The last I left you, my loyal dozen or so readers, I was feeling off having just arrived in Auckland, New Zealand. It was early evening by the time I got to the hostel and wrote my entry but I wasn't ready to call it a night just yet. I have two nights in Auckland and I wasn't going to waste the first one. I hit publish on the post and put my laptop on my bed and walked out the door.
I walked out with nothing but my wallet and my phone. Normally I walk around with a backpack, like most other backpacker/travelers. This time I though fluff it I'm going with nothing. I left the hostel and turned down one street then another. I made my way to the water and picked a new street to walk down. It started raining and I let it rain on me. It matched my mood. I brushed off the water from my shirt from time to time (an LL Bean t-shirt which I highly recommend for it's ability to repel water for a few moments and most stains). Then I heard JP in my head and the words he writes in his little motivational posts on social media - self care. I thought maybe I was miserable because I hadn't had anything to drink all day so I went to a supermarket and bought a 1.5L bottle of water. I drank almost the whole thing in one go and I started to feel a little better.
I kept walking, because what else is there to do in a new city, and kept drinking my water as the cold rain misted my face. It went from a light misting to a steady spittle and I got wetter and wetter. Some water hit my shit and I looked down to see where it had stained to find my shirt spotted with water from the rain. I kept walking and finished my water, by now I was nearly back to my hostel and I realized I was hungry. I didn't want to go back down the monsterous hill that I had climbed twice now in the same day so I looked for something close to where I was staying. Fast food, Indian food, Indian food, Indian food. Finally I saw a Korean BBQ restaurant. Soaking wet and cold the scent of the meats hit my nostrils and I thought yes, Korean BBQ is good for the soul.
I was right. The warmth of the grill and the delicious, familiar, flavors were just what I needed. Self care accomplished! I ate a bunch of meat and dokbokki and checked my social media. I caught up with a few people back home and left. My next thought was to check out the liquor store next door.
Liquor stores in this part of the world are something else. In Australia they were part bodega - selling snacks, mixers, and beer alongside the overpriced liquor as well as premixed branded drinks in cans. In New Zealand it's much the same, except they also sell disgusting sounding pre-made shots in a bucket. I picked up a cheap liter of cider and brought it to the register. The cashier asked for my ID and I almost replied, "don't you know I'm old af?" but instead I handed it to him and walked out with my cider. I didn't think it was possible to be carded at my age in a country where the drinking age is 18. Still I brought my cider to the kitchen slash common room and sat at the end of the loudest table. Soon enough I was sitting in the middle of it and joking around with Julian the black guy from Berlin and his friend Alex the German from Berlin and Max who is also from Germany but prefers his name to be pronounced the American way, and Angelica from Italy and her partner who's name was so hard to pronounce I forgot it. Before I knew it the kitchen was closing and I was following them into the parking garage where there were plastic wrapped piles of old foam sitting around a circle. We sat there and drank warm terrible beer and sang along with songs for hours. Angelica told me I had a great voice and I told her she was crazy. Julian and I swayed back and forth singing along and another group of Germans joined us - Frika, Jo, Bobo, Claudia. It was amazing until Karen the Irishgirl showed up and harshed the vibe by making Alex feel bad for being assigned to her bunk and then tried to make all the conversations about her. I left soon after she arrived.
While I was there in the damp parking garage sitting on who knows what I realized something important. That to be happy and feel energised I needed to be around people. That I am the classic extrovert. I thank Julian for inviting me to join them and headed to bed. I didn't bother setting an alarm that night because I thought with only one full day left in the city I would go and see it whenever I did. That turned out to be 10am, which was the time I was finishing breakfast down the block and heading towards the sightseeing bus. I hopped on the bus and saw the whole city, learning of the history of New Zealand as I went. I transferred buses at the museum and thought about going in it until I saw they wanted $25 for the honor of looking at some of their local artwork (no thank you).
I transferred to the second bus and got off at Mount Eden. It is a volcanic crater that's now covered in grass. It was quite the climb to the top, although it was paved, and left me panting and wondering if it was worth the walk. The answer to that question is always yes. I took my time walking around the entire crater and took a ton of pictures. I'm not sure any of them really do justice to how massive this crater was and how high up I was and what an amazing view of the entire city I was treated to was. After the crater it was another bus back to the museum then back to the original bus line where I got off at the marina area. My ticket included a ferry to the island of Devonport so naturally I had to do that too.
The bus company salesman had said to go there for the ride and a small drink or something in the town. I walked through the main street of the town and saw a small path going up, very steeply. I took that path and my legs hated me. Soon my lungs hated me too. I stopped a third of the way up and almost turned around. Then I heard Jordan's voice in my head - got to see the view! I kept going and was rewarded with another amazing view of the city plus the island. Mount Victoria Reserve nearly kicked my butt but I conquered it and was rewarded
Down the hill I stopped in an ice cream shop and paid way too much for a bottle of water. I definitely needed it though after those two climbs. Then it was back on the boat and I decided to treat myself to a nice dinner. I realized that the barometer of how much I like a place is how much I'm willing to spend on dinner there. The place I picked was very fancy but delicious. I treated myself to cevice, a bellini, a steak and an affogato with amaretto for dessert. Then walked back to the hostel happy and full, looking forward to the night ahead.
I stopped again at the liquor store, after backtracking to pick up water, and picked up some cider and a six pack of beer to pay back Max from Germany with. I headed to the main kitchen and didn't see anyone in here so I just decided to sit and write. I met Mingkyu from Korea who is on a working holiday and a guy from Uruguay who I saw drinking mate this morning and has been traveling the whole of New Zealand for the last month. Mingkyu was impressed how much I knew about Korea and I told him it's cause I'm from New York. They've since left and I am just finishing up this post before I go off to the other kitchen to see if Angelica, Max, Julian, and/or Alex are there. It's time for this extrovert to charge up with some socialization!
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