I shiver with excitement as we make our final decent into Auckland. The aerial view of New Zealand is stunning--jagged fingers of mountainous land surrounded by shimmering ocean!
After drawing some NZ money from the ATM, a man approached us inquiring if we needed a ride to town. Christopher looked like the Winne the Pooh character "Christopher Robin" all grown up. His slight build was dressed in a striped tee, brown linen shorts, and blue socks. He topped off this look with a rumpled rainbow shouler bag. He had been waiting for some couchsurfers to arrive but they didn't show. Normally, I am skeptical of such offers but my intuition and previous experience with members of the Couchsurfing organization have been overwelmingly positive. Exiting the airport, I relished the crisp Auckland summer air--a refreshing change from the sweltering heat of Fiji!
Pentlands Hostel is located about 20 minutes from Auckland but a world away from it's hustle and bustle in a suburb called Mount Eden. The white trimmed pewter house was impossibly cute with potted succulents on its wooden deck. It also had a large kitchen, computers, laundry facilities, and immaculate bathrooms with hot water. All for a $20 NZ (or about $16 USD) a night. Hooray!
We spent our first day in Auckland walking, walking everywhere. The "City of Sails" is New Zealand's largest city inhabited by over a million people but with its abundance of trees and parks it feels more homey. We strolled past tree-lined Victoria Park where people were sprawled out reading, playing, relaxing. Viaduct Harbor is filled with shops, chic restaurants, and upscale apartments. Laura suggests a little turkish cafe on nearby K Rd. for dinner that proves to be delicious.
The next day, a fellow hosteller, Caitlan offers to take us in her car to hike to Fairy Falls in the Waitakere Ranges. Caitlan has been living in NZ for several months and is a wealth of knowledge about local plants and the Maori words for them. She pointed out Kauri the largest trees in NZ and their girth reminds me of redwoods. Mamaku are black ferns whose trunks are "normal" looking on the bottom but turn into a kind of hexagonal pattern higher up. Kawakawa (don't you love these Maori names?) are edible, minty, and medical for a host of ailments. Kaikomaka is bushman's tolietpaper! Caitlan also helped me realize I have been butchering the names of most towns and titles in NZ. Maori words are spoken with equal emphasis on each part of the word and usually phonetically. Also, "Wh" is pronounced as "F" So, for example, Whakatane is "Fock-a-tawny." Caitlan also doesn't wear shoes--even hiking! Nevertheless, she easily kept us with us as we hiked through the forest. We spent the rest of the afternoon drinking in the beauty of our surroundings at the base of Fairy Falls--sharing our thoughts, opinions, and dreams on everything. We finished our day with a hike up Mount Eden. Looking out upon this beautiful city at dusk, I could not have asked for a more idyllic day.
Our last day in Auckland we decide we need a car for further travels south. I have looked into other options--buses, rideshares, etc.--but after researching the rental options we find Budget Rental is actually cheaper. New Zealand drives on the left and it took me a good hour to get used to it while simultaneously trying to negotiate the roads of this huge city. Eventually we escape the confines of the city and it's all open road and renewed excitement. We are headed for the Eastern Cape!
P.S. "Hokey Pokey" is vanilla ice cream embedded with balls of honey and it is the best thing to ever happen to me.
After drawing some NZ money from the ATM, a man approached us inquiring if we needed a ride to town. Christopher looked like the Winne the Pooh character "Christopher Robin" all grown up. His slight build was dressed in a striped tee, brown linen shorts, and blue socks. He topped off this look with a rumpled rainbow shouler bag. He had been waiting for some couchsurfers to arrive but they didn't show. Normally, I am skeptical of such offers but my intuition and previous experience with members of the Couchsurfing organization have been overwelmingly positive. Exiting the airport, I relished the crisp Auckland summer air--a refreshing change from the sweltering heat of Fiji!
Pentlands Hostel is located about 20 minutes from Auckland but a world away from it's hustle and bustle in a suburb called Mount Eden. The white trimmed pewter house was impossibly cute with potted succulents on its wooden deck. It also had a large kitchen, computers, laundry facilities, and immaculate bathrooms with hot water. All for a $20 NZ (or about $16 USD) a night. Hooray!
We spent our first day in Auckland walking, walking everywhere. The "City of Sails" is New Zealand's largest city inhabited by over a million people but with its abundance of trees and parks it feels more homey. We strolled past tree-lined Victoria Park where people were sprawled out reading, playing, relaxing. Viaduct Harbor is filled with shops, chic restaurants, and upscale apartments. Laura suggests a little turkish cafe on nearby K Rd. for dinner that proves to be delicious.
The next day, a fellow hosteller, Caitlan offers to take us in her car to hike to Fairy Falls in the Waitakere Ranges. Caitlan has been living in NZ for several months and is a wealth of knowledge about local plants and the Maori words for them. She pointed out Kauri the largest trees in NZ and their girth reminds me of redwoods. Mamaku are black ferns whose trunks are "normal" looking on the bottom but turn into a kind of hexagonal pattern higher up. Kawakawa (don't you love these Maori names?) are edible, minty, and medical for a host of ailments. Kaikomaka is bushman's tolietpaper! Caitlan also helped me realize I have been butchering the names of most towns and titles in NZ. Maori words are spoken with equal emphasis on each part of the word and usually phonetically. Also, "Wh" is pronounced as "F" So, for example, Whakatane is "Fock-a-tawny." Caitlan also doesn't wear shoes--even hiking! Nevertheless, she easily kept us with us as we hiked through the forest. We spent the rest of the afternoon drinking in the beauty of our surroundings at the base of Fairy Falls--sharing our thoughts, opinions, and dreams on everything. We finished our day with a hike up Mount Eden. Looking out upon this beautiful city at dusk, I could not have asked for a more idyllic day.
Our last day in Auckland we decide we need a car for further travels south. I have looked into other options--buses, rideshares, etc.--but after researching the rental options we find Budget Rental is actually cheaper. New Zealand drives on the left and it took me a good hour to get used to it while simultaneously trying to negotiate the roads of this huge city. Eventually we escape the confines of the city and it's all open road and renewed excitement. We are headed for the Eastern Cape!
P.S. "Hokey Pokey" is vanilla ice cream embedded with balls of honey and it is the best thing to ever happen to me.
Sounds very cool!! You should be writing a book!!!! Love you!!
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