Auckland: final days of NZ

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Well Liz was gone, like a thief in the night she had stolen away. I was still asleep as I left the hostel that morning due to my new bed (a top bunk) being situated beneath the bathroom, all the naked pipes were above my head. This meant that whenever anyone used the loo in the night it literally sounded like the roof was crashing in under the weight of water. Imagine how good you’d feel being woken throughout the night, one minute in a peaceful sleep, the next wide awake in a cold sweat, thinking the roof was caving in above you. I basically looked like Ren from Ren and Stimpy; all blood shot eyes and jangling nerves.

I began my day by going up the Sky Tower, It was very funny to see the guys jumping from this point of view. What I was surprised about was how I felt walking over the panels of clear glass set into the floor of the observation deck. I could hardly walk over them, it was ridiculous; I’ve been bungee jumping, sky diving and this I couldn’t do easily. I felt literally week at the knees and had butterflies until I came down again. So weird. My next stop was the Victoria park markets which are an indoor market that sell everything and any thing. After heading back to the hostel to wrap a huge parcel of stuff I needed to send home, I got talking to one of the guys in our dorm. I’m surprised we hadn’t noticed him yesterday, he was Chilean and was gorgeous- the other three girls in our dorm plus me were practically swooning, bloody ridiculous at my age! He told me that he’d been in the bunk I am in and had to move because he also couldn’t stand waking several times a night thinking the roof was crashing in on him.

After posting my parcel I took a little walk around the city, I really love this place. There are so many hidden gems down the back streets. I ended up having a coffee and cake at a little back street coffee shop which was lovely until two dirty great pigeons tried to steal my cake. They were the scankiest pigeons I’ve ever seen, one with a club foot and both a greasy as a couple of Hobos. I was checking in my bag one second and as I looked up the next I was face to face with these two hideous birds. The people around me were laughing as I made girly flapping gestures to try and get them away.

Next on my agenda was the art gallery that unfortunately, like lots of the galleries I’d tried to visit, was under renovation. Half of it was still functional and because not all of it was open I got in for free. After the gallery I took a walk around Albert Park and headed back to the hostel to meet Sarah who was due back from the Bay of Islands. After organising our shuttle to the airport for the following morning we had a relaxed evening and early night before saying a sad goodbye to one of the most diverse, beautiful and truly special places I’ve ever had the fortune to visit.

Before I end my New Zealand Blogs I want to add a list of random things that will always stick in my mind and remind me of this amazing place. If you have any to add then I would love to hear them:

New Zealand sayings: Sweet as
Dirty street pigeon
bro, the expression ‘aye’, Good as gold, Happy Days
Filthy hostel kitchens
The National hate for Possums
National hate of all things Ozzy
The best Burger (Ferg Burger, Queenstown), Pizza (Peppe’s, Lake Tekapo) and Scone (tea shop on the way to Bay of Islands) I’ve had anywhere in the world.
Chocolate; Cadbury’s tastes minging in New Zealand
The shades of green, the hugest array of green in any landscape that I’ve found anywhere
The huge buzzing trade in the buying and selling of cars

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