April 13 Day 57
We got up and had breakfast with the Easter Island Girl's soccer team. We shared a taxi to the airport with two other people from our hostel and got there in plenty of time. Meg had to submit her tax free form for the pearl she bought and I changed our money into New Zealand dollars. Giovanni was at the gate and sat with us.
We boarded the plane, had functional entertainment pads and were given a huge brunch.
April 14 Day 58
We crossed the International Date Line, so now it was Sunday.
Landing in Auckland it took a long time to get through their bio-security centre. Immigration was automated, with a passport scanner and a few questions asked on a tablet. The bio people had us remove our hiking boots and pole and have a look at the 6 months worth of med we needed to take.
Once we eventually got through, our friend Richard met us at the gate and drove us to our hostel at a Buddhist Centre. They didn't bill us for our missed night and showed us to a very homey room in a nice space. The kitchen was full of food and the idea was that you took what you wanted and placed money you felt appropriate in the donation jar. There was lots of space there and our host was very friendly.
Richard drove us around and we had a nice lunch at an open restaurant in a big park. We talked about Heather, his wife who died of Huntington's, who was the sister of our friend Darrin, who died the same way. We had a nice walk and noticed that the park had sheep that roamed across roads and hung out in fields with the other park users. It felt nice to have a cool breeze and no humidity after sweating it out for the past week or so.
We went to his place and had a good chat and then were dropped off at the centre. Meg enjoyed some Vegemite and we had tea and snacks. We had planned to get some trip work done but the wifi didn't work and no one was around to fix it. After being reminded that multiple channels doesn't mean there's anything worth watching on tv we went to bed. It was so nice to be in a warm bed in a cool room and we slept well.
April 15 Day 59
We woke up and had a good breakfast in their kitchen. Cereals that weren't Cheerios or Corn Flakes! Bodums! Fresh fruit! It was all good. We chatted with our host, who also wanted the wifi to work and had a technician coming in, and did laundry.
We walked downtown to do some errands. They have a public scooter share and people were zipping by on them all the time. Some were weaving dangerously through pedestrians, much like the worst Toronto cyclists. Other than that, it was nice to be in a city without a language barrier for us. We found books, a food court, a post office and a few shops. There was some shock ($7 for a roll of masking tape?) but for the most part the city appeared to be quite livable with many parks and public spaces. There were many op shops on our way back and a surprising number of Turkish restaurants. Maybe the Anzac Day effect still influences the relationship between the two countries.
We headed back to our place to take down our laundry which was strung across the Buddhist book store. it was only partially dry so we left most of it up. Back in the room, I found a dead giant cockroach that must have crawled into my bag and gotten crushed when some books moved around. A solid violation of New Zealand law, I'm sure.
Richard met us and drove us around the city. We saw several nice parks and the waterfront, with yacht clubs that continued for as far as the eye could see. The amount of green space was impressive. Meg got a swimsuit and I considered some Merino wool stuff that was on sale but decided not to add to my backpack. We had a fine dinner of roast chicken and salads and then he dropped us off back at the centre.
The Zen group were meditating as we came in so we kept quiet. The wifi still didn't work so we read quietly in our room until bedtime.
We got up and had breakfast with the Easter Island Girl's soccer team. We shared a taxi to the airport with two other people from our hostel and got there in plenty of time. Meg had to submit her tax free form for the pearl she bought and I changed our money into New Zealand dollars. Giovanni was at the gate and sat with us.
We boarded the plane, had functional entertainment pads and were given a huge brunch.
April 14 Day 58
We crossed the International Date Line, so now it was Sunday.
Landing in Auckland it took a long time to get through their bio-security centre. Immigration was automated, with a passport scanner and a few questions asked on a tablet. The bio people had us remove our hiking boots and pole and have a look at the 6 months worth of med we needed to take.
Once we eventually got through, our friend Richard met us at the gate and drove us to our hostel at a Buddhist Centre. They didn't bill us for our missed night and showed us to a very homey room in a nice space. The kitchen was full of food and the idea was that you took what you wanted and placed money you felt appropriate in the donation jar. There was lots of space there and our host was very friendly.
Richard drove us around and we had a nice lunch at an open restaurant in a big park. We talked about Heather, his wife who died of Huntington's, who was the sister of our friend Darrin, who died the same way. We had a nice walk and noticed that the park had sheep that roamed across roads and hung out in fields with the other park users. It felt nice to have a cool breeze and no humidity after sweating it out for the past week or so.
We went to his place and had a good chat and then were dropped off at the centre. Meg enjoyed some Vegemite and we had tea and snacks. We had planned to get some trip work done but the wifi didn't work and no one was around to fix it. After being reminded that multiple channels doesn't mean there's anything worth watching on tv we went to bed. It was so nice to be in a warm bed in a cool room and we slept well.
April 15 Day 59
We woke up and had a good breakfast in their kitchen. Cereals that weren't Cheerios or Corn Flakes! Bodums! Fresh fruit! It was all good. We chatted with our host, who also wanted the wifi to work and had a technician coming in, and did laundry.
We walked downtown to do some errands. They have a public scooter share and people were zipping by on them all the time. Some were weaving dangerously through pedestrians, much like the worst Toronto cyclists. Other than that, it was nice to be in a city without a language barrier for us. We found books, a food court, a post office and a few shops. There was some shock ($7 for a roll of masking tape?) but for the most part the city appeared to be quite livable with many parks and public spaces. There were many op shops on our way back and a surprising number of Turkish restaurants. Maybe the Anzac Day effect still influences the relationship between the two countries.
We headed back to our place to take down our laundry which was strung across the Buddhist book store. it was only partially dry so we left most of it up. Back in the room, I found a dead giant cockroach that must have crawled into my bag and gotten crushed when some books moved around. A solid violation of New Zealand law, I'm sure.
Richard met us and drove us around the city. We saw several nice parks and the waterfront, with yacht clubs that continued for as far as the eye could see. The amount of green space was impressive. Meg got a swimsuit and I considered some Merino wool stuff that was on sale but decided not to add to my backpack. We had a fine dinner of roast chicken and salads and then he dropped us off back at the centre.
The Zen group were meditating as we came in so we kept quiet. The wifi still didn't work so we read quietly in our room until bedtime.
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| Meeting with Richard at the park. |
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| Sheep wandering about in the public park. |
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