I finally spent a couple of days in Auckland, the biggest city in the country. Four years here and I only went through its airport. Just two days but I believe it was enough so I can comment on first impressions.
Auckland eh a maior cidade da Nova Zelandia com cerca de 1 milhao e 300 mil habitantes. Eh a entrada do pais, com a maior parte dos voos internacionais chegando e partindo daqui. O simbolo mais lembrado tambem estah aqui, a Sky Tower, uma torre em forma de agulha no predio do cassino da cidade e onde se pode passear nas alturas. Para ter uma ideia geral, pode ir visitar o site turistico oficial (em ingles).
Auckland is the biggest city in New Zeland with a population around 1,300,000. It's also the first point of contact, with mostly all international flights arriving here. Maybe the most recognizable symbol of the country, the Sky Tower, a needle like tower over a casino building, it's here too. It's possible to walk around its top. You can check the general tourist information about the city here.
Quando vim pra NZ, passei pelo aeroporto mas vim direto pra Wellington e me apaixonei por esta cidade. Visitar Auckland era meio uma obrigacao que eu tinha medo de cumprir. Me acostumei com uma cidade menor e, de repente, Auckland era aquele monstro de mais de um milhao de pessoas. Predios com mais de 20 andares, engarrafamento e coisa e tal.
When I came to NZ, I just passed through the airport, going directly to Wellington and I fell in love with this city. Going to Auckland was like an obligation that I was afraid to do. I got really used to a smaller city and, all of a sudden, Auckland meant this monster of a million people city. Too tall buildings and lots of traffic jams.
No final das contas, minhas impressoes nao foram tao ruins como eu temia! :D
In the end, my first impressions weren't as bad as I fear they would be! :D
Eh maior do que eu estou acostumada agora, mas tem um bom sistema de transporte publico (em ingles). Varias ilhas e cidadezinhas do outro lado da baia que valem a pena visitar. Grande variedade de restaurantes e lojas, shopping centers grandes. As ruazinhas escondidas tem varios restaurantes e lojas que valem a pena ser encontradas. A area do porto ta sendo reformada e tem grandes areas para o publico, com restaurantes, local de eventos e pra passear. 
It's bigger than I'm used to now, but the city does have a good public transport system that you can checked here. Lots of islands and small towns on the other side of the bay that are worthy a visit. Great variety of restaurants and shops, with bigger shopping centres than are available in Wellington. What I thought it was the most rewarding thing was walking around looking for the small lanes and finding nice restaurants and shops hidden there. The harbour area was changed to offer big public areas, restaurants and an events space. Super nice to walk around.Mas tem o outro lado tambem, o lado que nao gostei. As pessoas andam mais apressadas e com menos respeito pelas ruas. Tem sempre barulho e muito pedinte pelas ruas. Encontrei bebados mais cedo na rua tambem. Nao que eles nao existam em Wellington, so que nossos horarios nao customam se cruzar. Tudo parte do que eu deixei pra tras e nao quero de volta.
But there are the parts I didn't like: the rushed up people and lack of respect when walking around. It's always noisy and lots of beggars in the streets. Drunk people early on in the streets. Doesn't mean that those don't exist in Wellington. It's just that I don't seem to seem/find them as much. All part of what I left behind and don't want to go back to.
Talvez o que mais tenha me deixado decepcionada eh a opcao de slogan pra cidade, um roubo direto e descarado do slogan de Wellington. Achei uma competicao predatoria desnecessaria, ja que as cidades oferecem opcoes bem diferentes e nao deveria canabilizar seus mercados turisticos. E a culpa eh de Auckland sim, porque a cidade adotou seu "Big Little City" em 2012, dois anos depois que Wellington assumiu o "Coolest Little Capital". Nao precisava.
Maybe what really disappointed me was the chosen slogan for the city, an option that clearly stolen from Wellington. I thought it was a unnecessary predatory competion since the two cities offer quite different options and should not jump on each others' tourism market. And Auckland is the one to blame because they adopted their "Big Little City" slogan in 2012, two years after Wellington start using the "Coolest Little Capital" one. No need for that.
A conclusao eh que Auckland vale a visita por um fim de semana ou um pouco mais, mas nao eh minha opcao de moradia. Fica em aberto, dependendo das oportunidades que surgirem.
In conclusion, Auckland is worthy a weekend or more but isn't my option to live in. But it stays open, depending on opportunities.
Mais algumas fotos: / A few more photos:
Deve virar o terminal para os navios cruzeiros
This should be the new cruiser terminal
O estilo discoteca da estacao central Britomart
The dance vibe of the central station of Britomart
Um predio que ta vazio, na beira do porto. Mas as luzes sao legais de noite, mesmo que tenha uma cara de minhoca. :D 
This building is empty right now, not sure what it will be. The lights keep changing, it's nice.
Even if the building looks like a worm. :D
E uma ultima image da cidade, vista do ferry.
And uma last view of the city, a ferry's view.
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