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Published: August 20th 2009
42 hours of traveling later and I was at my hostel in Ponsonby, Auckland, New Zealand.
I arrived at the hostel just after 4am on Wednesday and having been previously given the door code to enter to the hostel as directed I made myself comfortable in the lounge before the reception opened at 8am and a bed was found for me. I was soon found a bed and a shower and a change of clothes later I was feeling bright and breezy so decided to head into Auckland city.
I soon found myself in the centre of the town and did some bargain hunting and became the proud owner of a new bargain priced pair of jeans. My previous jeans were shameful even for a backpacker as they had holes in the bum however I hadn't been able to replace them in South America as their clothes were made for midgets so there was no chance of finding any long enough for me!
Jeans bought I went in hunt of the car rental garages hoping I may be able to grab a better bargain in person than those offered over the internet. I eventually agreed a deal and
I was to pick up my white Toyota Starlet on Friday morning. This arranged I walked up through a park and into the university grounds where I found the Old Government House and Clock Tower. I was then starting to get hungry so hunted out some food and I then headed to the IMAX and watched Harry Potter. After this I headed back to the hostel and socialised in the lounge for awhile before heading to bed where unsurprisingly I fell asleep with no trouble.
Thursday morning I woke up at 6am as my body clock struggled with the time change. Later that morning the weather was overcast but dry and so after a stop for breakfast and internet I went to the Sky Tower. Whilst in the queue at the Sky Tower I got talking to a Jordanian guy called Jabreen and so we ended up going round the tower together. I had to chuckle though as when we got out of the lift at the first level he was clinging to the sides for a long time as he had never been so high before - needless to say I jumped up and down on the reinforced
glass that looked down onto the streets below. Having walked around the Tower and a coffee later Jabreen headed off for a meeting with his university tutor about his PhD proposal.
Left to my own devices again I decided I would seek out the Auckland Museum. This proved a fascinating place with different sections including one with Maori artifacts and paraphernalia, a short film on Sir Edmund Hillary and a sector on the volcanoes in and around Auckland which included a house that was a simulator set up to emulate a volcanic eruption! Unfortunately I could have spent longer there however food was calling me and my attention span was short so I headed out the doors and walked through the Domain park back to the city where I had some food and once again headed to the hostel and chilled in the lounge before once again heading to bed early.
Friday morning I got up and checked out. As I was checking out I found myself a “hitch hiker”. Basically Steve and I had been talking the previous couple of days and exchanging South American stories (it transpired we had come over on the same plane) and
during our conversations he said he had no plans as to how he was getting around New Zealand other than he wasn't getting buses so after talking to him further I had offered him a seat. Anyway Friday morning he sought me out and asked if my offer was still on the table which I confirmed it was so he headed off to pack and I picked up the car.
So car collected and packed and hitch hiker in tow I set off for the Northlands......
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Brimster
Andrea
Harry Potter....
Harry Potter was good and I did enjoy it as much as the others (sorry Rachel I disagree with you). I jumped at the lake bit like you and that was even with the warning from you!! I didn't go with the popcorn as I knew I wouldn't finish it without you and your Dad around to hoover it all up! - ha ha