New Zealand - Auckland

Well I've finally got around to writing this so my apologies to those of you have been waiting with baited breath to see what I have been doing in the first month of my 3 year holiday!

Well where do I begin.....suppose the beginning is as good a place as any! The first leg of the journey took me from the wonderful place that is Aghadowey to the magnificent splendor that is Belfast International Airport - if you haven't been it really is a must, its got Arrivals, Departures and even inside toilets! Oh dear seems like I'm in one of those sarcastic moods so no offense meant to anyone who's easily offended.....things may get worse from here on in.

Caught the flight to London which as usual had a half hour delay on it which did somewhat interfere with my plans to be in the pub by 5 but in my new found wisdom decided that I no longer should be worried about things like delays - I'm sure there'll be plenty more of those as I head around the world. So anyway got to the pub by 6! Spent a pleasant evening sitting outside the boozer in London (outside on the 26th Oct is a very strange thing in London believe me - maybe the sun god was shining down on me to prepare me for my little trip??) so thanks to those that came along and for my leaving prezzies - Ian have to say yours didn't make the suitcase but it is in safe hands....probably being used as a duster as we speak and NO I'm not that pale anymore! And Anna thanks for getting me tipsy again!

Anyway the 27th was spent getting those last minute essentials before heading out to Heathrow to catch my flight - cheers for the sleeping bag and the lift Katie Breen. A gruelling 12hr(?) flight and couple of sleeping pills later I arrived into Kuala Lumpar where I found the showers and the bar (in reverse order of course), 3hrs later I was on my merry way to Auckland and arrived there on the 29th at 12 midday. A couple of hours later I was happily installed in my first backpackers dorm room....and yes the charm of sleeping with 6/7 other people has worn off quite quickly but I'm used to it now and it takes a lot to wake me up although I have been told I do a fine line in snoring every so often - I don't believe a word of it, no one in my family ever snores - isn't that right oh father of mine? Anyway I digress - onto the more important things....next was a quick wander up and down Queen St which is the main rd in Auckand, quickly found a McD's and had breakast/lunch/dinner (not quite sure what it was by that stage!) and then promptly returned to my room where I thought I'd have a quick nap.....4.00 the next morning Bozo here was wide awake and couldn't get back to sleep again - if you're thinking of making your way over here try and stay awake to at least 8pm, it really will help you out with the jet lag.

So its 4am and I'm wide awake wondering whether or not I should just get up, by the way that usually wouldn't require me having a conversation with myself, the usual reaction would normally involve looking at the clock, swearing, then going straight back to sleep but twas not to be oh friends of mine - nope I got my ass out of bed and went down to the 'relaxation area' with my book where I got chatting to a couple of people and we ended up spending the day together doing a few touristy things and then proceeded to get well and truly pissed! One was a guy from Christchurch (South Island, NZ) who is going to put me up for a couple of days next week while he shows me the sights (ahem) and the other was a girl from Wales who I ended up spending the first 2 weeks with and will probably be meeting up with again in a couple of days! How cool was that?!? It's dead easy to meet people - the vast majority of people are travelling on their own so everyone just makes the effort which is really good.

Auckland isn't a bad city - it gets a lot of sh*t from other Kiwis because its just so much bigger than any of the other cities but believe me in comparison to London its sooooo much nicer - the streets are clean, people don't barge past you on the pavements and cars generally don't speed up when they see you trying to cross the road! There's loads to do, lots of nice little suburbs with funky cafes and a really relaxed vibe and generally speaking pretty friendly locals - so friendly in fact that I swapped numbers with a guy caled Chris as he offered to show any of my friends around should they ever come to Auckland. The locals are known elsewhere as JAFA's which I found quite amusing....even more so when I found out what it stood for - Just Another Fu*king Aucklander! Of a country with a population of approx 4 million I believe about 1.5m of those live in Auckland - hence the nickname I guess.

The city itself is very hilly so gets the old lungs and legs working, there are also over 40 volcanos in and around the city so pretty awesome views when you get to the top, highest is Mount Eden which gives a panoramic view of the whole city - another good way to see the city is the Sky Tower, which is the tallest structure in NZ and perhaps the Southern Hemisphere (although don't quote me on that but I think thats right), its a bit like the CN Tower in Toronto just not so high - but high enough that you can jump of it for a small nominal fee - crazy people!

So summary - Auckland is cool, think I'll probably enjoy working there for a while when I come back in January. It isn't as cheap as I thought it was going to be - in fact a pint is the same as it is back home in most of the city bars but hey ho the weather is warm, the city is pretty in a city type way and its on the coast so has some damn fine beaches and the sailing is great!

More later
xx