You can always tell when things are going well if you
haven’t heard from me in a while! That
means I’m too busy having a good time to write
about it :)
It has actually surprised me how quickly I’ve settled back
into the backpacking life. I think it
helps that where as last time I freaked out once I had landed in Sydney this time
I got any freaking out done on the plane ride over!
The flight from Newark to
L.A. was fine but it was upon boarding the flight from L.A. to Auckland when I
realized I was about embark on a 13 hour flight to a country I had never been
to and knew no one. It also didn’t help
that I was seated next to a pretty creepy gentleman with a staring problem as well as
an ego problem. The first thing he did
when I sat down was hand me his iPad and tell me to read his article that was
just published. It was about 1am EST by
that point and as fascinating as wind energy is I really wasn’t in the mood to
read about Dr. Creepy McCreepster’s findings.
I tried to read my own book, he kept asking me questions. I tried to put my headphones on, still Dr. C
kept chatting. So I did what was necessary;
I asked a flight attendant if I could switch with someone that was closer to
the bathrooms because I wasn’t feeling well.
Instant solution and an aisle seat with no one sitting next to me, 13
hours later I landed rested and cool as a cucumber!
The first hostel I arrived at was YHA International for 2
nights. I managed to stay awake all day
which pretty much avoided any jet lag! This
was partially from the help of 2 English guys and 1 Belgium guy who I ended up
drinking wine and watching movies with, in the hostel, till the wee hours of
the morning. This is what made me
instantly remember what I love most about traveling; meeting new people from
around the world and sharing stories about where you come from.
While exploring Auckland I found a beautiful park that surrounds Auckland
University. While exploring I ended up meeting
a guy originally from Christchurch who moved up here after the
earthquakes. When the earthquake hit he
was riding a motorbike over a bridge that collapsed. When he came to he was in a hospital bed with
2 broken arms surrounded by people who were much worse off than he was. Pretty scary stuff but he seems to have a
very positive attitude like most Kiwis I’ve met.
Since the Rugby World Cup is currently in Auckland, all accommodation
is pretty booked up so I had to go to a second hostel, The Brown Kiwi! This one is in a more like a small house in Ponsonby,
an artsy suburb just outside Auckland. There
is an outside area with benches and fountains with coy fish as well as an
indoor tv area to hang out in. Here I
met some fantastic people from from France, Germany, the Netherlands, South
Africa, Ireland, England and of course New Zealand. I also met my favorite permanent resident of
the hostel, Stephie the cat! She greets
me at my door in the morning and is always looking for someone to give her
attention!
The first night at the Brown Kiwi I headed down to Queens
Warf with some hostel mates to take part in the Rugby Festivities! There is an area called “The Cloud” with a Fan Zone set up with bars, live music and giant screens to watch the
games. Saturday night was the French vs
Wales semi-final game and before the game started there was an amazing band,
Opshop, playing on the main stage. The French were everywhere in red, white and
blue wigs, crazy outfits and face paint.
It does feel like I am the only one in this city who is not here for
Rugby, not to mention doesn’t have a clue what it’s all about!
Sunday was spent exploring Ponsonby, I had a delicious lunch
at “Bliss,” and hung out in the sunshine back at the hostel with everyone
including Stephie :)
The real entertainment of the afternoon was when one German
guy Merlin, asked if anyone could give him a haircut. He was very specific in what he was looking
for: sides shaved and top long. Hanna decided she would try and here was the
result:
(Before)
(After)
Sunday night was the most important game: Australia vs New
Zealand (huge rivals in and out of sports). Hanna
and I headed downtown and ended up at an awesome bar down by Queens Warf. It felt like I was in something out of Alice
in Wonderland with hundreds of lamps hanging upside down from the ceiling. The bar was packed and everyone was extremely
excited for the game! The one thing
about Rugby is that while fans are extremely passionate about their teams
everyone’s just there to have a good time and get along. I haven’t seen or heard one fight and there
is very minimal security. I can’t help but think that if this was happening in
America things would be quiet different and many bar fights would be witnessed.
While watching the
game and drinking pear cider I realized I think I finally understood how this
game is played and that it’s actually pretty interesting! While enjoying the game I managed to make
some important new friends, one who works for the company who owns the bar we
were in as well as several other bars around the country looking for help! We exchanged information and when I sent him
my resume the next day I found out he also books music acts for these bars! He forwarded my resume to some bar/café owners
and my music to some other musicians who may be interested in collaborating!
Well New Zealand ended up winning, which
means they’re onto the finals, so herds of happy people filled the streets of Auckland! Through the thousands of people celebrating I randomly ran into one of the guys I had met at my first hostel! We went for one last drink, followed by
McDonalds and then Hanna and I grabbed a taxi back to the hostel!
We ended the night in our bunks having a last beer, chatting
and laughing till we fell asleep. So, overall
a very successful outing; New Zealand won, I had my McDonalds and I may have
even gotten a job out of it all!
Till next time!
