Skytower again...

I inadvertently chanced upon a better view of the Skytower - I'd probably get some pretty darn good pictures if I tried harder. Enjoy!



woweee

No. 43 part 4: hossie, doggie, Will and Emma

Just to pick up where I left off, I'll summarize:

1. I drove 200+ km to another hostel by the bay
2. Shared a room with female potheads and an Israeli (Dolon, he let me use some of his ketchup)
3. Continued my streak of adventure & seagull stalking

After visiting that nice spot up the mini-mountain, I drove on to an unknown destination.

Haruru Falls as an obvious choice, yes?

No. 43 part 3: Exploration

It was still a little grey on Day 2 at Paihia.

By now you must be wondering, what's that No. 43 all about?

Just one of those things on my list - to go swimming with dolphins.

The organizers had already called the day before, telling me that the dolphin trip was cancelled due to the bad weather, therefore rescheduling for the next day. I was pretty hopeful for this, so I reserved Day 2 for some exploring...

I would've prolly gotten a fantastic view here during the summertime. Still, the plains do really go on for miles and miles.

The other island from a distance (perhaps it was Russell):

No. 43 part 2: Peppertree

Where was I?



Oh yeah, Paihia. I had just arrived and was greeted by these whatchamacalit structures or statues or carvings. For a while I thought this was the famed Waitangi Treaty Grounds, but that was further down on the same road.

No. 43 part 1: Introduction

Decided to take a roadtrip to the Bay of Islands during the long weekend, one of the places of interests I aimed to cover during my stay in NZ. I was looking forward to one or two activities during my stay up north, but there were already some warning signs when the weather forecast hinted a "strong gale" coming along.

Still, that did not hinder me as I was looking for some adventure (I've ruled out Queenstown and Taupo for the time being - save some action for Spring or as Summer approaches).

The Bay of Islands is on the north-east coast of Northland, which according to my interpretation is the land to the north of Auckland. I'm not joking around. It's that simple :P

There seems to be quite a lot to do if you know where to go. Let's just say I had an inkling of how to make my way around - got myself plenty of maps (even one to get out of the city and on to the highway), no accommodations booked, some food on the go, and a full tank of gas. Traits of a typical roadtrip I guess!

K-inda K-inky K-road

I thought I'd share a little bit about a road that I'm quite fond of.

My hostel is located at the corner or Mercury Lane and Karangahape Road (referred to as K-road by the locals), and while there's not much to talk about Mercury Lane (well, it is after all just a lane), I can maybe string a paragraph or two about the latter.

Well, here goes.

It used to be a red-light district.

Or rather, just a red-light road.

I could look up all the fabulously explicit details on the internet, but that wouldn't be as fun as being totally clueless and walking right into a strip club without knowing you're stepping into one.

Skytower

If there's one thing that sticks out like a pretty finger in Auckland, it's the Skytower. So here's my free contribution of Skytower pictures to Googleland...

This is from a distance away as I approach Queen street:

Harbour

Here are some pictures I took as I was walking along Quay Street, treading the borders of Waitemata & Viaduct harbours.

Here's my version of the Ferry Building.

The nearby wharf

Blue skies with fluffy clouds

Here's a 3-picture summary of my arrival to New Zealand.





The guy in the middle pic is Edwin, a Maorian. He and I took turns sleeping stretched across a 5-seater. Mighty nice fellow.

Signing out.

A-livebrary

I’ve explored most of the Auckland city center and I like what I see so far. The air is refreshing. In terms of the weather, I think I’ve adapted pretty well to it. In fact I feel like it has gotten warmer in these first few days of June and I just need to suit up with my 2 layers and a jacket.

I haven’t ventured much off the beaten track (in my case, it’s K-Road & Queen Street). It’s not because I’m not adventurous or that I’ve exhausted all my options, rather it’s because I’ve been busy settling some business. One of my hot spots happens to be the Auckland City Library.

Yeah you heard me – the LIBRARY. No, it’s not one of those bars with a fashionable unique name. It’s an actual library. It’s quite different than most libraries I’ve been to (but then again, I’m sure a lot has changed in libraries since my last visit to one).

More free Internet!

I’m consuming New Zealand a 100 meters at a time. I’m trying not to be greedy, but I ended up gobbling most of Queen St on one fine Friday - a 3km stretch (or more) near my hostel all the way up to the harbour.

I'll share more of the harbour once I get more good pics other than the below:



Oh yeah, where were we? Oh yes. my journey towards the eventual discovery of free cyberspace visitations.

Hostel part 2 and "friendly" cops

Ahh yes. It feels like being in a college dormitory again - as I mentioned before, there are a lot of germans, then there are the americans, a few japanese, south americans, a pretty good mix. My landlady's name is Mei and she's Korean and friendly.

Recently I've been petting their doggies, very cute but with bloodshot eyes. I'll upload pics when I have the chance. The hostel have internet for about 3 bucks, so I'll probably log in at the hostel when I'm not at the cafe. People here are quite friendly and I get a lot of help around!

My roommate Daniel is from UCLA. He's an okay roommate, not really anything to complain about. He teaches music to maori students and taught English to Koreans back when he was at S. Korea (he's half Korean). Here's a snapshot of the dude with his trumpet (20+ years of playing have made him mighty impressive!):

No. 32

Took the time today to mark no.32 off my To-Do List – to visit New Zealand!

I had initially planned to log on at Starbucks with a nice cup of café latte, but they’re setup over here to charge for internet access @ $3 an hour.

Eventually I made my way to Columbus café after a nice tip from the man whom I bought my prepaid sim from. Was so pre-occupied with the internet (mail, facebook, soccernet, news) that I burned the rest of the day that was intended for bank work. Oh well :/

My highlight of the day was Myers Park. Just because I found the playground (in case you want to know what’s the fuss, it’s because of the make-do chin-up bars AND NOT the swings)!

BK Hostel

I chose to make my residence at BK Hostel, a smart and clean-looking place. It has the look of a college dormitory & has an international feel to it - just because of the people you meet around these parts.

Here's the front of the hostel:



The living room - my room's right behind that curtain. And I have to walk past this area and the hostel manager's desk every morning to take a shower. Yeah, take a good look at my morning hair :P