Thar she blows!

And blow she sure does today.

New Zealand is going through a baaaaaad storm.  Much of the country was hit with heavy ran, lightning, snow and gale force winds.  Here in Auckland we're pretty buffeted and haven't nearly had as rough a time as the rest of the country, but we did get some rain and a lot of wind.  There's also a chance of hail tonight. 

Early in the day it was quite nice so I took advantage by heading out for a walk to the Domain, a big park in the middle of the city.  According to the map it wasn't far from the hostel, and I figured it would take me half an hour. 

I'd forgotten how much NZ maps suck though. 

I can't really comment on road maps, not having used any, but pedestrian maps are consistently, maddeningly, laughably bad.  Claire and I had experienced these exercises in frustration time and time again last year -- incomplete sections, misleading legends, dead zones -- all designed to lead the unsuspecting visitor astray (and astray we were lead).  The situation is especially mind boggling considering how fantastic the tourism infrastructure is here overall.

For example, while following the map provided by the helpful lady at the i-site (the NZ tourism office), I was led to believe that Wellesley street would take me directly to the Domain from the downtown area.  However, about halfway down said street, I suddenly ended up at a T in the road, where according to the map, no T should be. 

At a loss, I took a small footpath that seemed to be leading in the general direction that the map indicated, only to be brought to the bowels of Auckland University.  This area, which on the map was nothing but a big, empty beige diamond shape, was in fact a labyrinth of narrow construction-filled, dead-end roads and gated footpaths only accessible by key card (of which I, obviously, had none). After more than 15 minutes of fruitless wandering, I finally stumbled upon an ungated staircase that led me back to the street I’d started on (the top of the “T”). 

Grumpy, but resolute to carry out my mission, I got back on track and 20 minutes later, along a rather circuitous route, I finally made it to the Domain.  It consists of a nice big green space which I believe is used for cricket, a duck pond, some nice walking tracks which recreate a typical NZ bush, a winter garden (greenhouse), and the Auckland War Museum. 

The Auckland Museum

Taking advantage of my camera's timer setting and a flat surface

Though I believe this is man-made, it's surpisingly accurate of NZ bush

Why hello there!

Had the grass been dryer and the sky not darkening, I likely would have happily set up camp with my book and read the afternoon away under a tree. 



Batten the hatches!

Alas, the ground was sodden and the sky rapidly becoming charcoal, so I headed back to the downtown (via a much more direct route).

It started raining not long afterwards and I sought refuge in a coffee shop (unfortunately, Starbucks was the closest one) and spent a good two hours reading a truly mindless novel.

I got transferred to a dorm for the next three days, and it’s actually quite nice.  There are five of us, no bunks, and the room is HUGE by hostel standards.  We have our own fridge and computer too -- all for $25NZ a night.  This is probably the best hostel I’ve stayed at in NZ.

I’m meant to go volunteer on Motuihe island tomorrow -- planting trees or putting up fences, something like that – but it looks doubtful that the ferry is going to be running if the wind doesn’t die down.  It could be a long day inside if that’s the case. Cross your fingers for me!