Saturday 21st June
I was out of bed and in front of the TV in the hostel living room by 07.00 to watch the second quarter-final of Euro 2008: Croatia versus Turkey. It was a fairly dull game until the last couple of minutes of extra-time when it started to go mental: Croatia took the lead only for Turkey to come storming back with an equaliser a minute later. The Turks went on to win it on penalties and set up a semi-final clash with Germany. One of the German lads who was staying in the hostel – Thomas – was saying how bad it was going to be, given the potential for trouble between Germans and the Turkish immigrant population in Germany.
I didn't do a great deal for the rest of the day, just pottered about town. Later in the evening, I went out with some of the guys for a curry at an Indian restaurant in Mount Eden and then for a couple of drinks. It was good craic, and I was happy to have met some really cool people, they were really easy to get along with. I was starting to really like the hostel and the people that were staying there; it was definitely not the average hostel and, although I would prefer to have moved on from Auckland sooner, it was far from the worst place I could be spending a few days.
