After Running through logan barefoot and almost missing my plane by 5 mins, I have survived the flight around the world and am now officially residing in new Zealand! I arrived at 5am thursday morning so my first day was tiring. Only I would book a hotel at the top of a gigantic hill having to carry my 100 pound (more like 40pounds but felt like 100) backpack up to the top. carrying this bag around for a year better give me buns of steel! just sayin...anyways, I slept a few hours after check-in and then decided to explore a bit. I went to the tallest structure in the country, Sky Tower, to see panoramic 360 degree views of the city. Absolutely beautiful! Then I walked down to the waterfront to look at the boats and sat in the sunshine for a bit. Once noon time came around, obviously the first place I looked for was a pub. This was not as easy to find as I expected. But I found one! I talked to a real nice Irish guy who suggested that I attend the bar crawl that the hostel around the corner does every thursday. At 7pm I waited in the sports bar next to the hostel, ordered a corona, and watched the NY giants football game! I then started to talk to 2 ladies who sat down next to me: Anna, from ireland, and mel from NZ. After an hour of small talk, they Invited me out to dinner and drinks with them. Yay!! I made friends!! We went to a Thai place called 'Thai Me Up' (brilliant name, in my opinion). This was my first time eating Thai food and I have to admit I loved it! There were 5 of us who shared 5 different plates and I ate all but the seafood dish. This is Anna's last weekend here in NZ before she goes to australia for 6 weeks, indonesia, and then back home to Ireland. So they invited me out tonight for drinks as well! Unfortunetly I am staying at the airport hotel so I have to take the shuttle back into the city....BUT I made friends so it will be worth it. Im off to Dunedin tomorrow morning to visit gareth and I am hoping the weather isnt as cold as everyone has been telling me. On the plus side, I was also told it is a college town with plenty of bars and nightlife so I guess if I am cold, I'll just let the beer warm me up :)
