auck-land

ketan

i'm going to be in nz for a couple of weeks in late june/early july. down in queenstown and then up in auckland.  never been out to that part of the planet - super excited!  i'm pretty busy during my time in qt, but auckland...

record shops/fleas of note?  food that must be eaten?  any reccos appreciated.

someone told me to go down to raglan for a couple of nights - what other epic camping could i do a drive from auckland that would be nice this time of year?

thanks, da strut

Jimster

If you are on Instagram,  follow pscmarket -  They organise the collectro ish regularly.
If you know of Nathan.Haines (his IG handle) you can hit him up on a DM as he's in the know.

Lamont

avoid queen street area, check op shops around mt.eden... you could drive a loop around coromandel, raglan yaeh less crowded than southern summer, try to hop on a sailboat

ketan

Thanks for all these tips!  I'm staying in Sandringham, and Mt Eden looks like a good mission from there on foot.  And I like the idea of going from Coromandel to Raglan... 

klezmer electro-thug beats

It's been a few years since I lived in Auckland (and I was not active with records then) but depending on your transport options I'd highly suggest hitting the west coast - Piha, Karekare beaches. It's not gonna be swimming weather but they're pretty incredible places. E.g. Karekare is the remote-looking spot holly hunter's piano gets dropped off at the beginning of The Piano).

Auckland is generally good for accessibility to nature - coromandel's an example, but even closer, the Waitakere ranges and Hunua ranges have some incredible walks. Unfortunately people keep tracking in a disease that kills the few dozen ancient kauri trees left in the country so a load of walks are closed, but there are still some that won't threaten any (basically) gods. https://ourauckland.aucklandcouncil.govt.nz/articles/news/2018/5/kauri-dieback-closures-what-you-need-to-know/

In Queenstown I can recommend the Cow pizza place. I know you're probably booked up but I'd also say, Arrowtown is a drive outside of town but it's a cool bit of history that a visitor probably wouldn't be aware of - it's an 1860s Chinese gold rush shanty town.

Sad irony to my sparse recommendations is that like 7 years ago I directed a travel tv show - only tv show I ever directed - episodes on auckland, queenstown, wellington, and melbourne. And can't remember shit! Although to be fair a lot of what we did in the show was a bit $$$, scenic helicopter rides and wineries and whatnot. There's a lot of wine tasting goin' on in both Central Otago/QT and Auckland if that's your thing, but all that stuff bored me when we were filming it as I don't give a shit about wine!

ketan

THIS is amazing info.  Thank you.  My current plan was to stay one night in Auckland and then book a cove side spot in Raglan and spend my time hiking around, drinking and writing (some random order, I suspect).  

But I'm looking for epic hikes, so I might plan it out a bit more given your suggestions.

Jimster

My wife is a wine snob and professional taste tester, so when she says New Zealand MARLBOROUGH Sauvingnon Blanc is the Boss Sauv B, I believe her.  

Duderonomy

klezmer electro-thug beats said:

I don't give a shit about wine!

Ban. All alcohol is sacred!

Jimster

You stocking up on Spanish plonk pre-Canada?

ketan

Wine reccos are key - thanks.

Did they press many records in NZ bitd?  I'd guess that a lot came over from Australia?

ketan

Anyone know this party/these Frenchies?



Whoops pics are backwards

klezmer electro-thug beats

Karangahape aka K Road is a classic scuzzy nightlifey street, if Auckland can be said to have one at all. Outside that I can't say I know the club or DJs. I'd remember French DJs if I'd seen em... not a lot of French people down there. Interestingly NZ and France haven't really gotten along historically with the Pacific H-bomb testing and sinking the Rainbow Warrior in Auckland Harbour by French secret agents