Well, This was the last destination of my week and half vacation of the North Island for the April mid-semester break. Sorry for putting this last blog up so late, and all the others too I might add. Time sure does get away from me!
Auckland. The City of Sails. The biggest metropolitan area in New Zealand with just over 1 million people. Sounds good to us Americans or to those who live in or have visited NYC, right?! Arriving in Auckland in the late afternoon on a bus had me amazed. The highway system was a tangle and looked like a bowl of spaghetti on my map. I would have dreaded driving on those roads at rush hour. Little did I know that my fears were manifested a few months later when my family came to visit and we were driving these very same roads late at night trying to find our hotel. Luckily, I wasn't driving; my dad got those honors. But I had to navigate and I sheepishly say I didn't help out our situation very much. We ended up crossing a harbor bridge erroneously and had a trying time figuring out how to get back on the dang thing! Alas, that trip is another story.
After being dropped off at the Britomart, I lugged my pack to the nearest watering hole, which happened to be the mall food court across the street and had a bite to eat. Then I found which bus I had to take to get to my hostel, The Bamber House. I checked in, settled in and headed to the grocery store to pick up fuel for the next day. After a long day of travelling I relaxed with one of the Harry Potter movies in the louge.
The next day I scaled Mount Eden, a dormant volcanic cone. On my way up (I'm talking like its Mt. Everest, but it wasn't that big, just steep) I came across some Holsteins! Can you believe it? Cows in Auckland! I snapped a photo of a few grazing with the SkyTower in the background. At the top, I had an amazing 360˚ view of the city and a cool view of the crater itself, it looked like it would be fun to climb into but not allowed.
Next stop, Auckland CBD. I had quite a day riding the free shuttle bus in a loop, hanging out and shopping in the Aotea Square Market, walking to Victoria Park Market, having lunch at a cafe near SkyTower and meeting some interesting people along the way. This was also ANZAC Day, which is a memorial day for soldiers in WWI & WWII. This meant most of the city was closed for half a day. It was nice to be in Auckland when it wasn't so busy.
That night I went to a comedy show. It was Arj Barker. He is an American who had a small role in Flight of the Conchords. Quite a funny show I might add. It was a unique experience being an American at Barker's comedy show because he inevitably talked about America-and joked about its superiority. He got some hecklers, which was probably the funniest part of the show.
The next day I flew back to Chch via Qantas. I enjoyed my lone experience of NZ, but was also to be back to familiarity.
