The First Few Days

I have now been in New Zealand for 3 days. I can’t think of one word to describe it because each day has been different.

Tuesday:

Upon arriving in New Zealand, I went to the Pelz’s home where I had the chance to relax while they were out for the afternoon. There were times in the afternoon that I wanted to take a nap but I told myself I couldn’t because I wanted to be able to sleep that night. When the Pelz’s got back from their afternoon out, we had dinner and then I went on a short walk with Jeff around a park that was nearby. I learned more about New Zealand and the Maori culture. It didn’t take much for me to fall asleep that night. That day I remember feeling like I wasn’t really in New Zealand. It wasn’t a surreal feeling but more of ‘this doesn’t really seem that different’ feeling. That feeling can probably be attributed to the fact that I stayed at the Pelz’s house all day and didn’t see a whole lot. (Although I did see people playing rugby as we walked through the park.)

Wednesday:

I had a wonderful nights rest and woke up before the alarm went off. I got myself ready for the day and then headed out the door with Jane and Joshua (11yrs). It was Josh’s first day of school. Because their seasons are opposite of ours, their summer break had just ended and Josh was starting year 7. It was kind of fun being there for his first day of school. We walked him into the gym where all the year 7’s sat on the floor and the parents/family on the outskirts. There was a welcome and the students were called individually according to their classrooms. Let me tell you, some people here have really hard names to pronounce because of the diversity of the students. Within Auckland, the cultures represented are more diverse than I expected them to be. There are many people from the Pacific Islands and Asia. We saw Josh to his classroom and then drove to downtown Auckland, where Jane’s office is. While she worked, I ‘played’. And by played I mean walked around. I began by going to a hostel to check out the notice board looking for rides north. No luck. But you know what I did get? You don’t. So let me tell you ;) By buying a ticket to go up the Auckland sky tower at the hostel, I got $10 off!!! I was happy. What a great deal. I also booked a free Auckland tour for the next day. I then continued meandering down Queen Street (the main street in Auckland) and then made a few turns to head in the direction of the sky tower. Along the way, I saw a donar kebab shop. I should have stopped but I didn’t. I stumbled upon another hostel and after walking up 5 flights of stairs, checked out their notice book in hopes of finding a ride. No luck there as well. I continued on to the sky tower. I walked around it once before discovering that I had to go into the basement of a somewhat fancy looking building to go up. So down the escalator I went and then up the elevator to the top of tallest building in the Southern Hemisphere. I sat in the observation deck for quite some time and at some fruit snacks. They were good. The view was nice as well. I finished off my hour long visit to the sky tower by going up a few more levels. I continued my journey by walking to the harbor where I sat on a bench for a while. It was then time to meet Jane back at her office to get Josh and ride home. In order to get back to her office, I had to walk up Queen Street and by up I mean UP. Let’s just say, if things continue the way they are, I’m going to have strong legs by the end of this trip! Jane and I then went to pick Josh up from the dairy (convenient store) where he was to meet us. He wasn’t there. We waited for a while and calls were made. Not exactly how one would hope the first day of school went. Finally the school called saying that he was back at the school and that he had gone out the wrong gate and gotten lost. This ordeal called for ice cream. After dinner that night, Jeff and I went on a walk around the park again and Josh rode his scooter.

Thursday:

I woke up before the alarm went off again. I skyped with my brother, who was kind enough to help me figure out some things with my credit card. Jeff, Jane, and I dropped Josh and his friend off at school before continuing in to the city. I then walked to the hostel I had gone to the day before and waited for the free Auckland tour. The bus arrived shortly after the scheduled time. I was the only one on the bus before we picked up more people at other locations. Our first stop was the Auckland Harbor Bridge where we got to do the bridge walk for FREE!!! That’s right folks, a $20 value for free. I was pleased. We harnessed up and put our hard hats on and walked to the bridge. Our harnesses were then attached to a wire along the side of the walkway. I guess they didn’t want anyone to jump off. But you know what? People jumped off anyway! Bungy jump that is. We walked to the middle of the bridge and witnessed people jump off the bridge. Bungy jumping is crazy I tell you. Crazy. It produced a whole lot of feelings when it was up close and personal. And I wasn’t even jumping. At first, I was almost nervous for the person but as more people went, it just brought a smile to my face. Although I’m sure that when the time comes for me to bungy jump I will be nervous, I will also probably have a smile on my face that stretches from ear to ear. It’s going to be awesome. On the way back down the bridge, I may or may not have spit and watched it slowly plummet to the water below. An hour or so after we had started, we continued on our way. We hopped in our kiwi experience bus and then drove across the bridge and went to Mount Victoria, a volcano. Don’t worry, it wasn’t active. After taking a few pictures, we then went to get our lunch of fish and chips. We took out lunch to a neighboring North Head where we had a picnic lunch and then explored the military tunnels. On the tour was another girl traveling by herself from Germany named Leeza. She spoke some English but she and I explored the tunnels together by pointing in one direction and nodding our heads and smiling. We then walked down to the beach where we met our group to head back into town. I was dropped off at the hostel and then walked up Queen Street where I met Jane and we headed home. I then spent time before dinner trying to figure out my next plans. Tomorrow (Friday), I will be taking a bus north to the Bay of Islands. How long I will stay there, who knows?

Random New Zealandfact: They refer to the trunk of a car here as “the boot”

At the top of the Auckland sky tower

Harnessed and ready to go up the bridge



Auckland's youngest volcano in the background

Auckland