Well we made it! After a brilliant flight with LAN over here we arrived an hour early at 3am. After a quick pancake breakfast at Mc Donalds in the airport we negotiated a great price and caught a shuttle bus to the hostel.
We arrived at our destination so early that the Saturday night party people were still going strong. Lucky for us as unlike South America, they do not have 24 hr reception and there wasn't anyone around to let us in. As it happened a kind young man who was smoking pot outside the hostel let us in with a key and we made a makeshift bed from a small sofa in the sitting room until the hostel owner arrived.
After a morning of feeling a little like zombies, we decided to get out and explore a little of Auckland. First impressions: it's really nice, it feels a lot like home but where are all the people? Yes I realise it's Sunday but it's such a stark difference in population size compared to the sardine-like nature of London, it does seem odd.
We spent the afternoon exploring a few of Auckland's main streets and then the harbour. We met up with Claire and Ricky (you'll remember them from the Christmas photos) for a drink, along with their friend Louise who's English but has lived here for 3 years. The gringo trail is well paved, and we're probably also going to meet up with someone from our hostel back in Florip all those months ago. It really is a small world!
Tomorrow we might catch the ferry to a small island off the mainland and do a wine tour (a horrible way to spend a Monday I know) and then we're having drinks with Anna tomorrow night (kiwi friend I used to work with at Nestle) who moved home last year.
Well we're still on South American time here so it's equivalent of 9am without a night's sleep so we're pretty zonked. Apologies if it doesn't make any sense and it's littered with errors.
Mx
P.s
Just to let you know that wifi in hostels is more sporadic here than in S.America and when you can get it you have to pay for it so our contact may not be that regular.
-- Posted from Miranda's iPhone
Sunday, January 24, 2010
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4 comments:
Glad you arrived safely. Hope you are catching up on some sleep now as it is nearly midnight your time as I write this. Hope you enjoy NZ as much as South America. How's the pain in your leg now Miranda? Hopefully talk to you soon. Lots of love Mum & Dad
Glad the journey went well.It may take a little time to catch up with NZ time but the pace will be much slower than London.Seems asif youve got lots of people to meet up and make the trip special.ENJOY!
Love Mum X and Rob
Its Noodle. You pair need to lay off the McDonalds! That's all you ever seem to be eating! The End x
Hey both. Welcome to NZ and home-from-home comforts. Looks like a nice train journey you have planned with some great scenery. The snow's gone here, it's just wet now. Anyway - have fun and enjoy what I'm told is a stunning country. Dad
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