Four months

All of my adventures in Auckland—let's try for a post a day!

[catsinauckland]

Day 20 – Ants and Unks

Heh, sorry guys!

Today was a SUPER HYPE DAY.

By which I mean, Auntie Cathy and Uncle Evan flew in! Heck yes! They set up reservations at Little Buddha (I have photos!) and I hurried on over there after my morning class (creative writing this time).

The food was...Asian fusion, I’m pretty sure! And ohhhh, the lamb. AND THE RICE. Gosh do I miss rice.

It was super great to see them again, and I gave them my tips and tricks list for Auckland (and other areas). I’ll replicate it here!

There is no tipping culture in New Zealand.

(however, their is a culture of ‘koha’, a small donation/gift, it’s not required and will not be asked for, some businesses simply have a koha jar)

Things are more expensive here! Check your exchange rates, and remember, no tips!

YOU DO NOT HAVE THE RIGHT OF WAY. CARS HAVE THE RIGHT OF WAY.

There are two kinds of crosswalks, the regular one (thick bars, kind of like steps/ladder rungs) across the street. You have the right of way in this one.

Two lines, across the street, that mark out an ‘alley’. YOU DO NOT HAVE THE RIGHT OF WAY IN THIS ONE. WAIT FOR THE LIGHT.

Some stoplights stop ALL cars at stoplights. You can generally cross diagonally here!

Drink L&P. Seriously.

NEVER DRINK FOSTER’S. It’s Australian.

You support the All Blacks. Trust me. You do.

There’s probably more, and I might end up making a separate masterpost. Send me some feedback! To everyone reading this, I set things up so that people can ask me questions. Give it a go!

After that AWESOME lunch, we headed out to explore a little. I took them by Countdown, then up to see the school and where I’m staying! The architecture at the school is great, seriously.

Then (oh glorious then!) we went to Giapo’s. It was absatively posolutely fantastic, I’m STILL gushing. So basically, they have their gelato. Then they have a chocolate shell. Then a specially designed topping??? Heavenly. Brace yourself for it, I’d recommend planning to share and ordering small portions, until you’re sure of your Giapo-limit. Auntie and Uncle got the Hokey-Pokey (an NZ delicacy, good stuff!) and I got the Afghan Cookies.

Seriously amazing. Seriously.

After that, we made plans to meet up again when they got back from Queenstown (and I got a doggy bag of food and some granola and a cup a soup mug, you guys are the best heck yes) and I headed back to the dorm to gather my stuff for class.

Not a bad day at all!

[catsinauckland]

Day 19 – So Now You’re Back!

Maybe not from Outer Space, but DEFINITELY from Northland!

It was definitely a Manic Monday, though, with an 8 AM class (bluhhhh) and my internship later in the afternoon. I headed over there, and apparently...came too earlier. I’m not supposed to show up that early. Oops?

I spent the day researching free range eggs in New Zealand, and actually chalked up about an hour on Reddit, trying to find eggy opinions. There were an entire two threads about the topic, and one of them went off on picking your favorite free range place! Annnd a tons of really opinionated stuff too. Funfun.

That went on until class time. Sigh, 6-8 pm is not a good time to be having class...but today’s class was on places to visit! Super super SUPER great. There’s even an entire Lord of the Rings trip list page, and I am SO hype. (Mom, when you get here, I’ll show it to you! Oh heck, I’ll send it NOW.)

And then I crashed, totally exhausted.

Oh crap! I have the seven poems in seven days assignment due tomorrow...good thing I’ve only got one left.

[catsinauckland]

Day 18 – Back to the Bus

UUUUUUGH. UGH. UGH.

Buses. Stupid buses.

We woke up early to strip the beds and bring the linens down to the front desk. They were VERY unclear about what to bring, though, so most of us only brought half of what we were apparently supposed to.

And it turned out that everyone’s stuff that was ANYWHERE near a window was ENTIRELY covered in condensation. What the hell??? They really need to fix that, holy crap.

Finally loaded up, we headed down to Waitangi. There was a walk around the treaty grounds, the HUGE war canoe (absolutely gorgeous honestly, named Ngatokimatawhaorua, takes 76 people to row and weighs 6 tons dry, 12 wet), the Marae built there, the house that was the staging point for the signing, and headed back down through the forest.

