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Auckland, New Zealand (Aotearoa)
36° 51' S 174° 45' E
Feb 01, 2006 20:09
Distance 10350km

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wednesday's gone to the wind

Text written in: English

13 hours, two bad in flight meals, a few terrible choice for movies, and one tired and grumpy david later, and we're in New Zealand. half of the excitement of writing this entry is to see the website map after its finished. and then theres the scenery.

we landed back into the world of english speakers and high prices. 15 dollar bus rides, 9 dollar breakfasts, and 20 dollar hostels welcomed us to this land but we're not going to let a litle travel price increase damper our spirits. we had decided to rent a car and travel around the north island by ourselves but realized in the airport taht we really didnt know where we wanted to go. so we figured we would spend at least one night in auckland to get our bearings, gather reseach and ask the locals for advice. and then probably tomorrow head out to explore hopefuly with our own vehicle, of course trying to remember that they drive on the other side of the road here but probably still understand what the middle finger stands if we mess up. anyone with ideas or experience out there, feel free to let me know. email address is on the first page.

first impressions of new zealand: the islanders are fucking huge! we arrived in the airport and saw that many people who were waiting were samoan or samoan looking. all the grown males looked like they could be linemen in the NFL. it was rediculous the size of these guys. then there were the females adults, most of whom were quite large themselves which naturally leads to the kids being the size of houses as well. also, this country is clearly dedicated around one industy: tourism. there were at least 100 different brochures at the airport plus a kiosk with multiple people to help and then there was a guided video tour playing unsolicited on the busride to the city. so after only a few hours here, i feel like i have many options, although theyre each going to cost me. next, the people here have been really nice and helpful so far. i assume it helps that we speak the language, albeit with a funny (non)accent, but we havent found a cold shoulder yet. next, we were walking around downtown where our hostel is and noted a funny but actually intelligent pedestrian crossing. at a major intersection, at one point, all traffic in all directions is stopped and pedestrians take over completely. you have the normal street crossings but those that need to make it to the cattycorner will just walked the diagonal without fear. it was funny to see. lots of green, lots of water, lots of seafood and asian cuisine. this city reminds me of Vancouver. these observations come within 3 hours of setting foot in the country, so keep that in mind as you read and ill be sure to update if things change.

so like i said, we have plenty of options but this place is going to be more expensive than our accustomed $6 dollar a night rooms, $4 steak dinners, $1 countrywide busrides, and complimentary horse slayings with funeral included in price. possible options include going sky diving, going straight to the beach, fishing, black water rafting, bungee jumping, kayaking, biking, hiking, or just the usual eating and sleeping.

oh and the reason for the title, we left tuesday the 31st and arrived thursday the 2nd. so wednesday the 1st didnt exist for us. if this were april, id be upset, cause man do i enjoy some tomfoolery.