Auckland
After a brief 10 hour flight I finally landed in Auckland,
New Zealand, a destination I had been talking about for quite some time, and it
felt like home. Not that I felt like I was at home but it was overcast and a
bit chilly and they drove on the left. All these things comforted me,
especially after my brief foray into France a few years before. I boarded the
shuttle for the 50 minute bus ride into town, feeling a little bit like I had been
tumble dried after my 2 days of travelling and had my first of many chats about
my plans and must-see sights and adventures.
I arrived at Base Auckland, a hostel that was recommended to
me by previous adventurers, and entered my first hostel room. After quickly
discovering I was sharing a room with 3 boys (Canadien Robbie, Brazilien
Phillipe and Korean Ming) I whipped out my digital chess set for a bit of non
verbal bondng, as after such a long journey I did not fancy miming platitudes.
We set up a bit of a tournament and were all beaten by nonchalant Canadian Robbie, who was
apparently taught by his granddad and hadn’t played in a while. He was a bit
peculiar and didn’t leave the hostel whilst I was there, preferring instead to
watch breaking bad on his iPhone and letting out disgruntled yelps every so
often when the connection went down. Ming (really hoping that was his name, as
I kept calling him it) gave me a lovely bookmark of traditional Korean dress
and left at 2am to his next destination.
My luxurious 4 bed room
Later that evening I went looking for the Balcony bar at
base to meet some people I could verbally communicate with, unfortunately it
was closed but there was one other person on the 6th floor looking
similarly lost, she was called Beth and was also looking for the bar. We walked
down to the harbour and she told me there is not much in the way of activities
on offer in Auckland, unless you wanted to jump off the sky tower or the
bridge, I assume she meant using a bungy but I’m still not sure. She was off on
the Kiwi experience bus the next day to get a quick 3 week view of the country but it was a very nice first night in a
new city.
This would bring me to Monday, or day 2 of my 3 night stay
in Base Auckland and I went for a wander around the city after playing a few games of pool with a Scotsman at the hostel. As it was a big hostel with 9 floors there weren’t that
many people just hanging about to talk to so I wasn’t really sure what to do
with myself. I was still a bit fuzzy so kept awake for as long as possible by
going souvenir shopping with Philippe, who asked for a receipt in every shop in
case the next shop thought he had stolen something, I asked him about this odd
thought process and he said as he was Brazilian no one trusted him here. Peculiar but
each to their own. Fell asleep around 7pm that night so woke up on Tuesday
around 3am, luckily I slept in til about 9 and felt ok.
Selfie at the Harbour
I went for another wander and tried to find the war museum on Tuesday,
but got waylaid at several charity shops, or op shops on the way. Aware that I only had one night left of accommodation and still no clue
what to do I realized I had 2 options, to stay or not to stay? All my
roommates had moved out that day so I was alone in a four bed (typical) but there were still museums and bird sanctuaries to see. Got a
bit of info about the kiwi bus from the hostel and spoke to Emma who agreed I
should go for the bus, if it didn’t work out I could just come back. So I bought the
Super funky unlimited bus pass with its 59% discount for $711 (or £380) and
booked myself on to the 7am bus the next day to take me North to the Bay of
Islands. Then I went to the cinema to watch Seth Rogans's ‘This is the End’ and I don’t think
I have ever left the cinema in a better mood, humming ‘Backstreet’s Back’ to
myself all the way back to the hostel and looking forward to my next destination.
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