Apparently, there were kiwi birds living there too! The marae was gorgeous, but incredibly cold, and the house was...there were tons of interesting artifacts, but the dummies they had for props were defs uncanny valley.

We also visited the shop! There was a brand called Lothlorien (heh), and a tone of greenstone. Totally completely beautiful, with a ton of lore to it. Apparently you’re only supposed to buy them as gifts for other people, and if you’re not meant to have a piece of greenstone, it’ll disappear—you’ll lose it somewhere, somehow.

Our first ‘pit stop’ was in Kawakawa, Joe’s hometown. It’s also home to the famous to the Hundertwasser Toilets, these absolutely gorgeous toilets with ceramic mosaics and glass everywhere...I’ve got pictures, but they don’t do it justice. Apparently, the toilets took over the town, and now most posts and poles are made to look like the ones in front of the toilets!

(there was also a roof garden shed! super cute, pictures later)

We went to this one cafe, Bay of Islands Bakeries Kawakawa (that’s a mouthful!) that’s famous for its donuts. Slightly different from the ones back home, but that didn’t matter because someone bought the last one like five people before I could. Drat. It’s the price of traveling in large groups.

From there, we drove up to Rupekapeka Pa. There was the staging ground the soldiers had been, at, and the grounds of the Pa itself—a Pa is a defensive fortification, created and maintained by tribes as a place to retreat to during battles! Rupekapeka Pa was a MARVEL of structural engineering, taking lessons from an earlier built one at Ohaewai (by the same Maori Rangatira [rangatira: chief]). I think it’s supposed to be one of the first uses of trench warfare?

It had dozens of interconnected tunnels, that also doubled as bomb shelters. They left out tons of woven ‘pillows’ to catch cannonballs, so that they could return bombardments whenever the British fired at them. The interconnected tunnels allowed them to move about unseen, and leave the Pa at will. As for the trenches, they were incredibly deep, and there was a tall double-fence in front of them. Rupekapeka was at the top of the hill, basically impossible for the British to sneak around. And the Maori could fire at them from between the fence and the ground, while standing in the trenches. Look up the battle, it’s super interesting!

From there, we headed to Whangarei, most definitely a MAJOR tourist trap. They had a super cool giant sundial, though...and incredibly long lines. No lunch for me :(

I ended up having half of a really bad muffin, but our program coordinator gave me a leftover pizza! Didn’t eat it until we got back, though. I didn’t want to, er. Share inappropriately. Dang motion sickness.

On the route home, we played HORSE! and I SO KICKED BUTT. In the end, I had like 55 horses (last minute horse trailer spot) and they (Joe and our driver and Vivian, our lecturer) totally deliberately set things up so that we’d go past a cemetery. Not really! Buuuut kind of. I was a good sport about it though, so I ended up winning the Golden Kumara Award. It was supposed to be for EXTRAORDINARY ACCOMPLISHMENT, but nothing absolutely crazy happened so....free sweet potato! Gotta cook that thing.

Anyway, pizza and snacks, then off to bed. Uuuuugh what a LONG WEEKEND.

[catsinauckland]

Day 17 – Ahoy!

BRIGHT AND EARLY we had a ferry ride out to Kororareka, also known as Russell. It went from being the HELL HOLE OF THE SOUTH PACIFIC to...a sleepy little tourist town, honestly. Most all of it was shut down for the winter.

Our first designated stop was Pompallier House, but we wandered around a bit...eventually, the entire group ended up there, a good ten minutes early. Like I said. Sleepy town. Shut down.

Pompallier House was the site of a French-Catholic mission to Aotearoa. They had a tannery and a printing press, their own bookmaking operation...religious tomes, to hand out to the locals free of charge. Actually, these guys were pretty popular, considering that they didn’t ask for much land (no families to raise) and didn’t go around trying to, er, savor foreign delights? Ahem.

Anyway, we wandered around town a bit—they had a PHENOMENAL choclatier’s shop that I had to drag myself out of—and I ended up consoling myself over the missed chocpportunites with a cup of triple chocolate gelato. Absolutely delish, despite the FREEZING COLD. Gosh dangit, New Zealand.

