Friday, November 11, 2006: Auckland (Devonport)
Our last full day in Auckland. We had a leisurely start and breakfast over Starbucks. We had no definite plans but we knew we wanted to explore a bit rather than just sit and watch the world go by.
Eventually we found ourselves at the harbour, which was quite beautiful if you could put out of mind the commercial dock rubbish. We ate our lunch on a bench: more peanut butter and bread and fruit. We wondered what people must think of us. Then we realized that we didn’t care.
We bought some tickets to go over to Devonport, which is a historical area of Auckland that’s just across the harbour. The ferry ride was fun; from the water, Auckland city is even prettier. It’s a big city, full of shiny buildings, but it’s not so intimidating that you feel overwhelmed by it.
Yeah, you know, I don’t think I would be looking too impressed either, if I were a 12-year-old kid still being held captive in a carrying case. OK, so maybe he’s not 12, but still you catch my drift.
As soon as we landed at Devonport, we hopped on the little old tour bus with possibly the craziest old man tour guide in the entire history of the universe. Devonport has quite a story, and it is a quaint little area. If by quaint you mean home to the very richest on the North Island. But, to be honest, we were a little too busy giggling at this old man. He was muttering nonsensically and rambling on quietly about various things, all the while driving about 10km in the same gear.
Mmmm… grass.
He took us to the top of a hill where we frolicked for a bit, and then back down the hill where we frolicked some more. Then it was all over and we hung out in Devonport for a while. They had some amazing used bookstores and some amazingly overpriced souvenir shops.
Then we were back on the ferry and back to where we started. Overall, the tour gets an A+ in my books simply because of the crazy old man, and I think Karana would agree.
Back at Base, Karana went up to our room and I went to the travel agency to book the next leg of my tour. I got the bus pass that I was looking for, but unfortunately the tour I wanted to do was completely booked. I didn’t realize it at the time, but that really ended up being a great piece of news.
We treated ourselves to Burger King for dinner--in New Zealand they call it Burger King, but in Australia it’s Hungry Jack’s. Needless to say, we were impressed at the notion of not having to eat peanut butter on bread again.
Karana returned to Base and I went to find a computer so I could figure out my plans. I booked a flight from Cairns to Melbourne but nothing else was adding up so I decided to wait until I was back in Australia to deal with it all.
We had some awesome roommates that night at Base--8 other girls--and we spent the rest of the evening giggling over things that only girls would appreciate before calling it a night. There were a few girls needing to get up stupid early, so lights were out before midnight.
(fin)
Thursday, November 10, 2005: Paihia to Auckland
After our super busy day of cruising in the sand-bus up to Cape Reinga, Karana and I settled in with Dumb and Dumber and then bonded with our new roomies, a trio from the UK. The Welsh guy amused me; he had met a girl from Vancouver and was wondering how easy it would be to go there and find her, knowing only her first name. I laughed at him for about three hours (kidding).
The next morning, Karana and I spent a good while trying to figure out what to do. Paihia has just about anything crazy that you want to do. Crazy Kiwis will do anything you can think of. We pondered over skydiving, but it was just too expensive. Boo for everything being so gosh darn expensive. Boo tourist traps. Boo.
(coolest boat-thing EVER)
In the end, we settled on a $5 ferry ride to Russell Island so we could have a wander. Huzzah for cheap! When we landed we thought it would be fun to hire one of the many paddle boats that we had seen lying on the shore, but do you think we could find the guy who rented them out? Of course not. We went to the information desk, where the lady kind of smiled sympathetically and informed us that the guy showed up once in a while, one or two times a week, when he felt like it. I think hearing that was worth the disappointment of not being able to paddle around like idiots in the bay.
After looking for all of the free entertainment, we went for a hike up to the top of Russell Island, which involved meandering through people’s yards (really, they need to mark the damn trail better!), and Karana explained the process of the rush to me (she’s in a sorority at her home uni). It all sounds very complicated. If I were in a sorority, I would haze everyone constantly, just for fun.
We plodded back down and sat in the shade on the beach while we had our lunch. At this point I have to mention that we had been carrying around a bag of bread and a tub of peanut butter, as well as some fruit that we picked up from a crazy old man on the side of the road. Best kiwis and oranges I’ve ever had.
