the parfait and all the pasta was SO yummy, el-dente cooked to perfection. Pick here for your fancy din – you won’t regret it.
OTHER STUFF!
Auckland Art Gallery – Pretty much our only cultural excursion in Auckland was to go to the Art Gallery and this was well worth it – it is a really beautiful gallery and as it was a first time there, we just looked at the home collection exhibitions and didn’t look at the visiting exhibits and there was so much to take in. I could while away many more hours here – definitely a recommendation.
The Tepid Baths – Nursing a hangover after one night we decided we really wanted to hit up the sauna so we went to the local swimming baths, which happened to be in a lovely heritage building so it was a nice place to hang out. There is a jacuzzi, a sauna and a steam room and this was a perfect way to sweat it out! OOPS! Would recommend even though the name makes it sound very unappealing.
Waiheke – Although I didn’t go this time, Waiheke is the perfect activity for time spent in Auckland as you can just hop on the ferry – read my post about when I went last time for some more details and tips and tricks HERE.
So that’s it, we only had a weekend but we crammed a lot in and I feel like it was a very “can only be found in Auckland” weekend with not many chains so that was really nice to get in with the locals and get to know the amazing places. I would highly recommend all these things for when you are in Auckland but if you have any more recommendations for me – places I need to hit up next time, please post in the comments!
Thanks for reading and come back soon.
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Peace
Josie x