From there, we hopped back on the ferry (some guys missed the boat, had to wait for the next one) and headed back to the hostel. By the way, it’s VERY MUCH EHHHHHH. The beds were super uncomfy, the pillow was about as thick as a wallet...yeah. Oh, and the shower was literally a curtain and a faucet and a drain. Seriously.

After a quick stuff-drop trip, we trotted on down to El Café for lunch. Literally EVERYONE was there, apparently we’d all had the same idea?

Not too long after that, we were out again, this time for some kayaking! They had to pick us up in shifts, so the first crew of us hung out near the river and checked out this super awesome arena set up for a traditional Maori ball game. Gotta google that later.

We boated out to the kayaks, which were tethered at another point in the river. I paired up with one of my roommates, and...okay, it turns out, I’m not very good at kayaking. I was good at canoe paddling, but that was also a really long time ago and surprisingly different to boot.

You need to synch rhythms, it seems. Amanda was kind enough to let me sit in front which meant...she got stuck with the tough job of synching to my rhythm. I’m really sorry about that, I definitely owe you a beer.

Anyway, we paddled out past these white-green trees. Apparently it’s called New Zealand snow. Apparently, it’s cormorant poo. The trees were also known as the Christmas trees of NZ, they bloom only for a couple weeks (around Christmas) and when they do, it’s bright red!

We also went past a ‘marae’. Apparently it was one built for tourists? Hence the disbelieving quotes! Some guy has a waka (Maori war canoe) that he loads up with tourists and paddles out to it.

From there, we reached the waterfall! Not super tall, but REALLY wide, and really cool! Annnnd loud. It made all these weird cross currents, and Amanda and I must’ve paddled out to the waterfall itself around five times, only to get pushed all the way back out by the dang thing.

One kayak capsized, and someone hurt her foot, stepped on a pointy rock. She’s fine now, though!

We paddled in...and had the option of going to the boat for a ride to shore. Nope. Apparently we were going to paddle all the way up ourselves. They’d told us we could wait for them, as the shore was kinda slippery-slimy to climb, but most of us went for it anyway.

When we got back to the hostel, we were pooped. Went out for pizza. And it turned out, the fishing guys caught TWO HUGE SNAPPERS. Holy CRAP man. They were absolutely delicious!

After that, almost all of us settled down to watch a movie. I tapped out after it and headed to bed.

[catsinauckland]

Day 16 – The Wheels on the Bus go Round and Round

and round and round and round.

Turns out, I get hella carsick.

I was up at 7:00 AM for our three day trip and I packed like a MADMAN. One of my roommates woke up...quite a bit later, to say the very least, and was rushing around packing. She forgot a few things too, we ended up having to run back.

Annnnd someone actually called us, “where are you guys????”. Still! We made it JUST in time. No actually they nearly drove off without us but I think (hope????) they were joking.

It was a VERY long bus ride. And I felt majorly bluh.

We stopped in Dargaville for lunch, at the Fresh Kafe. I nabbed a burger, it had this super thick cheese on it, and the toilets were...interesting? Small room, connected by a ‘path’, with a piece of plywood on either side of the path to block out the elements. Yup. They also spelled Hawaiian wrong—”Hawaiin Burger”.

And then we got back on the bus.

And I got so bus sick.

So I ended up moving to the front of the bus! Started feeling better JUST in time for us to get sent off to see a GIANT Kauri tree, Tane Mahuta. Supposedly the largest one in New Zealand, it was HUGE. Pictures later! But apparently there’s a bigger one out there, a ways off the path. They’ve managed to keep the location a secret so far!

On the way out to the Hokianga Heads, we saw a cow on the loose! There was this guy on a motor/tractor thing herding it towards a gate (and his poor dog too, the little guy was exhausted) but the gate was closed and the cow ran into it :( From there, the dog kept chasing it, while the guy tried to go around opening gates (the cow looked kinda stunned honestly), and the cow ending up running up someone’s driveway and into their yard. Hopefully that got resolved?