Just as we arrived back at the dock, the ferry was sailing away. We had an hour to wait, and we killed the time by playing stupid games and just generally embarrassing ourselves/annoying the people in our vicinity.
Made it back to the Pipi Patch safely and waited around for our new driver to whisk us back to Auckland. Cane was nice, though I tried to ignore him as he rattled on about this and that. I continued to be toured out, and both Karana and I found ourselves getting a little bit annoyed. What a couple of moody ladies we are! At least we weren’t getting annoyed with one another.
After checking back into Base, we watched some TV and went to sleep in a room full of new roommates.
I've been so bad!!!
Gah! School is an evil sucubus that is stealing all of my free time!
But I'll back back into the swing of things soon!
Adventures to follow! I promise!
Tuesday, November 8, 2005: Auckland to Paihia
Up up up we were, bright and early and out the door. After storing our luggage with the hostel (“Ve’ll be back!!!!”), we stumbled sleepily out-of-doors and into the morning chill.
(pic by Lucy Black)
A large green bus was already waiting, a somewhat crazy man waiting to accept our luggage. He introduced himself as our driver, and insisted that his name was K-9. Again, crazy. But I think one must be a bit crazy to drive a tour bus for KiwiExperience.
The bus was not at all crowded, and the general consensus was that we were tired. There were a couple of Germans (there are always Germans), a few Americans, and handful of Poms and Aussies, and I think one Kiwi couple. Though the ride took about 5 hours, we started before 7. Stops included, we arrived in Paihia (also known as the Bay of Islands because there are 144 islands in the bay) about half twelve. After having seen New Zealand country side in abundance, let me clarify one thing: there are many, many sheep. It was a lovely little journey, especially since I spent the bulk of it dozing and looking out of the window, both of which feature high on my list of “favorite things to do while in a moving vehicle”.
We checked into the Pipi Patch, a kitschy little hostel with a pub that looks as though it’s been transported from the set of Gilligan’s Island. Afterwards, we wandered to pay for a boat tour and took in the scenery for the better part of an hour. Paihia reminds me a bit of a hybrid: the touristy attractions of White Rock Beach, but when you cross the street, it suddenly becomes much homier and you feel like you’re at Crescent Beach. Only different. Yeah… the same but different.
A more about this boat tour. This is not any boat, it’s the Excitor Boat. WOOOOOOOO. We’re talking a 1600 horsepower boat with an entire ocean of track; a water roller coaster not recommended for the weak of heart. One must remember that New Zealand is the place if you want to get flung off something, flung through something, or [as in our case], flung across something. The Bay of Islands, that is.
We arrived at their office and immediately got suited up in giant red rubber gear, complete with little waterproof bags for our cameras. I’ll be honest with you. I looked hot. Karana looked hot. We looked HOT. After being warned that the experience would be increasingly turbulent as you moved up the boat, Karana and I took the very front seats, the ones with the extra seat-beltage and guard rails. Eeee!!!
There was screaming. There was shrieking. There was laughter. Best roller coaster ever! And every time we hit a wave we would go flying out of our seats only to come back with a nice BUMP! Thundering across the water like a giant I-don’t-know-what off into the deep of the wine-dark sea [I lifted that term from Fagles, who makes me shiver with his brilliance], we stopped at The Hole in the Rock, which is a… hole in the rock, which we WENT THROUGH.
Gah!!!! The we were delightfully scared out of our wits by the captain’s tales of shark attacks. Oh those silly Kiwis.
My biggest mistake was wearing shoes. They were so full of water by the time we pulled back to the dock that they were actually sloshing with every step I took. It was only amusing for about a minute, then it annoyed me.
Back the Pipi Patch, I set my shoes out to dry, and we did what everyone in Paihia apparently does. We slummed and relaxed and enjoyed a quiet afternoon and evening of simple existence.
Then, after dinner *shudder*, we watched *shudder shudder* 8mm with Nicolas Cage. Pretty much the most disturbing movie I have seen in a long time. I actually thought it was going to give me nightmares, but thankfully I managed to calm down before we called it a night.
Monday, November 7, 2005: Around Auckland
“So… what do you want to do?”
“I dunno, what do you want to do?”
“No, what do YOU want to do?”
