Hit The Road Jack!

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HIT THE ROAD JACK!

DISCLAIMER: The following travel blog contains no 'tourist' stories or activities but rather a whole lot of fun, new experiences and new friends in a different country!

(Wrote this a bit ago but not had a chance to post it...)

Not for the first time on my trip a random song has jumped into my head based upon what I'm doing or where I am - hence the title of this blog. I'm writing this a bit earlier than I expected to, my last week in Auckland has been eventful - and fun. However, I'm back on the road! Actually on the bus as I write this blog...

I was starting to get bored with Auckland. It is very much a weekend city, lively from Thurs-Sat night and then it just dies. But the last week here has been great and reminded me why I liked this city (and country) so much in the first place... I'll start where I left off in my last blog!

My last week started with some comedy (as it was still the NZ Comedy Festival) - which of course I love (and am still working on my own routine for 😉 and finished with a similar scenario where I ended up spending 'just one more night here' - the best sign that I like somewhere - although in this case it was more to do with my ability to sleep through my alarm and then miss the bus!

I went by myself to see 'The Improv Bandits' who were really good. I love improv, having seen some good shows in London, these guys were up there with that - although they were more 'improv' than previous shows I've seen if that makes any sense - basically just asking for 1 idea from the audience on anything at all and taking the sketch from there!

The next night I learned a great fun new drinking game - courtesy of Kazu, a fellow traveller from Japan. It's simple, fun and a great way to learn the names of people you have just met! There are two rules: firstly, when your name is said it is your turn to point at someone and say a name; secondly, you cannot say the correct name of the person you are pointing to! That's it! Great fun!

Of course I took the chance to introduce everyone to a good ol game of 21 (20-22) still I think the best drinking game there is. And there is also a new game I invented in Toronto. A whole bunch of us were drinking and I declared that everyone wasnt drunk enough, we needed to play a drinking game so I invented '4'. The rules are simple - you cut a deck of cards and if you dont have a 4 you have to drink! And of course, if you do get a 4 it is taken out and the game continues! Great game! I remember playing a game of this down in Santa Monica in the west coast beside LA and we went an hour before someone found a 4 - lol!

Anyway, after playing my newly discovered drinking game, we hit the town and, being a Friday, it was mobbed so we had a good night out. There were many games of pool, as Kazu is a big fan of this.

The next night in the hostel I decided to 'help' some Japanese with their English lessons - by providing a list of some Scottish phrases and getting these converted into Japanese! Quite funny to think that somewhere out there, there are some Japanese people who know how to say 'gonnae no dae that' in Japanese!

I also had an interesting incident with a Japanese girl. When we got back from the bar one night, there was a Japanese girl hyper ventilating. Everyone was a bit hyper, so I calmed the situation down. Looking back I am quite surprised at how composed I was given how many drinks I'd had earlier in the night!

Luckily I remembered that the number for an ambulance is 111 in NZ, so I called up and managed to be quite articulate on the phone. I told everyone I was going downstairs to get the ambulance outside. I went down the stairs and opened the door and it was literally pulling up! Awestruck at how fast ambulances were in NZ, I was informed that they were stationed 100 yards down the street! Also, as I mentioned before, it's not my 1st time in contact with paramedics on holiday due to an 'incident' in Mallorca with Craig and Bennie - but that's a LONG story (very funny though) even by my standards, so another time another place!

Anyway, it seemed that nothing was really that wrong with the girl, she was just having an asthma attack. They didnt even want to take her into hospital but she insisted. The next morning I got up for work and she was just getting back! Apparently they made her wait almost 7 hours before she saw someone! So I guess that I over estimated the speed of Kiwi paramedics - but I think that this is more likely to be due to the fact that she was a 'low priority' case and they had already identified that there wasnt much wrong with her.

Before that 'exciting' night I had also taken the chance to meet up again with Craigie and Dean, as I mentioned before we made plans to meet up again. The plan was to meet at 6.30 in a place called Kiwi Music which has good beer and good pizza (interestingly, the White Stripes played there before they got big - apparently NZ was one of the first countries to take note of Jack Whites musical genius). However, Craigie and Dean didnt show up till 7.30 then, as the place was closing for a private party, we ended up eating around 8.30!