Either way, we were off to the Hokianga Heads. There was a nice little walking trail with a SPECTACULAR view, and apparently pretty good surf! (don’t worry Dad, I’m taking down the names)

Back on the bus! And to Opononi! A sweet little town that apparently had a very friendly dolphin come to visit for a year or so. There’s a memorial to Opo in town—unfortunately, everyone thought she was a boy, but I’m pretty sure they fixed that on the stones. Opo’s story is kind of a sad one, so you’ll have to forgive me for leaving it out, but it’s linked right here.

Some of us (aka three of twenty-five) decided to skip the sandboarding (I was still feeling sick) so we hung out in the lodge. It was actually a ton of fun!

When we hopped back on the bus, I was up front with the dude in charge of all of our field trips, Joe. Joe had taught us this one game called “HORSE!” Basically, if you see a horse, you shout out HORSE. And that horse is yours! If you see more than one, you have to shout out as many as there are (e.g. HORSE HORSE HORSE HORSE HORSE). If someone sees a horse trailer, they can call that, and steal ALL the horses. If someone sees a cemetery, they can ALSO call that...and kill everyone’s horses but their own. Yup.

Oh, but if you mistakenly call something a horse and it’s not, you lose all your horses. I did not bad! All things considered. Way too many cemeteries and horse trailers.

I also taught the guys “Sweet But Not Tart” and Joe picked up my own variation of it on his own (”Tart But Not Sweet”)! Good thing too, it got way too dark to play HORSE! by the time we pulled into Paihia.

In Paihia, we had this EPIC barbeque dinner! So much steak, and TONS of other ono food. We’re staying at the Saltwater Lodge for the duration, so I’ll tell you how that goes. Anyway, it’s bed time for me!

[catsinauckland]

Day 15 – Lost in Auckland

But not badly so! Today was a bit later, which was nice, and I ended up meeting someone fairly cool in one of my writing classes, from Hungary. She’s fairly well traveled.

Anyway, it turned out that the Professor was late—her kid had forgotten their keys and wallet at home, and she’d had to drive there and back again—and we had a fire drill, right before we got into the classroom. Yeesh!

After class, I realized that I’d 1. Forgotten my water bottle at work and 2. Needed that water bottle for the upcoming three day trip. There was nothing for it but to head on out and pick it up. The coolkid I met in class actually offered to go with me...and I managed not to get us too hideously lost. Bright side, I’ve found a MUCH less sketch route to work! Down side, it’ll take a wee bit longer to get there.

Anyhow, I nabbed the bottle and we hit this little cafe for lunch. Can’t remember the name, but they did an excellent bagel (with cream cheese and jam), for not very much. Ah, conversion rates, you are amazing.

From there, I headed home to relax...and headed out early to visit the Chinese market.

And got hideously lost.

No, seriously, I couldn’t find it, gave up, and hit a convenience store. They have chicken flavored chips which...are actually decent. They taste kind of like soup? Anyway, I got lost again coming back, got literally within ten feet of the building I needed to be at, thought, “nah that can’t be it”, turned around, went BACK, got lost AGAIN, then finally made it there. Still more than an hour too early for class. BLARGH.

At least it was fairly interesting—we covered the Northland Wars.

And now I’m going to hit the hay.

[catsinauckland]

Day 14 – Wacky Wednesday

INTERNSHIP DAY.

Starts at 10:00, plenty of time to get lost.

Which I do get, in fact. Still! I get there way before 10:00 (more like 9:45, pretty good considering I started around 9:15) and I get right to work!

There’s a fair amount to do, a lot of logging-type stuff, and it’s amazing to see what goes into the back end of website makeovers and other kinds of prep. I even get to sit in on a meeting!

Major regret: Forgot to bring lunch. Don’t do that again!

I had a really great time, though, and I’ll be back again on Monday. 1:00 sharp!

[catsinauckland]

Day 13 – Writing and Washing

Creative writing again. We went over Sestinas! Whiiiich I already, learned about. Junior year. Of high school.

Awkwaaaaard.

Either way, that class was fairly interesting-ish. Up until the teacher assigned us a poem a day for seven days. Not a problem for me! But we’ve got a three day trip coming up, and I’m not sure how happy I’ll be, lugging around that massive book...

Oh, and I did laundry. Always a good time, that.

I don’t think the machine works well, though, because my clothes smell like gross water. Eurgh.

