road trippin’

Posted on March 29, 2013 by karenula

I’ve been road tripping with my new best friend for the last four days… meet Thomas:

my days with him have been happy and busy days! we’ve done a lot of stuff together and I honestly think this has turned into a long and lasting friendship!

Thomas picked me up at Donna’s house on “tragic Tuesday (I didn’t get the visa Tuesday)”… we drove – actually he drove all the time, so I cannot give myself any driving credit… but still, I’ll write in plural… sounds better -… we drove from Nelson to Westport nonstop, there we went to the supermarket to buy our snacks and supplies for the hostel, we were told when we phoned the backpackers place that there would not be any shops or petrol stations once we left Westport behind… so we went, and then arrived to Punakaiki exactly at sunset, this is how we were welcomed to the small village:

250 km

in the hostel I met my first Israeli in NZ, he reminded me so much of my dear friend Nadav! and he also reminded me why I want to get to Israel someday… we had fun talking to him and his three German friends… the other ten Germans that were in the hostel were not of our interest – the truth is that they were not on our table so we didn’t interact with them. Amit (Israel) met Stefan (Germany) somewhere in the south and they’ve been traveling together ever since… fun couple!

next day Thomas woke me up EARLY… we wanted to do the Pororari River Track, visit the Pancake Rocks and leave to get to Arthur’s Pass not too late… and so, we did.

the whole loop of the Pororari River took us around four hours counting the visit to the Pancake Rocks. it’s a lovely walk, it’s good to start the day early tramping in the forest, breathing fresh air… just amazing! it’s not a difficult walk at all, it goes up a small mountain just once, taking you to different ecosystems from one moment to the next… there’s another big inland track – which we obviously didn’t do – that seems pretty cool and might do someday.

after the river track we went to the Pancake Rocks and Blowholes Park, FYI this is a heavily eroded limestone area where the sea bursts through several vertical blowholes during high tides. the ‘pancake’-layering of the limestone is created by immense pressure on alternating hard and soft layers of marine creatures and plant sediments. here I met my second Israeli, reinforcing once more my desire to go to Israel someday… I just love them! friendly, smart, funny and interesting guys… two in a row…

we then walked back to the hostel, grabbed our stuff and hit the road once more…

we made a pitstop in Greymouth to have lunch and buy more supplies for the next couple of days… we didn’t know how long we would stay in Arthur’s Pass, but we did know that there are no supermarkets there.

we decided to take the scenic path to Arthur’s Pass… this road took us through a little town that I absolutely loved and where I would like to live when I’m old and wrinkled: Moana. it’s right next to Lake Brunner, I think there are only three streets, it’s calm, green, and just beautiful! we stopped there for a few minutes just to look around, take photos and to imagine myself living there!

79.7 km

we continued driving until we got to Arthur’s Pass Village.
population: 54
elevation: 740 m ASL
temperature: fucking cold!

64.4 km

on the first night we relaxed, drank beer, had dinner, and talked a lot! we knew we wanted to go tramping, but we weren’t sure if we wanted to do the whole Avalanche Peak Track that takes from 6 to 8 hours round trip. we thought we might just do the waterfalls and some other small track to go easy and not get too tired to leave for Christchurch that same evening… well, at least that’s what I wanted… I was pretty tired of tramping all the time… but, oh surprise! next morning Thomas was convinced by two other Germans – young and dynamic – that the Avalanche Peak was not so bad: vee did ze o-ll sing in sree a-wers (translation: we did the whole thing in three hours)… fuckers!!!

we decided to go… but we did it all WRONG… because of this being a last minute decision, we didn’t think of caps, sunblock, enough water, sunglasses, FOOD… nothing… we just started climbing…

at the beginning all was good and pretty, going up, and up, and up… climbing and holding from trees, and roots and rocks… this wasn’t bad at all!!! I was actually having fun… this was way better than the Abel Tasman, there I had to endure the steepness of the track by just walking and concentrating on my breathing (which was actually more like a hyperventilation)… but, here! here I had to move every muscle, I had to think where to put my feet and hands, I had to feel my knees crack every time I bent them… my brain was working, my heart was pounding nicely, and my breathing was never uneven!

