People in New Zealand LOVE the Chicago Bulls. I am not joking, every time a Kiwi hears I'm from Chicago, their immediate response is ARE YOU A BULLS FAN?! Then we chat about Derrick Rose's robotic knees. It's pretty funny that of all things Chicago, New Zealand is fixated on the Bulls. After finally arriving in downtown Auckland and dropping my bags off, I found that my hotel is right next to the water and ferry terminal. So of course, I bought a ticket to Devonport so I could ride one of the ferries. I can't help it, if there's a ferry, I'm going to ride it....I blame Grey's Anatomy for my love of ferry boats. Devonport according to the brochure is a lovely Auckland suburb with various cafes and an active volcano you can climb. My mother can attest that I am very skeptical of climbing an active volcano. Volcanoes aren't messing around, they can go anytime and POOF you're covered in molten lava....yea no I'm going to take a hard pass on that.
Also right outside my window of the hotel is a Parade for Santa which thus far has included 4 different bagpipe groups and a float dedicated to Taylor Swift's Shake It Off music video, including kids dressed up as the dancers in the video. It's kind of awesome. And of course Olaf made an appearance. So now that I've been wandering around Auckland all afternoon, I'm going to sit in the window sill and watch this parade and read a little bit before I met up with Contiki later tonight. I met the group leader Laura and she's pretty cool, just waiting to meet this mysterious roommate of mine. Oh and there's zombies and Halloween floats playing thriller in this Christmas parade...and 6 bagpipe groups.