[catsinauckland]

Day 12 – Marae

That’s right. In addition to another 8:00 AM class (sobs) we had our Marae Visit today!

First, though. THE INTERNSHIP MEETING.

It was at 1:00, but I met up with Brett earlier, and we headed down to this cafe called Federal and Wolfe. Mom would like it a ton, they have a bunch of super healthy food, and these crazy drinks, all super awesome juices with different fruits and veggies. I got “The Zinger”, and it really does have a wake-up factor to it.

From there, I met one of the guys in charge of Gravitate, Harry/Andrew. He seemed super cool! And I’m definitely looking forward to the internship. Apparently, I’m the first non Computer Science major they’ve gotten, and they’ve been helping with the program for ages.

I already know I’m going to get lost getting to the building. Bluh.

BACK TO THE MARAE.

It wasn’t a formal visit (drat) which meant we didn’t have to follow the Powhiri (protocol), but we did break out the futons and and sit back to listen to the cosmology and history of the Māori people.

The Marae itself was beautiful, intricate carvings everywhere, heated floors, and woven patterns. Murals too, on everything that wasn’t covered in wood or weaving.

What really caught my attention was the roof. It’s made to look like the ribcage, sure, but each ‘rib’ was painted in a different color, a rainbow pattern, with different designs on each one. It was entrancing, honestly. I probably could have spent the whole lecture staring up at the roof and taking in the ancient stories.

I really hope we can go back soon.

[catsinauckland]

Day 11 – Today I Don’t Feel Like Doing Anything

I just wanna lay in my beeeeed.

Really though, after an utterly eventful Saturday, I kicked back and relaxed. Besides, it’s been pouring out! Monday’s much more interesting. Skip to that!

[catsinauckland]

Day 10 – The Wheels on the Bus

Go round and round and round. We went everywhere!

That’s a lie, we barely even went anywhere seeing as there’s so much where to go and so little when to go to it in.

The entire trip was shrouded in fog, unfortunately.

Our first stop was Bastion Point, the parcel of land that had the honor of being the first dispute settled by the Waitangi Treaty Tribunal. There’s a memorial on it to Michael Joseph Savage.

From there, we walked down a forest-filled set of stairs, over sidewalk and road, to a nearby beach. There were shells everywhere.

Back on the bus again, and it’s up up up Mount Eden.

There’s a giant crater there, covered over in soft-waving grass. It’s deep and amazing, and I can’t help but miss Diamond Head a bit. There’s another wave of nostalgia when I spot the ‘compass’ up top.

Some tribes used to maintain defensive fortifications up here, to retreat behind when their need was great. There are still pits around, ones they dug to store kumara and other food.

We’re off again, not long after, heading to a forest nestled in the Waitakere Ranges. It’s apparently exactly the sort of place a Kiwi would nest...but I’m not holding out much hope. They’re nocturnal, after all.

We do get to see the silver fern that New Zealand’s so known for, though! Sorry for the poor quality here.

The forest is full of Kauri trees, known for growing tall and straight, perfect trees for masts. They’ve dealt with so much deforestation, but they’re making a come back. We also saw a couple of Kereru! A kind of wood pigeon, they’re absolutely gorgeous.

Annnnd then my camera died.

Fortunately, I had my back up charger!

And by the time we got to the black sand dunes, I was set to go. This post has hit its limit for pictures, though, so I’ll be making a separate thing.

We walked down to the lake (I went barefoot! The sand was so soft and cool) and had lunch there. Then we headed back into the miniature desert and went dunejumping.

It was PHENOMENAL. The whole group went at once, for a couple of photos! Absolutely AMAZING.

We walked down in this little stream after, and the sand almost felt like mud under our feet, but the cool water was...actually really nice. If it hadn’t been so chilly.

Back on the bus, and we hit Bethels Beach. Apparently it’s a decent surf spot—I’ll need to look up a few more for Dad!

And that, was an incredibly long day.

[catsinauckland]

Day 9 – Fantastic Friday?

The Dawn of the Final Day.

Aka, Exam Day.

It’s a little unfair, to my way of thinking, that we’ve got an exam slammed into our faces at Mach 5 before we’ve even been here two whole weeks. Still. Come what may!

