from the top of Mount Eden

My journey was long and arduous, but I arrived safely. Twelve hours crammed into coach is not pleasant. Upon arrival, the New Zealand immigration officer quickly and efficiently gave me the first of hopefully many passport stamps. In fact, they were so quick and efficient that it was 7 am and I couldn’t check in to the hostel until 10. Luckily, they had moved since Lonely Planet published their address, so it took me an hour to find them. Then I caught up on email and read until I could get a room, which two of my three roommates were still sleeping in. So it was off to try to stay awake for The Longest Day.

I ended up doing quite a bit. I walked up and down Queen Street, several times. Then I had a “Kiwi Burger” at McDonald’s, which was a quarter pounder with fried egg and pickled yams. I was rather unpleasant. Then I found the library and read my Lonely Planet for awhile. Finally I walked over to the Auckland Domain, which is a large hill with a museum on top. The museum seemed OK, but I was too tired to appreciate it.

In all this walking, I noticed that Auckland seems to be pretty multi-cultured; about half the people were Japanese or Indian. Many were young, female, and beautiful. Perhaps the sample was skewed due to nearby Auckland University.

Back at the hostel I met my non-sleeping roommate Ken from Japan. We had some trouble communicating, but suggested Victoria Market for cheap food. Later on I met a Canadian woman who had done the Stray tour and recommended it, so I may do that rather than Kiwi Experience.

At 9 pm it felt like 3am, so I went back to the room, where I promptly friend my battery charger by setting it to the wrong voltage. Tonight I will need my earplugs to keep out the booming techno music. Overall I’m not sure I like the hostel since it seems to consist of workers who already have their own cliques.