it was all great, perfect timing too! after an hour and a half we reached the line where the forest disappears and it all changes into dry thick grass and rocks… and there we saw it: the peak… we were getting soooo good at tramping! we were like those German kids back at the hostel, fast, young, and dynamic… so we continued climbing/walking to reach the top and see the beautiful view Avalanche Peak had for us…

now… here’s where karenula turns into a party pooper… if you are reading this because you really want to do the Avalanche Peak stop reading now because this part of the story contains spoilers and probably a lot of cursing… you’ve been warned…

when we got to “the top” we were really impressed with the beautiful view that we had, everything looked amazing! and we were absolutely shocked because THAT was not the top… there was another top, on top of “the top”… so we had to continue climbing. it didn’t look that bad to be honest, it appeared to be “near” and besides, I’m more than halfway through so I’d better toughen up and finish the damn thing…

crap!

so, we kept going… this time I was not having so much fun. the sun was burning my face, I was panting and starting to get hungry… but we were close… or so we though, because when we reached the second “top” we experienced a déjà vu… there was ANOTHER top on top of “the top”… I wanted to cry! I remember saying to Thomas “I really don’t want to continue, I’ll wait for you here”… but we were not sure if we could come down the same way we were going up, and to be honest, looking at what appeared to be “the real peak” – because this time we could see tiny people moving around – hit my pride and just made me think “I’m almost there… don’t be a cry baby!!! come oooon! the view might be really worth seeing!”…

nope! this is not it!

and so, I continued… struggling, and stopping every five minutes, cursing and wanting to spit on the shitty track… I was just complaining and complaining all the time… it looked sooooo far away!!! the people moving on the top were still looking so tiny… I thought I was never going to get there, I just wanted to sit and wait for Thomas. but I couldn’t… between Thomas telling me that I could do it and my damn pride hurting and complaining, I had to keep on moving…

tiny people on the top

we finally reached the peak – four hours later – if that peak had another little surprise, I think I would have thrown myself over the cliff… I was tired, angry, hungry, unhappy, sweaty, smelly, thirsty, sunburned… just experiencing a very bad moment in my life… there was another little path to get to another part of the peak which I totally refused to walk… so then I sat and waited for Thomas…the view wasn’t fantastic after all… it was the same fucking mountains that we had been looking at all along, nothing changed except the scale of the huts in the village… I hated it…

cranky karenula

my advise on this track: stay where the forest ends!

when we started coming down I was literally moving by inertia… I deeply desired to become a ball of something, anything, and just roll all the way down to the bottom of the mountain. I was just thinking of food, a shower and a good sleep, that’s all I could do… every step down was that: food-shower-sleep-food-shower-sleep… I was cranky, and the shittiest part of all was that we came down the same way we went up… we did not do the loop because we were told on the peak – the real one – that the other way was steeper, so we decided we did not want another adventure for the day… and to think I could’ve sat where I first said this to Thomas…

it took us two hours or so to come down, so in the end we did the 6 hours that people usually do… not bad timing after all… fucking Avalanche Peak!!!

back at the hostel we took a shower, had dinner and sat for hours in the (Gryffindor) Common Room next to the fire and unable to move… all my body was already sore, I didn’t have to wait for next day to feel every inch of my body aching… and I wasn’t looking forward to see what the following days would feel like… turns out we went up something like 1100 meters vertically and 3000 meters horizontally… you do the math… I’m too tired…

next morning, unable to move much, we went to see the waterfalls that are near the village… like a 45 minute round trip walk… pretty… next please, I’m not in the mood…

we packed our things and drove the rest of Arthur’s pass towards Christchurch… coming down from the village we were able to see where we had climbed the day before:

yes… right where the arrow is… I still hate it…

we stopped in Castle Hill to walk just a little bit… this is a LOTR and Narnia film location… BEAUTIFUL!!! this rocks are simply amazing… we just walked around a little bit – on the flattest paths of course – and took some pictures. we then continued our way to Christchurch… still not in the mood to do a lot of sightseeing…