I had most of this day off, which was all kinds of sweet—I really need to go out exploring more, though! (or remember what I did, so I can fill in the blanks as I oh-so-slowly write out these entries. oops.)

The exam itself wasn’t all that bad. Thirty questions, each worth a half-point...all on the politics of New Zealand. It’s actually pretty interesting, how everything came together. The Māori people seemed to be better braced for interaction than a lot of others who had to deal with Britain.

Either way, I’m really going to miss this Professor, she was absolutely brilliant.

[catsinauckland]

Day 8 – BAGS, BAGS, BAGS

I forgot to mention! On Wednesday night, Jetstar called the front desk, told them they’d bring the bags soon. One of my roommates (again, Wednesday night) was absolute furious on my behalf, especially when it turned out that the page you track your baggage on REFUSED to let me use it. Double Ugh.

We ended up on hold with them for a quarter hour, before we gave it up as a bad job, buuuuut.

MY BAG ARRIVED.

While I was in class.

But they were SO hyped to give it to me, the front desk had apparently been calling the room all morning!!!

Anyway, definitely a good day. FINALLY new clothes! Not that I really...okay, let’s face it, I really DID need them. Big time!

And now I need to study for a MAJOR test. Blargh.

Except first, dinner! We...kind of set off the fire alarm, a couple times. Never try to make steak in a ten dollar frying pan, gosh dang. We had to wave around towels and call the front desk, “No, no, no one’s hurt, nothing’s wrong, we’re just cooking!” The current record for accidental alarm incidents is three, though, thank goodness. We’re still below par.

[catsinauckland]

Day 7 – Day Off

No class today. In fact, not much of ANYTHING today, right up until class time. I did laundry, though! Much needed reprieve from the same-old same-old getting stinky outfits.

The WORST part were the pigeons. I was in the kitchen, working on lunch, and I heard this weird tapping...

APPARENTLY, A PIGEON GOT IN.

Either way, a fairly uneventful day! I’ll probably miss these once my internship properly starts.

[catsinauckland]

Day 6 – Swiping and Griping

10:00 class today! Slept in a liiiittle longer. Just a little. Think 7:45. All those days where you wanted me up earlier, Mom...should’ve sent me to Auckland.

Anyway headed out...and totally went to the wrong building. It was 303 not 201, and I wound up in Human Sciences when it should have been Physics and Math...their system is CONFUSING.

And Creative Writing was...interesting.

I accidentally sat next to one of the teachers, we made blackout poems—done by blacking out words in a page of text, and making a poem out of what calls to you. Protip: don’t grab the sports section.

12:00 clubfair ish? There’s one called the Tramping Club, it’s for hiking! I totally signed up for this and for the Dessert Club. The Rowing Club...has too many conflicts. Dang.

Then I had to rush to the Quadrant to meet Brett, who helped me grouch at the Jetstar people. It’s been six days sans bags and I am UNHAPPY.

Apparently they MAY OR MAY NOT reimburse me for stuff I need to buy because of lost bags, but it’s iffy, which is stressy. Blargh. Later on is CLASS and I panic because I can’t find my keycard after it. A search of the dorm proves inconclusive, and I settle into a Serious Sulk...right up until I remember that I haven’t checked the bathroom trash can.

Guess where it was.

It turns out, I was tidying away tags and whatnot from the stuff I bought, and I tidied it away as well. Lucky me, honestly ^ ^

Dinner is SPAGHETTI and corned beef (the canned kind is gross, so gross). I’m really missing home cooking right now.

[catsinauckland]

Day 5 – Classes and Passes

8:00 class...but I was up at 6:30. Why this. Why me.

My first class EVER at the University of Auckland is Consumer Behavior. Ought to be interesting! I ended up bolting to class, and chatted with someone—he ended up volunteering to be Class Rep. There’s a lot more interaction and discussion about classes and how they work here, I rather like it.

Also, they’re apparently called “papers” here. Huh. The Professor seems amazing, but I had to leave early for student IDs and whatnot, and I got so much stinkeye. Sorry guys, it’s my first day, I don’t know how to sneak out properly.

