3/4/2010 8:14 PM
Hello New Zealand! We made it to Auckland safe and sound, and are just getting settled into our travels. The flight was surprisingly “quick.” It was 12 hrs and 30 minutes long, but the behind the seat TV screens (movies, shows, games, etc.), book reading and food eating makes it all go by so quickly. Not to mention, the seats were very spacious and comfortable. We landed around 6:30am NZ time, got the car by 8am, and were off on our merry way.
Driving on the left hand side of the road took some getting used to. Not only because of the change in sides, but the steering wheel is also switched to the other side of the car, and all the turn signals, shifters, etc. are flipped. So dealing with that requires double thinking each time you make a move, and then you’re also always thinking about which lane to be in and where the other cars are coming from, going to, etc. You’re pretty well used to it after about 30 minutes, but it can throw you for a loop at a round about every once in a while. Oh … and also narrow, winding, one way drive ways can be tricky --- I got a little too close to the curb and whoops, there goes a hub cap. Haha. Oh well, I’m now an experienced driver. ;p Oh, and way smart move on our part to bring the TomTom with NZ/AUS maps. Dang that came in handy so much. Just type in the address and follow the voice, and it’s so precise. I don’t know why I expected anything different, but it’s just such a relief to be in a foreign place, yet seamlessly get anywhere you’d like.
After getting to our hostel a little early, we left the bags in the car and drove to Mount Eden. It’s the highest point in Auckland and gave us an amazing 360 degree view of all of Auckland. There was also a crater at the top, which was pretty cool. It’s filled in with grass, but neat nonetheless. From there we went to One Tree Hill where we son tons of sheep. Apparently there are 4 million people in New Zealand, but 40 million sheep! Ha. The sheep we saw weren’t very approachable, but we still got a couple nice pictures.
It was about time for lunch by this point, so we found a nice vegetarian café in town. Very healthy and actually very delicious. Then we got my watch battery and band replaced; my battery died 7.5 hrs into the flight, and my band has needed replacement for quite some time. After that we had time for a little phone calling on Skype and then check in time at the hostel. The Skype didn’t work as well as we’d hoped, but I think that’s because of the shotty internet connection at the convenience store. We eventually did get a hold of our parents via the international cell phone. Anyway, we checked into the hostel and are “pleased” with it as far as hostel standards go. Everything is clean, the showers have individual doors you can lock, and there don’t seem to be many weird people here. Once checked into the room, we took a four hour nap, showered, got ready and are now headed for dinner.
3/4/2010 10:12 PM
Just got back from dinner, and it was a delicious meal of kebabs and water --- oh Munchen, how we miss your donner kebaps! Haha. Not as good here as in Europe, but they did the trick. Then we strolled down Queens St., kind of looking in shops (not much was open). Swung by a little pub for a beer and wine, and then got back to the hostel a bit early. The rest of the night will be spent reading and maybe watching The Office. All in all, a fun and successful day.
