October 15 - Sunday
Auckland
Still no word about our bags so we paid for another night. The "breakfast" that came with our accomodation fee consisted of bread, butter, and vegemite. I tried vegemite while at Rory's house in England - he totally loves the stuff and I had tried just a taste once before while working night shift as a nurse (one does all sorts of strange things while working night shift!) and I just don't think this is a product that I can enjoy. There is all you can drink instant coffee, tea and sugar which I am trying to make the most of but now we know it's not worth getting up during the designated breakfast times.
Jon had found the infamous Adventure cycles and it was really close by so we walked and it turned out to be someone's home. Bruce is currently working out of his garage and we had a long discussion of trailer options and accessories for the bikes - and we pumped up the tires of the bike we had walked up to his store. We still couldn't ride the bike since we didn't have our helmets. Sigh.
We made arrangements to stay in contact with Bruce as he would call his supplier to find out our options on Monday. Back at the guesthouse we emailed and continued to plan so we would be ready whenever our bags were returned - if they were returned.
Later in the afternoon we got word that our bag was spotted in Sydney with no luggage tag - it had been ripped off and since we had not attached a ticket with an address of where we could be located they just kept the bag. Lesson learned although we had no idea where we would be staying while in NZ and we certainly didn't want the bags to be sent back to our address in the States but I guess we could have left a contact number at least - now we know. Jon had to list off the contents of the bag to verify that they were indeed ours before they would put it on a plane for NZ.
Things were looking up and the weather outside was improving from occasional showers and blustery winds to just blustery winds so we decided to go out and get some groceries at Foodtown using our new discount cards. I need facial cleanser and moisturizer and I forgot to get shower soap because I was too absorbed the day before with what type of hair shampoo and conditioner to buy. I specifically mention these items as my complexion has really been effected by the climate changes we've gone through on this trip. While we were in Italy and France biking I could use the facial cleanser with the microbeats that exfoliated everyday because by the end of the day my face was so dirty and sweaty it needed it. We both used facial moisturizer with SPF 30 in it so that was taken care of. While in the UK I used a foaming cleanser not long before we left when the temperature dropped and/or when we were in Scotland and Wales with the occasional moisturizer. In Thailand with all the humidity I just used a regular cleanser with microbeats as it was so humid and my face got so sweaty and initially our skin loved the humidity but toward the end of our stay my skin rebelled, probably because my cleanser was too abrasive and so I've had more breakouts on my skin in the past few weeks than I have had in the last five years. In Korea it was warm and humid but on a lesser scale then Thailand so my skin continued freaking out. The air pollution didn't help and my sensitive skin really started to react. Now we're in NZ and it's Spring weather. We're wearing long sleeves, hats, pants, fleece and turn the heater on at night.
"So what kind of skin do you have?" - J
"I have oily skin and dry skin, it's combination skin but it's also sensitive so, espcially in the winter, it can get really dry and flakey and then when you kiss me or rub your face on me when you're all stubbley it get's even more dry and irritated. It's tricky." - S
Jon seemed to find my complexion challenges amusing and laughed heartily which made me laugh too as I realized I would not be getting any sympathy from him. So I stood in front of the wall of facial cleansers and moisturizers trying to figure out what to get. I wanted a cleanser that wasn't too drying - that would moisturize, but not too much as it would than make the oily parts even more oily but then it would likely not make the dry spots less dry and I certainly couldn't expect complete moisturizing from a cleanser which is why I also needed a moisturizer that was light so as not to make the oily parts clogged or oiler but moisturizing enough to take care of the dry parts. A moisturizing cleanser is a complete contradiction - this I know. What happens is that one ends up buying a cleanser that strips away layers of skin cells and then seals what moisture is left in there with the moisturizer. Then, if you're like me, and sweat and the slightest increase in heart rate, it makes your face all slimey making you wipe your face, if you're able to or it dries making the whole situation even more dry from the salt in the sweat.
While I've gone on and on about this topic I actually could go, well, on and on some more - but I'll stop there.
There is a big Hindu (I think)holiday coming up this month and it may have been this weekend so there was a festival set up near the port with all sorts of Indian food booths and native crafts. There was lots of tradition Indian clothing which is so beautiful and colorful and we watched some dancers performing on a stage. We were certainly the minorities but it didn't matter. After a while we walked around downtown Aukland. We wanted to get some more cash but our debit cards were not working in any of the cash machines - this sucked as we couldn't call our bank until late, late Monday or Tuesday as they are not open on weekends. It was getting late, and cold so we headed back to the lodge a good 30 minute walk away. We had a little snack before hitting the sack. Hopefully, we will be getting our bag tomorrow and have more firm plans on a trailer.
