Auckland in spring

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Hi everybody!
First off... hooray for Obama!!!

Well, there we go! I arrived in Auckland just a few days ago and it already blew me off my feet. But more about that later! Leaving Groningen and Holland was really weird. I pooped 3 times that day! I guess I was really excited cause it's the first time on my own, off to the other side of the planet. I still don't believe it! But because of internet and Facebook everything and everybody seem to be so nearby. That's why I've decided to take some distance and ignore internet where I can. It's my therapy for being a Facebook-addict. Just so you know: NZ is +12 hours.

The flights went ok. The first one was 10h20 to Seoul, South Korea and it was horrible because I took sleeping medication (temazepam 10mg) but I did NOT fall asleep. Instead I felt all drowsy and tired. 😞 The stop at Seoul was great! I didn't leave the airport, but there was plenty to see. There was a traditional "royal wedding" organised to amuse the crowd. And yes, I got my picture taken with some dude with a blue dress and a fake moustache. Maybe next time I can see a real one (added to my long list of future travels). My flight to Auckland was perfect, I was sitting next to a nervous kiwi that lives in Frankfurt and kept talking to me about how often she had to pee and move around in a plane. She did gave me some info about NZ, how it's not flat and all. 11h in the plane, watched 2,5 movies and slept for 4 hours, not bad at all! I went through constoms without any problems, they didn't check my hiking shoes or the pepernoten (dutch cookies) I brought along.

I arrived in Auckland around 9am but because my couchsurf host Craig was still working I had to find my own way around. First stop: The Warehouse; where you can find everything you need (thanks Marijke). Bought a sim card which i had troubles with getting it activated. Using my crappy tablet at Mc Donalds with free wifi helped me a lot! I went to the Victoria park which was 3 minutes from Craig's place (10 min from centre town). This park is amazing! It's just a plain grass field but around 16:00 it turnes into sporting paradise. Rugby, cricket, football, skating, fitness and even Japanese youngsters playing badminton. It was fun and inspiring to watch the NZ being so sportive after school- and office hours!

Around dinnertime I could arrive at Craig's, he had another Cs'er, a Canadese girl named AJ, who's traveling the north of NZ by bike. Craig arrived just after and he seemed shorter than on the pictures. So did I apparantly. He works fulltime at the Green party so during the day I have time to explore the world and in the evening we can hang out together. He's a great guy, plenty of humour, very creative and inspiring. Perfect as my first true host! We sleep on the attic, a former spaceship, theater and creative studio.

First day of jetlag caused me to sleep bad at night, but I still wanted to get out the day after. I ended up walking about 15km from the docks till the south. I was meeting Craig that afternoon for helping me getting an ukelele. He took me to this amazing guitar store where rockstars are born. I picked a very cute, cheap uke, magenta red with some Aguila strings (about the same price). *Happy as a child! I spend the afternoon playing my uke at a graveyard (why not) and getting lost 2 times while walking back "home". In the evening we jammed together. :D The strings still need to settle down, cause they keep detuning. It's a matter of practise.

Today I went to the Auckland museum and the park which was amazing! The Maori culture is so rich, really nice wood carvings and amazing structures. I experienced a vulcano simulator and joined a guided tour cause I was too lazy/tired. Pictures will tell the stories. Talking about that, I can't figure out how I'm suppose to add my photo's to my blog. I'll put a couple on FB then. https://www.facebook.com/Simonel63

For the next couple of days I planned a CS meeting where I can hopefully find people to travel with and there's a festival "Art in the dark" that I'll be visiting. Will check in again soon.
Love and hugs
Simone

For those who do not have FB, there's normally still a change to see the photos I took: https://www.facebook.com/media/set/?set=a.10151092287132610.436895.682722609&type=1&l=49b493717c

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Comments

[Jordy]

Tof!
He! Super leuke blog. Lekker geschreven, ga zo door. Als je terugkomt moet je misschien maar columnist worden :-)

[maria]

nice!
Dankjewel Moon. Moet alles nog lezen, zit nu op school(heb mijn sjaal terug!) Goed bezig, veel plezier. Liefs, Mom

[Dana]

Wat een onderneming zeg! Hoeveel nachten ben je van plan bij Craig te blijven? En heb je dan je volgende plek ook al geregeld? Geen idee hoe dat CS gaat. Ben nooit verder gekomen dan een uitwisseling met iemand uit Praag.

[Marieke]

Ik poep altijd 3 x op een dag! Ha! Nee geintje, klinkt goed Simone! Leuk om te lezen, nu al een heel avontuur! Zoek maar snel uit hoe je foto\'s moet posten dan kunnen we ook \'mee kijken\'! Liefs Marieke

[Denise]

sleeping in a spaceship
Gaaf!!! Op zolder slapen in een soort "ruimteschip". Dat ga ik ook op mijn bucketlist zetten (ik heb al 4 andere dingen bedacht... nog 95 te gaan). Ik hoop dat je inmiddels mensen hebt gevonden om mee te reizen en dat het festival gaaf is (vast wel). Had Maria al verteld dat we zondag trouwens 1e zijn geworden met de Hoornse Brassband? 1e van de dag en 1e van alle 12 orkesten. En jij was erbij! Hoe gaaf is dat. Veel plezier met je nieuwe ukelele en tot de volgende blog!!! Liefs, Niesje