Auckland NZ Lantern Festival and A Happy New Chinese Year To All!

Auckland NZ Lantern Festival, and a Happy Chinese New Year To All!

The Lantern Festival takes place in a large, central park called the “Auckland Domain.”
Over the long weekend, the Domain has been packed with people who have come to admire the creative Lanterns, listen to wonderful Chinese musicians, see Chinese acrobats and eat from one of the dozens of street food stalls.

It was really a wonderful event.
The large park, full of old growth trees, was the perfect setting for the creative and colorful lanterns.

Some lanterns were situated around the pond, and the resident ducks and geese meandered along the walkways among them.

Every day in Auckland, we have been walking for over 15-20 Kilometers.
Even though we did it and did not get blisters, it has reminded me that it takes awhile to get back into long distance walking shape.
I have been a bit worried about our upcoming walking pilgrimage in Japan, which will require us to cover about 600 km in thirty days.

This time, we have been staying in a new apartment hotel in Parnell, and we have enjoyed it even more than the regular hotel room concept.
We have a washing machine and a dryer in our clean and spacious rooms, which has been very handy.

We have not eaten at any of the highly ranked restaurants in Auckland, which limit your stay to ninety minutes and charge shocking prices for a meal, but instead have truly loved the new and innovative restaurants we have found.
Some blend Asian food with modern or healthy food, and are a breath of fresh air.

Tomorrow I will add photos of our celebration of Holi, the Indian festival of light.

With love and blessings,
Tali