Auckland Tales

This post is part of a series detailing my activities, thoughts and feelings as I make a five-week expedition across the beautiful lands of New Zealand (NZ).

The early bird gets to check-in

Upon packing my bags with the most elaborate set of items that will allow me to carry them both by air and by bike I get an “early” (11pm) night as I have to get up for 6am on the first day of my travels. I wasn’t expecting to have to be up at such an “early” (this lazy person often gets up past 8am on weekdays) but it was something I had to bear as online check-in apparently isn’t a possibility when you booked with Air NZ and your departing flight is with Singapore Airlines. Lesson learned for the future I guess.

Other than a brief scare where the new NZeTA visa pass wasn’t showing any useful details on their own app, I managed to check-in and from there everything was plain sailing. I had two hours to spare at the gate and I had collected my boarding pass. I was feeling surprisingly calm at this point which is peculiar for me as I often get quite anxious before a big trip and my stomach is usually the one to tell me this, but there were no rumblings happening in this tummy today.

One trilogy isn’t enough for this journey

I sit down on the Singapore Airlines Airbus A380 and do the first reasonable thing that any person would do, plan twelve solid hours of in-flight entertainment. I’m scrolling through and my vision turns to something, John Wick: Chapter 3 - Parabellum, is available. However I haven’t seen the first two I can’t watch the third in series before the preliminary episodes and then I see in the sidebar of recommended movies, the whole trilogy is available. Singapore Airlines. Not only do you have fantastic seating, decent food (for a flight) and pleasant staff, you have stolen my heart with this plethora of comedy action. If you’d like me to review these films in full make sure to send a message via the contact form linked in the menu bar above 😉.

After the first leg of my flight, I arrive in Singapore with just enough time to get a Crispy Kreme doughnut and lemon ice tea as well as stretching my time to go through the Jewel of Changi Airport only to find that the main attraction was turned off 😥. Oh well, an excuse to visit again sometime.

Now for the most important part of the flight, starting the Lord of the Rings trilogy as soon as I get on the plane as I barely have enough time to watch it. Fortune favours the bold though and the plane was having a technical fault giving me precious minutes for more Tolkien-based goodness. Amazingly this flight became a 4D experience as the plane took off just as the Nazgul are swept away outside of the elven domain of Rivendell and landed as the Sauron’s tower falls. Now that is attention to detail Air NZ!

We land at midnight NZ time and I’ve barely slept for about 30 hours. I have to declare my cereal bars and footwear as NZ has strict bio rules on what can be taken in and my shoes even go for a “dip”, whatever that means. I get to my hostel, get to my room and finally fall asleep at 2am.

Day 1 - Sleepless in Auckland

Despite my lack of sleep, I wake up at 7:30am. At least this allows me to meet my roommates, Amy from Vancouver, Canada and her boyfriend Jesse from Melbourne, Australia as well as Vincent from Germany. The couple asks me about what I am most excited to do, Hobbiton obviously and they mention that there is going to be a beer festival there this weekend… Now as many of my readers may know this combines two of my greatest passions, Beer and Lord of the Rings and I don’t have to describe my feelings about this opportunity. It’s expensive but this is a once in a lifetime trip and the fantasy gods have come into my favour. Safe to say that Amy and Jesse are in my good books from now on.

As I’m up I’ve realised the “late Sunday” NFL games will be on soon, including my beloved Seahawks. I get an NZ travel sim card for my phone, and then find the nearest sports bar that is open at 9:30am. The Right Track sports bar/cafe does the trick. They’re only showing the Saints @ Bears game but it’s better than nothing and gives me a chance to have breakfast and check out the details for that beer festival. Whilst getting near to the end of my free hour of WiFi someone else walks in and asks if they’re showing the Seahawks game, I explain that they only have one game available in NZ but that this place does have WiFi if you buy something. He then proceeds to buy a drink get out his phone and finds a stream of the game and I join him in watching on the 5.5" display. This new stranger goes by the name of Joe and is from Idaho, USA. The Seattle Seahawks are the closest team to Idaho apparently which explains his fandom. Whilst watching the match I learn all sorts of things about Joe; he was a product manager in software as it allowed him to pay off his student loans quickly, but his true passion was becoming a film director/producer. The reason why Joe was in NZ escapes me but it was only a stop-gap until he moves to LA to pursue his dreams, maybe we could all learn something from Joe. The game finishes very disappointingly and we part ways as Joe looks for a flat to live in and I try to walk off my inane tiredness.