Anyways, I was left with the decision of which show to watch. I picked a show I thought would be really good but later turned out to be sold out. So we ended up going to see a random show called 'Fact or Fiction' based around the idea of silly little anecdotes that you were supposed to say whether or not you thought they were true... Trouble was that there were only about 6 of us in the audience - really quite painfully embarrassing!

That's right: on a packed Saturday night, with most shows sold out, I had managed to pick the least busy show possible! The show wasnt that bad though, not the worst I've ever seen but not great either. We did get to 'hang' with some of the comedians from the festival, including the ones we had just seen, at a bar - as we had spotted a comedian from a poster earlier in the evening and, after some banter, he invited us to join him at the bar where all the comedians hang! And no, I didnt ask him about my comedy routine!

It was a fun night, good to hang out with Craigie and Dean again. We finished it off in the Albion hotel, which is open 24/7 and usually shows sport from across the world. However, a New Zealand vs Wales friendly took precedence over the Scottish cup final - ridiculous! 😞

After unsuccessfully trying to meet up with Raewyn (Ray) from my work for a drink (her friend did tell me though that she is known by the name 'Booze Hag'- useful information for work the following Monday!), I ended up back in the hostel listening to the game on the radio! After quite possibly the biggest anti-climatic finish to a season in history, the Pars are relegated and trophy less. Life, however, goes on.

I said 'goodbye' to Margaritas - by enjoying a lot of the $1 drinks I had arranged and playing a lot of pool. I also went out there on a Wednesday night - some American students had told me it was the place to be... They were right - it was awesome! Good to chat 'America' with the people in the bar - wish I had known about this before!

On the work side of things, I had already informed work at this point that I was leaving, my boss in the job Vanessa was very cool about it, however, the recruitment company I went through about it werent - even threatened reporting 'the way I behaved' to 'my employers in the uk'! Not sure what that's supposed to mean, makes it sound like I've robbed a bank or something! But I think they have put their dummy back in their mouth and this matter's over now...

I spent the last week at work training not 1, not 2 but 3 people to replace me (one of them I managed to scare off after one day!). Actually, while mentioning Vanessa I must also mention a quote she told me which I think is brilliant. We were discussing an email someone had sent which didnt make much sense and she said 'just remember the bell curve'. What's that? Well the bell curve basically indicates that just under half of people in the world are below average intelligence! Lol - I love it!

I enjoyed my time in Health Alliance a lot - the job I was doing was perfect for me - but it was of course time to move on. Firstly though I arranged goodbye drinks with Melissa and Ray from the office - 2 of the people I got along with best. A good laugh was had, I should perhaps have hung out with those 2 more, but you live and learn. An invite to Scotland has been extended! They even bought me a great leaving present, after discussion of music across the world, I had said that I liked the Kiwi band Evermore - so they got me a double disc of Evermore - awesome! Also had a drink with Hazel from the office, who I got along with well and taught me the 'Fish philosophy' of work, as well as being my proof reader!

Next it was time to say goodbye to the Hashers. I (Budgie Smuggler) arranged to meet up for drinks with David, Sandy, Steve, Sue, Melissa and Heather (or to give them their proper names: Pit Bull, Cums Twice, Whores Piss, Hooker, Lube Job and Revs!). I hadnt done a hash run for a while, mainly because I was working long hours and getting from the South East of Auckland to the North Shore wouldnt have been easy... However, that night I realised I should have kept in touch with these guys more as I once again had some great banter with them! The bar we met in turned out to have a poetry night, so after laughing about this we spent the rest of the night coming up with random poetry!

David made the great point that it was very strange to think that we had met in a bar on Fiji almost 3 months earlier! That is what life, and the life of a traveller is all about, I love it!

Next on the 'goodbye tour' (lol)it was time for a party with the hostelers. It would be a lie to say that this hostel was the best I've stayed in (an award that undoubtedly goes to the Canadiana in Toronto - my first and best hostel!) but I had enjoyed my time there and made some good friends.

