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Published: January 18th 2009
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My time in Auckland so far has been punctuated by a series of interesting incidences, some good and some most people would perhaps wish to avoid. On arrival in New Zealand Helen and I stayed in a hostel for around a week working up the courage to go job hunting (after 6 months of unemployment it did seem a bit daunting) before finally biting the bullet and actually going. It wasn’t as easy as I expected, maybe due to the whole credit crunch situation that seems to be crippling the western world at the moment, but eventually, after numerous applications and sending CV's to various agencies, we landed on our feet. While Helen began work at The Body Shop, I began waitressing at a posh wine bar before starting a job with Wicked Campers. Basically my job involves cleaning the vans when they return and sorting out the customers when they come to pick up or drop off their vans. So far so good apart from backing into an old man (he was in his car) and being pulled over by the police eek! The old man was fine, he just had a bump on the panel of his Nissan and
the police were doing random breathalizer checks in the morning just off the motorway. I'd been out the night before so had had a few drinks so tested positive for alcohol. He made me pull over and breathe into something else and it said 'pass' but for about 2 minutes i was confronting the idea of losing my job (already) and maybe having problems with my visa. Anyway, i was fine and not over the limit but it just shows you how easy it is to not realise. So those were the experiences i guess most people would wish to avoid. This is what happens when you put a perpetual traveller in one place for a while....
So Auckland is pretty cool and is the largest city in NZ by far. Lots of people slate it, i guess because noone comes to NZ for the cities so it would make sense for people to be a bit rude. However, as far as cities go there's alot to see and do and one thing that differentiates it from other cities is that it rests upon numerous active volcanoes and is surrounded by a 2 harbours; the Waitemata Harbour to the
east and the Manakau Harbour to the west. It's also the worlds largest Polynesian city with 20% of its people being Maori, Samoan, Tongan, Cook island or Niuean. Alongside those from the Pacific, recent migration from south and east asia have added an extra dimension to the cosmopolitan nature of the city. It's also within easy reach of some stunning beaches and scenery. One day i went to Tawharanui on the east coast and on another i went to the black sand beach of Piha on the west coast, both of which offered some stunning scenery and gave me a taster of what the rest of New Zealand is like. I've also been to a lake surrounded by sand dunes which was pretty cool.
A summer Christmas is what we experienced on December 25th this year which was a little strange but really nice at the same time. We went to Grant's parents for the day where they served us 3 different types of meat and 5 puddings- it was a lovely day. We also practiced our singing talents on Singstar which i'm sure the neighbours enjoyed immensely. In the evening we went to Grant's friends house where there
was a pool and hot tub. Not the conventional Xmas but a very good one nevertheless.
NYE was great - we went to a trance night at Studio on K Road (the road legendary for quirky cafe's, gay bars and being whoever/whatever you want to be.) Helen, Angelei, Fabrice, Grant and I all went out and had a great night and following day. In fact, we didn't really stop drinking for 36 hours as Helen, Fab and I ended up partying the following day in a few pubs. There was also an incident where Fab and I went to see Helen working at the Body Shop where she gave him a make over. And then he taught me how to play chess (still with make up.) Yes, it was a random few days and i suppose you had to be there.
So life in Auckland is going along well - I haven't mentioned already we are staying in a flat with Angelei (an old school friend) who is letting us stay for one persons rent. It really has worked out so well and i'm enjoying myself lots. The only difficult part is i'm supposed to be saving some
money for the rest of my trip which, i am doing, but maybe not as much as i hoped!! We're staying in Auckland until early March before travelling New Zealand and then off to South America in June. Helen's parents are coming out mid march so we're going to be travelling with them for a couple of weeks - can't wait to see you Ruth and Anthony!
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