Walking down Queen street, the main boulevard in Auckland CBD, I hack a right at the end and walk along the harbour front eventually making it to Wynyard Quarter an area of the city that was disused industrial land that is being turned into a sort of tech hub with bars and restaurants to match. The buildings are striking and it is a nice area, however, I’m still too zonked to be able to appreciate any of it. I eventually come back the way I came, appreciating all the rugby world cup signs around until I come up to Britomart station. A bunch of designer branded shops and high-end office lay just past it and within the centre of these was a display for nominations of the most inspiring women of New Zealand, they all seemed very impressive to me. I carry on up towards the Auckland University campus and happen upon a tiny nature reserve. Trees are mangled together, stretching over the path, winding and twisting, giving little option but to duck beneath them. I walk around the campus, have a late lunch from the student’s convenience store and appreciate the slow walk up and through Albert Park. Walking past the business in the front (Edwardian style), party in the back (modern architecture) Auckland art gallery, I make my way by the civic theatre and centre into Myers park. Another little sanctuary leading up a hill with a replica Michaelangelo statue. Going through a rather quaint mall I decide I’m done for the day and that I need to have a nap.

I get back to the hostel, thankfully no-one is in the room and I sleep for an hour or so. I only wake up briefly to talk to my roommates about our various days and then I crash again hoping sleeps warm embrace will bring me back to feeling normal.

Day 2 - Auckland’s burning!

I wake up early again but I got a full 8 hours at least. I take this opportunity to go through my various media streams on my phone, including work. I know it’s bad, I’m getting help. Honest! But it also gives me a chance to catch up on my favourite sitcom at the moment BBC parliament.

Once I am up I get to a local corner shop and have some basic breakfast (apricot and chocolate oat bars, and orange and mango juice) as my stomach is still in knots from lack of sleep. I proceed with my plans nonetheless and walk towards Domain, a lovely park built on top of a currently inactive volcano. I lie down once I get to the top seriously wondering about whether I’m capable to do the rest of my plans for the day. I persevere onwards, partly because it started raining, and make it to the Auckland War Memorial Museum.

The museum is fantastic! A wide selection of different exhibitions covering the Polynesian culture, the discovery of Aotearoa/New Zealand by James Cook, volcanoes (including a physical simulation of being in a minor earthquake situation), and one of the more interesting topics of bags around the world and throughout the ages. All of the information was well put together and often in an engaging if not interactive manner. I bought the ticket to see the Maori (the indigenous people of Aotearoa) cultural experience and I was not disappointed. The participants (actors? dancers?) were very well rehearsed and gave both an informative and entertaining show. It felt truly like I was in New Zealand at last, even if my body still didn’t know how it felt.

I leave the museum after some lunch and walk towards Mount Eden. As luck would have it I take a slight detour and find the Wintergardens. In the first of the greenhouses I entered, I was greeted by a luscious bouquet of smells from all sorts of stunning orchids, following through to the more tropical greenhouse and then into Fernz Fernery, where I appreciated the efforts they went to in order to maintain brand recognition. I walk for quite a while past, cricket pavilions, schools and churches to finally meet the base of Mount Eden, I begin my ascent.

I make it up most of the way and then turn around to look at the first lookout point when I see smoke billowing across the skyline of Auckland. It turns out that the day I choose to explore a bit further out is the day that the convention centre catches on fire. A lucky break. At the top of the mount, I get to see the scale of the fire and decide that it’s probably under control. I take another rest in the grass of Mount Eden as my body is writhing in discomfort. Despite the fact that I have further plans for the day, I decided that I am done. I make my way to the closest convenience store, leave with my off-brand pot noodle in hand, and take a bus back to my hostel.

Back at the hostel, I nap once more and then try to do some planning for the rest of my holiday. I’m interrupted by my roommate, Vincent, and a girl he has brought back. Vincent is young and has moved here for a working gap year of sorts, so I try not to judge him too much but it’s too awkward to stay in the room with both of them there. I leave the room and chill out downstairs for a short amount of time, luckily I see Amy walk up the stairs to our room whilst I’m planning, two third wheels mean that it isn’t awkward, right? Vincent and the girl who I didn’t catch the name of have left by the time I’m up there and Amy and I have a funny and frank conversation about the situation. Amy and Jesse are packing their stuff up as they’re leaving the next day to travel around New Zealand in a van, probably the best way to see it but alas I have been a fool and not earned my drivers license.

I try to sleep off this dreaded jet-lag off one more time 🤞

Day 3 - Day of rest

I say goodbye to my currently favourite roommates in the morning and determine I need a proper day off. I’ll do what I do best, research, in the hopes of getting some activities booked and transportation sorted, as well as finding a proper supermarket nearby with fresh food. I go through my classic morning routine, “Shit, Shower, Shave!” and then get on with something useful. I still have a weak appetite even into the evening but I force myself to eat a decent portion of food.

I lie in my bed, wondering whether I really made the right decision going all this way on my own. Doubting myself, my inner monologue whispering “you aren’t independent enough to do this”, “you’re stuck here and you won’t enjoy your time”. I try to dismiss these thoughts with the next day’s activities in mind (a technique I learnt via the School of Life) and then I fall asleep…

And that folks is the first post in this series. Tune in for the next one to find out whether things get better or worse hint: they don't get worse 😉