54.2 km

when we arrived in Christchurch we went directly to Thomas’ hostel to park the car and go find something to eat… but, being Good Friday and in the Red Zone of Chch, it wasn’t likely we would find anything… we ended up walking, and walking, and waking to a McDonald’s we saw when we arrived in the city… after this I was picked up by Lizzie and Mark who will be my hosts in Chch for a couple of days (Lizzie is friends with my Wellington Mom and she kindly agreed in having me in their house… this is the first time I will be hanging with people my age, so I’m guessing it will be fun!)… so this was goodbye to Thomas, I’ll miss him a lot, he’s good company and a great friend!!!

96.1 km

total km: 544.4

come what come may

Posted on March 26, 2013 by karenula

this morning was a very frustrating one: I did not get the working holiday visa.
I had the computer, the time, the fast internet, the preregistration on the webpage… all!
somehow the computer was not working well and I was not in time to submit the form… when I got to that point I got the message that “there are no more places available, wait until next year” but guess what… I do not have a next year, this was my last shot to get THAT visa…

oh well… good news is: I’M HERE… things happen for a reason, so I’ll have to wait to see what THIS (fu@$!?g) reason is… COME WHAT COME MAY is my motto, and I intend to live it to the fullest!

I’ve said goodbye to Donna, and now I’m leaving with Thomas to our adventure in the West Coast… dunno exactly where we will be stopping or sleeping, which actually makes it more exciting…

mr. tasman’s got a sweet ass

Posted on March 25, 2013 by karenula

I arrived into Donna’s and Colin’s house on Friday after a two hour trip from Picton. their house is amazing! they live in a very old house that used to be home of the owner of all the land surrounding it… it’s got very tall ceilings and lots of colours, and the distribution is the following: one “wash room” which includes bathtub and sink, three bedrooms, living room, kitchen and a toilet outside next to the laundry area… they have a big field where they usually plant stuff, three cows, cocks, cats and a small dog… they have three children (18, 21, 23) and one granddaughter… they are a beautiful family and made me feel at home immediately!

next morning Sian, Donna’s daughter, took me for a walk around Nelson. we went to a market similar to the one Gareth took me to in Auckland… and I met a Mexican woman that had a Mexican food stand, and I was scandalized to hear her say to everyone “sweet ass”!!! WHAAAAT?! (costumer: “I want a chicken burrito, please”… she: “chicken burrito… sure, sweet ass!”) I thought she had taken her kiwi personality really serious, how could she possibly go saying that to everyone?!??? and those who know me know I would never be shocked by something like that, but I honestly thought she was exaggerating… then I learned that it’s not ASS, it’s -AS… so when you say SWEET-AS you are actually saying COOL or AWESOME… not NICE BUT or whatever…
anyways… that morning I had an email from Susanna, so after Sian left to go do her stuff, I walked around Nelson going to the touristic places trying to find Susanna (she does not have a kiwi number)… after a long search and trying to go to places to check my email, she rang from her German number and we met at the iSite (if you come to NZ, the iSite is a great option to know what to do/see/eat/etc everywhere you go!), there we booked a shuttle to go to Marahau, an aqua taxi to get to Totaranui, a bed to spend the night in Bark Bay Hut, and a shuttle back to Nelson (Richmond in my case)… let me explain: we were going tramping in Abel Tasman Park for two days!!!

Donna lent me a sleeping bag and a smaller backpack, and the next morning she prepared me breakfast and took me to where the shuttle was picking me up… after a little less that two hours we arrived to Marahau and took the aqua taxi, it’s not a cheap way of getting to the end (or beginning, depending how you see it) of the track, but at least they give you a little tour in the different bays the park has.

we arrived in Totaranui at around 11 am, and started the track with a new German girl we met in the aqua taxi (I’m beginning to think that there are NO Germans in Germany, they are all here…), her name is Karin.