“Um, I don’t really care.”
“Yeah, me neither.”
“Well, whatever you want to do is fine.”
“I’d be cool with pretty much anything. I’m easy.”
The problem with me and Karana is that both of us turned out to be pretty laid back when it comes to traveling. I’m so easily amused that sitting and looking at things is good enough for me. And Karana, well, she calls it laziness, but I think she’s just low maintenance. And then there's all that Hawaiian in her.
We ended up settling on an exploration of Auckland. After a marvelous sleep-in thanks to those gorgeous Egyptian cotton sheets, we had a rather late start, but neither of us seemed to care much. Umm, vacation! HELLO?!
It was sprinkling with rain as we zigzagged our way down to the wharf and then zigzagged into a mall to buy a duffel bag and then zigzagged up and down some streets, picking up small souvenirs here and there. I often wonder how effective zigzagging is, especially when one (or two) does/do not have any sort of game plan whatsoever aside from “find Base Backpackers before it gets dark.”
And find it we did. We were both feeling a bit “meh” despite being in a pretty city that was not too hot, not too cold (just right, actually; like I said, it reminded me of Vancouver). I think… no, I KNOW that it was because we were both feeling a bit of separation anxiety after having just left Campus East. After a few more stops (including a stint in the local Starbucks, where they messed my drink up not once, not even twice, but thrice), we were back at the hostel in the late afternoon and remained there, reading and relaxing in preparation for an early start the next morning on the big green bus... DUN DUN DUN!
[ps - note the zigzagging in the map above]
Sunday, November 6, 2005: Wollongong - Auckland
My clock radio was the last thing to be packed, and it sounded the alarm at something sick like 6 in the morning. My last final exam had been the previous day, so packing hadn’t begun until I returned to my room. Oh, and then I had to go see Hayley at the North Wollongong Hotel one more time before I took off. Needless to say, I was up until 4:30 am, packing my life into not-so-neat-and-tidy bags and boxes.
Adrenaline and sadness kicked in soon, however, and I was alert with anticipation as I did a final survey of my home for the last four-and-a-half months. I didn’t blow kisses, but I DID leave several large and unpleasant bags sitting on my bed, waiting to be tucked into storage by the manly men who work in maintenance for Campus East. Yay that.
Karana’s expression mirrored mine as I bustled past to place my alarm clock in a box of things for donation to the next round of exchange students. We said goodbye to remaining friends, and the ever-faithful Monique walked us to the end of the field. From there, we had only the flies to keep us company as we trudged towards the train station. Ha. Reminds me of that line from Aladdin: “AND ONLY YOUR FLEAS WILL MOURN YOU.” I was sad to be leaving, although sometimes I think I tend to over-dramatize (see below).
The train ride was uneventful. Karana let me snooze in between train changes, and we arrived at Sydney Kingsford with plenty of time to spare. And then it was time to board a place destined for Auckland, New Zealand! I must digress for a moment to say that Air New Zealand is the best ever. Personal TVs with movies and games and heaps of leg room. Woot!!!
When we arrived in Auckland, we grabbed our things and changed our money. The Aussie dollar has a slight advantage over the New Zealand dollar, so it appeared that we had more money than we had started with, which is always good when you’re a delusional student trying to pinch pennies like your wonderful and squeaky Scottish father has tried to teach you (and you’ve mostly ignored).
Auckland immediately reminded me of Vancouver. And what’s the best part about living in Vancouver? What’s that? The rain, you say? Why yes! Yes, it WAS raining, and I was delighted. We hailed a cab (Actually, we got into a shuttle, but doesn’t “hailed a cab” sound more dramatic? Yes, I thought so too.) and were on our way to Base Backpackers. The driver was piping Yanni through the speakers, and after a short ride, during which the rain stopped, I was ready for a nap.
Base is brilliant. Great location, nice rooms, plus, we opted to stay on a girls-only floor (prevents spread of cooties) called Sanctuary, and so we got Egyptian cotton bed linen and free shampoo. Sometimes being a girl has its advantages.
The rest of my evening--and in truth, Karana’s as well--was spent lying on giant throw-pillows watching TV in the common room. TV was such a rare treat at Campus East, and a novelty for the nomad, as I would soon discover.
Sweet dreams soon followed…