At iSpace, they had our student IDs ready and waiting. And apparently, they already had our stickers for the Hop card! Score! That’s the transit card here, and the stickers mean we can get student fare. Hella.

In BAD news. APPARENTLY, effin JETSTAR thought I’d already received my bag and CLOSED THE DANG CLAIM. NO I DID NOT RECEIVE MY BAG, THANKS MUCH.

From there, I went shopping—that is to say, I finally caved in and bought clothes. Also, we ate at Better Burgers...not much better than home. Sorry guys.

I also added more minutes on my phone (it’s hooked up to Spark network), and there was an AWFUL customer there (he even used the line I am the customer, you have to listen to me, what a total fail).

Oh right, that cool park, apparently there’s a memorial to some dead guy in it? I was hoping it would be more stuff on Emily, for whom the street was named. Meh.

Back to the dorm—new clothes are pretty comfy, but I’m still really salty over the issues with baggage, ffs.

Last class of the day was SS315.

We had to do our mihimihi (introductions), pepeha (geography), and whakapapa (genealogy). Interesting how it’s self-last, ancestry middle, and location-first. It roots you to a place.

We also watched a video about the history of New Zealand, voyaging canoes and whatnot, Te Aurere—I feel incredibly geocentric, considering that I didn’t know about them, even though I’ll go on at length about the Hokule’a. Dang.

[catsinauckland]

Day 4 – The Walkening

No, seriously. You’ll see what I mean.

10:00 AM INTERNSHIP MEETING! Apparently it’s a lot less formal here (eyyyy island style!) which I’m pretty hype for. After all the business casual/formal debating, it’s nice to know that my jeans are totally okay. (our room is also a little late for the meeting, but it happens to at least one room a meetup, so we’re good.)

I end up having to ask Brett to postpone my formal Interview though, until my clothes arrive.

I’m giving up on times, henceforth. Sorry guys!

From there, we go on a walking tour, around campus, past various buildings...Brett points out the business building (has to call me over for it—Joke’s on him, I don’t have any classes there!), iSpace, which is at the TIPPY TOP of some building, the gym (expensiiiiive), AUT (we’ve got SS315 there), public library (it literally says LIBRARY on it! so great).

Then we head down...or is it up? Queen Street, passing by Giappos, a gelato place—it smells AMAZING. We go past the Basement, which is sort of a performing arts pub (someone’s got an internship there, I really wanna check it out), Meyer’s Park (the playground looks FAB), op shops (the NZ equivalent of thrift stores, you might like them, Mom!) and we get to the HUGE ASIAN MARKET.

I’ve got a picture of the name somewhere. Either way, everything is hella cheap and mildly sketchy, and it’s supposedly a good place to get produce. Definitely going back there again. Some time, hopefully soon.

From there, the group splits. I follow along with Brett and the others, and we head to Elliot’s Stables (could’ve sworn it was Elliot’s Tables), a pretty high-end food place—food places. That’s right. There’s like ten of them, all surrounding a dining area, all serving different types of food. I end up getting lamb skewers with rice, and they’re absolutely delicious.

Brief interlude, Quadrant Chill Time.

Then it’s off to Vulture’s Lane, where we each get One Drink. Mine is cider...except the face I make, dang. Still don’t like drinking, it seems. Everyone else has me try a sip of theirs (apparently my faces are Just That Funny), and I have them pass around my cider. Pity is taken on me, and I get a drink that’s apparently called a Gingerella, nonalcoholic—it’s lemon and ginger and fizz, with just a touch of real mint. So good. Definitely gonna get that again.

They have good food deals, and we get all KINDS of things. The pita is great, but one of my FAVS is the buttered chicken...which I accidentally drop in my roommate’s drink?? OOPS??? I’M REALLY SORRY MAN.

I’m staring at it, horrified, and people around the table are realizing and snickering, and she takes a while to notice, even with me trying to, get her attention.

Then she thinks it’s hilarious, calls it beer-battered chicken, and tries it. Apparently, it’s really good. Crisis averted???

Our table ends up playing never have I ever, and I TOTALLY SCHOOL. I knocked just about everyone out with curry, and my second round is "Never Have I Ever Watched Game Of Thrones”. The books are better anyway, psh.