Karin was going to stay her first night at the Awaroa Bay Hut because she was doing a four day track. the tricky part of doing the Abel Tasman in two days is that you need to hit the low-tide hours in order to cross certain parts of the track, and for that you have something like four hours… so you really need to be checking the time and your timing so you don’t miss things like your booked night in a hut or the shuttle back to Nelson… we managed to get everywhere with the low-tide! we had a good break in Awaroa, with lunch and all (tuna sandwich), took some great pictures, left Karin behind, and continued until getting to Bark Bay which is right on the middle of the track.

here you can see the hi-tide/low-tide thing I was talking about… it’s the same place, first photo taken from the aqua taxi, second photo taken walking…

Awaroa Bay

Tonga Bay

I think we did something like seven hours with breaks and all… not bad, I think…

the huts on the tracks in NZ are pretty cool… I think none of them have cooking facilities and showers… they do have a BYO cooking table, toilets with paper (thank god), and huge rooms with bunk beds where lots of people can spoon together if they wish to do so… since Susanna and I apparently took forever to get there, we had to take the only two free spaces on the upper bed that were not even together… so in other of appearance from left to right we had: German guy – German guy – me (Mexican) – 50 y/o lady (probably German) – and Susanna (German)… at nightfall (around 8 pm) we were ALL asleep!

next day we woke up as early as we could, we went out of the hut to see the sunrise:

Bark Bay

then started our tramping back to Marahau at around 8 am.

what we will be doing today…

we stopped on Torrent Bay Village to have breakfast (Nutella sandwiches – yum!!!) and there were the two German guys that slept on our bunk the night before so we started talking to them (now that we had literally slept together), and it turned out that one of them had a car and was traveling south through the West Coast and then to Christchurch through Arthur’s Pass, which was convenient because that was exactly what I wanted to do next. I asked him if he would like some company and to split petrol (gas) costs, and he said yes! he wanted to go to Golden Bay for one day, so that would give me enough time to go back to Nelson, pack, and apply for the working holiday visa that will be released on the 26 at 10 am… perfect timing!!!

the rest of the track was amazing, and since we started very early we were able to go on our own pace, taking more breaks with more tuna sandwiches, stopping to take pictures, etc… simply lovely! we got to the beginning of the track (or the end, depending how you see it) at around 4 pm… so eight hours on the second day…

Bark Bay

Sandy Bay

here’s the map and profile of the coast track… I’ve pointed out the beginning, the sleep and the end… here you can get a general idea of how much we walked…

the Abel Tasman is something people should do if they come to New Zealand, every single part of the track was as beautiful as the one we had passed before, simply breathtaking!!! if I could do it again I would stay more days for sure, one more day at least… I was not able to rest or to do any activity in two days, I just had to run to get to the hut and then run to get to the shuttle… I wouldn’t stay in Bark Bay Hut, apparently it’s the busiest one because it’s the one right on the middle of the track (not to mention there are only three huts in the whole park), so I would try to camp somewhere else if I had the gear… and if I had the money, I would definitely do some kayaking…

ok… so back in Nelson, and getting ready to go through the West Coast with my new friend Thomas!

from north to south

Posted on March 22, 2013 by karenula

yesterday I left the North Island… I forgot to mention that on my last day in Wellington I met another German, Susanna. she’s traveling by herself too and she’s coming to the South Island on Friday… we exchanged emails to see if maybe we do part of the trip together…

I came to Picton on the ferry… it’s a VERY expensive way of traveling south, but once you’re there and you see the sounds, and you get the feeling that you are arriving to the South Island… it’s totally worth it!

