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Published: February 21st 2010
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Day 67, 68 & 69: Tuesday, February 2nd - Thursday, February 4th, 2010
Auckland, New Zealand.
Even though I hadn't slept in forever, my body still decided that after 7 hours I was ready to be awake. So, I woke up at 3 am on Tuesday and couldn't go back to sleep. So I worked on the blog and cruised the net which, thanks to the time difference, a lot of my friends were online. Auckland is 18 hours ahead of the East Coast. Around 8 am I get ready for the day and head out the door around 9.
I decide to go to
Kelly Tarlton's Antarctic Encounter which is an aquarium of sorts. Kelly was an accomplished diver who took some old, no longer used sewer tanks and canals and transformed them into aquariums. Then he put a bunch of clear tubes for people to walk in so you could look up and around at the sea life. Pretty cool. It's located right outside city limits in an area called Mission Bay. I walked around Mission Bay briefly but they were very proud of their lunch prices so I decided to head back into Auckland.
I stop at a
shopping center on my way back to the hotel and pick up some clothes for the now warm climate I'm in as well as some groceries to help me make it thru the next few days and save some money. I get back to the hotel and enjoy my first
Peanut Butter & Jelly sandwich that I have had since November. I can't believe how much I miss that staple. I play on the internet some and respond to a couple of ads on Craigslist (no, not the "Casual Encounters" section) of people living in Auckland looking to meet new people. Pretty much just chilled the rest of the day.
So, I'm now writing this blog on 2/8/10 at 7am while waiting for our bus to leave Waitomo. So, I can't remember much else in Auckland so I'm going to just summarize. I had a couple of people respond to my Craigslist responses. One girl, ironically enough, was Amanda from the States who was moving to Auckland. Problem was, she didn't get in until Saturday and I was leaving Friday. The other reply was from Zeke who was from Scotland and living in Auckland now. So, I got together for drinks/dinner with
him and his friend, Carl (from Britain), on Wednesday and had some laughs. He was getting together with other American Amanda when she got to town, but I warned him he had already met the best (no offense other Amanda!) 😊
On Thursday I mailed a bunch of stuff back to the States and went up in the Auckland
Sky Tower (NZ tour guide later called it the Hypodermic Needle). It is blah blah blah tall and has quite a view from up there. You can also bungy off of it (uh, don't think so) or do a "Sky Walk" where they hook you up to some safety cords and lead you on a walk outside of the top of the tower. That I could do, but I'm planning on climbing the
Sydney Bridge so I'll save my money for that. That night, I get together with Zeke again and we have a few drinks (I offended the Scotsman, I think, by only having a Coke). You know how each nationality has a catch phrase that they are known for? Like the Scots saying "Lassie" or Aussies saying "G'Day"? Well, according to Zeke, there are two American phrases that we're known
for: "Douche" and "Dude". Sadly, I use both- wish we were known for something else though. We call it an early night and I head back to the hotel to pack up Monstro. Tomorrow I start the Contiki New Zealand tour.
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Chris
non-member comment
You met some dudes on Craigslist who were douches?
To prove their mousey worth, they'll overthrow the earth... starting with New Zealand..