I spotted that a bar called the QF Tavern on Queen St had a karaoke night, with a prize for the 'most entertaining act' so instructed everyone that this would be where we were spending my last night - and that we were not going home without that bar tab! I was surprised how enthusiastic everyone was!

So, after a good session of the name game (sadly Kazu, it's inventor, didnt make it out as he was not so enthusiastic about Karaoke) we proceeded to the bar. I also put up an offer of 1 drink for anyone who did a power slide (slide on your knees!) during a karaoke number!

My 'last night' was not only one of the best nights I've had in New Zealand, but also in my whole trip!

I celebrated it as I do any special occasion, by wearing my 'last night shirt' and tie! The bar wasnt busy to begin with, so this meant we had a good chance to stamp our authority over the karaoke competition! Originally there was me, Max (English traveller), Anders, Patrik (both Swedish travellers) and we were later joined by Jen - the Canadian who I have mentioned before - and her new partner James (Irish guy who works in Father Ted's bar!)

I opened up the entertainment with the Pogues - Fairytale of New York (with some 'Irish' dancing too) and the night kicked off from there! The battle for the prize levelled out to pretty much between me and Max. However, when Max performed Stairway to Heaven AND did a power slide, he not only earned a drink from me but pretty much landed the prize on the spot! My attempts to win it back with some Proclaimers, Bonnie Tyler and some 'duets' with James were all in vain! However, most importantly, the bar got busier and the night was top notch!

Afterwards we hit some other bars and ended up pretty wasted... Not a good thing as after a week of working my usual late hours and partying, I was pretty tired and ended up sleeping in and missing my bus (also fell asleep in the bar the night before too)! So this meant I had one more night in Auckland - another 'final night'...

At least I got the chance to tidy up some loose ends - for example some Canadian dudes in the hostel broke one of my guitar strings meaning that I havent really played it at all. So I got a new string put in so I can finally start learning it!

So it was time to dust off my last night tie and last night shirt once again! Helen, a German traveller who I had met the week before, was back for one night before flying out, so there were quite a few people celebrating their last night!

We started with some more drinks and games in the hostel - where Patrik introduced us to a tequila bomb bomb. This is where you mix tequila and soda water and bang the mug twice, fizzing it up, before downing it - very strange - but then again they are Swedish 😉 This time we planned on heading down to Father Ted's for some live music - which was in the form of a top notch acoustic player. Another cracking night - literally: when toasting our glasses I insisted that they must clink together, at which point Jen slams her glass into mine and clinks it so hard it broke!

For some reason, Jen also decided to keep doing copious amounts of Jagermeister shots. I later discovered that she was planning on trying to make me miss my bus again... And she succeeded! I once again ended up wasted, sleepy and missed my bus - getting up at 8am instead of 7 (phone died and alarm didnt go off!)

As a result, I have decided to call my time in Auckland quits and jump on the afternoon Intercity bus to Rotorua, which I am on as I write this blog.

I'm excited to be on the road, got a lot lined up!

Goodbye Auckland!

Mich

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Photos

Improv Bandits
Here are the bandits playing around striking their unusal poses!

Comedy
Busy comedy show!

$1 Beers
One last night of $1 beers with the hostel crew at Margaritas...

Funny sign
Funny sign in Auckland

Learning Japanese
A guide for any scotsman who wants to learn Japanese!

Mich the hero!
Me n Keiko after she got back from the hospital... she insisted on wearing this mark everywhere!

Hashers
Bye hashers! Sue, Rick, Dave, Heather and Melissa (Sandy joined us later)

Karaoke
The group of us performing Bohemian Rhapsody - Anders, Me, Patrik, Max, James and Jen

More Karaoke
Scotty and our champion Max belting out the tunes, showing why he is Karaoke king!

2nd Last Night!
Me Jen on left and Helen on right on my 2nd last night...

Guiness
Dont clink your glasses together with Jen - this is the result!

Demented Swedish
On my 2nd last night - Patrik, Anders, Max and Helen - note the demented look on Patrik's face!