I met Cameron on the ferry, he’s from Christchurch. I had such a lovely time with him…. he’s funny and smart, and he told me that if I come to Chch he will show me around (if he’s there, cause he travels a lot).

so, I arrived in Picton and went to the Tumbstone Backpackers… when Ali and I were on the Internet looking for hostels in Picton, we came across that name (and saw all the good reviews people left), and I couldn’t figure out why someone would call their hostel as if it were a Halloween party. when I arrived to the place though, I could see exactly why they did it…. it is right next to a cemetery… and to make the joke even more obvious, the entrance door is shaped like a coffin.

I went to the supermarket to buy some food, and back at the German-packed hostel I met (besides “ze Germans”) Jon, from upstate New York.

Jon is here under the working holiday visa; he likes to hike so he invited me to do the Queen Charlotte Track with him for four days… the only problem is: I do not have tramping gear to stay several nights in the outdoors – this being sleeping bag, tent… not even a fork! – so I had to decline after several minutes of consideration, but we decided to do a little bit of local tramping in Picton the next day… and then who knows, maybe we’ll meet again to do some traveling together.

so next morning we went to the supermarket to buy stuff four our fancy pick nick on the mountain and headed to the Queen Charlotte View Track… one thing that truly amazes me of New Zealand is how every touristic thing – tracks, lookouts, rest areas, etc – is signposted giving you directions, information, times… it’s wonderful to get a general idea of what you are doing and where you are going!… so we started the track, and this new friend of mine had some of the most interesting conversations ever! I think we covered all topics… such nice company he was! I really wished I could’ve had all my camping gear to go with him on the 3-4 day track!

after our beautiful day together, it was time to go back to the hostel and figure out how to get to Nelson not too late… I will be staying in Nelson with Mark’s sister, Donna, so I had to get they “early” so they could pick me up. I sent Donna a message to tell her that I might be hitch hiking, and she called me back telling me that her husband, Colin, was still working near Picton so he could pick me up! apparently, luck is with me on this trip!

it was around four in the afternoon, and Colin would pick me up a little after six… so I was in the hostel with Jon, and when he went to take a shower I met one of the most beautiful couples EVER!
Meet Geoffrey and his beautiful wife who’s name I cannot remember:

they are from York, and their children live in Australia and New Zealand, so every two years they travel down under to visit them. “they tried to get rid of us by moving to the farthest countries they could find.. but they didn’t count on us coming to visit them every two years!”
they are a beautiful happy couple, over 70 years old each (or more), they met on a trip through the UK when they were young, and one night on the dance floor he asked her to dance, she accepted, and that was it! though the way they tell it is obviously much, MUCH better… I’m just summarizing… Geoffrey has a very nice way of waking up every morning, he told me “if when you wake up, you move your elbows sideways, and you don’t feel wood… then it’s surely a good day because it means you are not in a wooden box… you are alive!”. I fell in love with them, they are radiant, and joyful, and they just love each other so much! when Jon came back and met them (I’m pretty sure he fell in love with them too haha), he asked them “if you could travel back in time to tell your 20 year-old selves any advise, what would this be?” and they simply said: BE YOURSELF AND TALK WITH EVERYBODY!
I had to leave them, and was pretty sad I had to do so, but I’m taking with me their beautiful faces, and their beautiful words.

and… to Nelson (Richmond actually)…

windy welly

Posted on March 20, 2013 by karenula

I could definitely live in Wellington
such a nice place, small yet it has everything!
it’s not as spread as Auckland, which makes it a walking/biking city.
the weather might be the only thing that sucks in the windy capital… at first it showed me how beautiful days can be, sunny and shiny and warm, and all was perfect from Tuesday to Saturday… but Sunday came, and with it a long white cloud and wind and rain, and it didn’t stop for 48 hours… and then sun again…

never the less, my days in Wellington were happy days.
I could just imagine myself living there for the rest of my life.
it’s a city with lots of things to do… there’s always a market or a concert or a play… there’s museums, cafes, and premieres of The Hobbit… people are nice and friendly, food is diverse, and nightlife is amazing!
everything is near, and if it isn’t, public transportation will make it near for you! it’s just perfect!

