Aussie McBlog

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)

posted by Sara @ 9:13 AM