It's quite a coincidence, really, that Trevor works in Newmarket, Ontario and we found ourselves living in the Newmarket district of Auckland for two-and-a-half weeks. Even more eerie is the fact that Quest Apartments, where we stayed was on Davis Crescent (we have a major street called Davis Drive in Newmarket, Ontario). Also, the supermarket where we did most of our shopping in Newmarket, Auckland was located on Greenlane. The corresponding supermarket in Newmarket, Ontario where we do a lot of shopping is at the Superstore at the corner of Green Lane and Yonge Street.Alright, enough comparing! Newmarket, Auckland is the busy shopping district of the city. Even busier than the central business district. Here is where all the trendy fashion houses and electronics stores are located. There were two cinema complexes within a three block radius of Quest Apartments; and tons of restaurants. In fact, Archies' across the street from us was constantly busy with customers until well after 11:00 each evening. When our windows were open, the food odours would waft over to us and we were so tempted to go over there and grab a table.
Quest Apartments is part of a hotel chain which is based in Australia. They have many properties throughout Australia and New Zealand. This particular hotel is a fairly new one (about 2006) and was outstanding in all respects. We easily give it a 5-Star rating placing it tops in the serviced apartment category. Our apartment had a very sizeable living room with a flat-screen 42" TV along with a DVD player. There was a stereo with an iPod dock on the desk in the living room as well. The kitchen was fully equipped with stove, oven, microwave, dishwasher and fairly sizeable fridge. The bedroom had a king-sized bed and a smaller flat-screen TV. The toilet/washroom had all the proper facilities that Lorraine required. Even though this hotel was in a very busy area, it was equipped with "hush" glass which kept the outdoor noise to a bare minimum. The fact that there was a train station directly next to the hotel really did not bother us and we couldn't hear the trains unless we opened the windows. Often though, it was nice to have the windows open just to feel like we were a part of the outside activities. The staff and manager of the hotel were outstanding and were very attentive to all our specific requests.
We've added a picture of the choir from Tiffin Boys School in Surrey England to this section. They were on tour in New Zealand and we heard them performing just a few blocks down the street from our hotel at Sunday Evensong. This amazing choir performs regularly with the British National Opera Company. And we heard them for free! Wow, what a sound!
Pictures in this section are as follows:
1. Broadway Street in Newmarket
2. The Westfield Mall in Newmarket
3. The light rail train station beside Quest Apartments
4. Quest Apartments exterior view
5. View from our window at Quest (there was some construction going on in the park across the street.
6. Living room at Quest
7. Kitchen at Quest
8 Bedroom at Quest
9 Boys choir from Tiffin School in England at the chapel of Holy Trinity Cathedral