this is the Sunday market on the waterfront... and as you can see, this is the fish kiosk! :)

this is the Sunday market on the waterfront…and as you can see, this is the fish stand! 🙂

I was totally welcomed as a member of the Mills-Wallis Family.
my kiwi parents and siblings are just amazing! although they were all tight in a small apartment because their house is being renovated as you read, they gave me my own room!
and each one of them took me out to do something different.

so, on my first day I had breakfast with Jesse, then I visited the Te Papa Museum which is brilliant! it has a lot of stuff, from geological and natural to early and late human history of New Zealand… seems like it never ends, every floor has something really interesting to show.

in the evening I went with Mark to see the sunset from their house in Island Bay, and this is what Wellington had for me (the mountains that are in the far back, are actually part of the South Island):

the next day was all about doing some touristic stuff… I went on the cable car up to the botanic gardens, then had lunch with Ali, and finally I visited the Museum of Wellington City & Sea… not bad!

on Friday I went to “Weta Cave” – Weta Workshop is a special effects and prop company, producing effects for television and films such as The Lord of the Rings, King Kong, Narnia, District 9, Avatar, Tintin, The Hobbit, etc- … arriving I met Caitlin from California. we toured together, then we had lunch with Jesse, and at night we went to have several beers in different bars… it was a GREAT night! unfortunately after this Caitlin went to Blenheim to live and work and I wasn’t able to see her again… maybe later we will be able to do some traveling together!

Saturday was my special day with Ali. we went to the Orongorongo Track outside of Wellington to do some hiking, this was my first track in NZ! I really loved it! it was nice to see green from up close, and to smell all those beautiful scents… I hope I can be able to do more “tramping” as they call it in New Zealand, and apparently the South Island has loads of tramping tracks, and that’s right where I’m heading!
in the evening we went to an awesome bar called Havana.

Sunday – FunDay: Saint Patrick’s Day!
Jesse invited me to spend the afternoon pub crawling around Wellington with his friends. mostly we visited Irish pubs, and on my favorite, Molly Malones, the band played a song I asked them to play by saying this: the next song is to Karen from Mexico… this is Rocky Road to Dublin!!!

finally, when my days in Wellington were coming to an end, I decided I should get tramping shoes for my walks in the South Island… and that’s when I discovered the magic of the Salvation Army Family Stores!
Tasarla and I went to have breakfast – mushrooms on toast… yum!!! – and then headed off to do some op shopping on Cuba Street.
I couldn’t find what I was looking for, and Tasarla needed to go to uni, so I went to the big Salvation Army Family Store in Newtown by myself… and there I bought a jumper ($10), 4 pairs of socks ($2.50), and a pair of tramping shoes ($6)…
total spent: $18.50
conclusion: op shopping is the best shopping!

on my very last day in Wellington I decided to finally walk up to the lookout on Mount Victoria. I think it’s the perfect place to see it all… 360° of buildings, mountains, ocean, ferries, and houses… 360° of joy… and that’s when it hit me, standing at the top of Wellington, I just thought “I love you New Zealand”… I’m HERE, and the journey is just beginning!

on my way down I met Christiane, 65 year old German teacher… she’s now traveling because she’s not working anymore back home… after a small chat of where we come from and what we do she said to me in a very sincere and empathic way: enjoy your life! may you find what you need to complete you in every direction!

and that’s all I have to say, about that..

paul

Posted on March 13, 2013 by karenula

today I met beautiful Paul.
I think he’s one of the “osomest” persons I’ve ever met… a lesson in life, inspiration, a great message: NOTHING CAN EVER STOP YOU (yes, you… and me… and him)

Paul has travelled through Kenya, most of Europe, Australia, Jamaica, and now New Zealand.
in this occasion (I don’t know about the rest) Paul came to New Zealand to see the cricket matches where his home country, England, plays.
the first match is here in Wellington, then he goes to the second one in Auckland, and he ends his trip in Rotorua doing a little bit of outdoorsy activities.

the story of how I met Paul is not very exciting, but it sure is beautiful and it fills me with happiness and somehow with hope.

I was walking out of the Te Papa museum about to head left to go get something to eat when I saw him, struggling a little bit to find his way, but managing to get through, there was Paul… I offered him my services as a guide – though I had NO idea of how to move around the city – and he happily said yes, he told me that he had been kayaking in the morning and that he wanted to chill at a beach called Oriental Bay, and since I had to tell him that I was not a local (because obviously I had to ask for directions), we both found out about each other that we are traveling by ourselves in this beautiful country…

you see, Paul is blind, and there’s nothing in the world that stops him from traveling… he lays on the sand and feels the sun touch his face… he travels to SEE a cricket match… he goes kayaking and seeks outdoor activities… he moves and gets through, all by himself… he seems happy… I can’t even imagine what traveling is for him… and he does it, he travels and feels and smells and listens… he travels and lives, although he’s got a great disadvantage… he LIVES…
what is our excuse to not do the things we want in life?

NOTHING CAN EVER STOP YOU!

novaeseelandiae

Posted on March 11, 2013 by karenula

I came to New Zealand ten years ago… it moved me so much that I had a 20 year old life crisis… I tried for ten years to come back and start to live… but I was not able to do so… or maybe it wasn’t the time to do it… maybe I needed experience – both in life and work – maybe I was too young to really know what I wanted… I guess I’ll never truly know this… but I do know that I’M HERE! and I’m finally living the dream!

I arrived in Auckland on Thursday 7 of March… and since my host was working, and I really needed a shower, I had to pay for a night (though it was 9am) at a hostel downtown… this was good, because I met wonderful people from all around the world… some were just finishing their travels in NZ, some were just starting like me, so maybe I’ll meet them again somewhere this year.

my “new best friends” were Vivi from Uruguay, and Camila from Chile.
we met everyday in the city, until they left to start an adventure in India.

my hosts in Auckland were great! at first maybe a little distant, but I guess this is normal with anyone during workdays… but the weekend with them was awesome (“osom”)!

on Saturday I went with Jeremy to Devonport, snobby area with a lot of coffee shops, and a park called North Heads Historic Reserve next to the ocean where you can see Auckland centre from the distance (map with arrows showing where the camera was pointing)… really nice place to sit and chillax!

we walked a lot, and I think we got to know each other pretty well. he was born in South Africa but he arrived in New Zealand with his family when he was a kid. now he’s a doctor in some Auckland hospital. he speaks fluent Spanish, he’s been learning the past couple of years, and it’s funny because he’s got Spanish from Spain accent. we were saying bad words all day… those that have to do with “cojones” and “me cago en las cosas”…

next day was Gareth’s day to take me out.
he’s a really cool guy! funny, smart and a quick learner!
we went to the beach to spend the day, and then we went to eat at a night weekend market on a parking lot. heading back home we stopped at another park/volcano called One Tree Hill to see the city from above

Monday was my last day in Auckland and I just stayed home to get everything ready for my departure the next morning… at night I went with Gareth to a food court and we both had Thai for dinner.
and the goodbye picture with both!

my time in Auckland still doesn’t make me feel like I’m in New Zealand. I guess it’s all the “big city” thing… it’s a nice place, but not where I would stay for long.
the Auckland Museum and the Toi o Tāmaki Art Gallery are really worth visiting, they both have New Zealand historical paintings, sculptures and artifacts.
also the Viaduct is recommended to walk around and sit at a bar to have a beer or a glass of some New Zealand wine.

I personally skipped the Sky Tower because it is expensive and there are some other places where you can see the city from above, such as Mount Eden, One Tree Hill, and of course Devonport’s North Heads Park.

next stop… Wellington…

novaeseelandiae

this is basically what I'm living, take it as an update, novel, or travel guide…

Monthly Archives: March 2013

road trippin’

come what come may

mr. tasman’s got a sweet ass

from north to south

windy welly

paul

novaeseelandiae

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