Escaping Auckland to the Bay of Plenty

It’s official.  I’ve been back here a month, and I’ve finally, FINALLY managed to drag myself out of Auckland.  Nothing against Auckland – it’s a fine city.  I just never meant to stay there quite so long. 

And it’s not that I didn’t enjoy my time in Auckland either.  Quite the opposite: it was delightful.  I ended up having a gay old time at Fruit Vans thanks to some excellent people and the unexpected joys of communal living and cultural swapping.




Some of the excellent folk at Fruit Vans.

 

Fourteen of us piled into two vans to go have a picnic on the beach one night.

Leaving was bittersweet.

But leave I have.  I’m currently in beachy Mount Manganui in the Bay of Plenty.  You know how many countries have an area known as their Breadbasket?  Well, I think it’s safe to say that the Bay of Plenty is New Zealand’s fruit basket.  There’s beaucoup de fruits here. Seems I can’t escape fruit – I even stopped at a roadside fruitstand to buy plums on my way here. 

The reason I find myself here is that I am starting another WOOFing gig at a macadamia nut farm nearby on Wednesday, and with the forecast calling for sun and heat Monday and Tuesday, I was loath to stay in the city.  Instead I took Gandalf the White (which is what I've named my car in the hopes that, like the wizard for whom it is named, it will have a long life and will perform amazing feats in stunning locations) out on the open road for the first time.  Three hours later, I was on the east coast of the North Island enjoying the beach.  Ahhhhhhh.

And that's basically what I've been doing for the past two days -- lounging on the beach, reading magazines and books, and going for short hikes around or up Mount Manganui. 

As an added bonus, I was alone in my dorm room the past few nights.  The bliss!

On to some photos!

On Sunday I went to Shakespear Regional Park (which is a 30-40 minute drive from downtown Auckland) with Julia (the girl from my trip up North a few weeks ago) and another of her friends.  There was a cool dead tree on the beach that I decided to climb. 

A pukeko -- one of my favourite NZ birds. I saw a lot of these guys on my first trip here in 2004 and went six weeks without seeing one back in 2009.  On Sunday, there must have been 200 at Shakespear Regional Park.

The beach at Army Bay in Shakespear Regional Park.

You can't really see it in this photo, but you could see Auckland Harbour from here.  It was quite pretty.

A wee waterfall in the park.  What you can't tell from this teeny tiny photo is that I'm holding up a gas mask that was unexplicably lying on the ground next the falls.

Shadow play! That's me on the left.

My drive down to Mount Manganui brought me through Paeroa -- a town known almost exclusively as the birthplace of New Zealand's soft drink Lemon and Paeroa.  It's the nectar of the gods. I was going to buy a bottle there, but it was nearly $3, so I bought some Schwepps instead (it was on sale).  

One of the many awesome public toilets conveniently found around the country.  This one next to the big bottle in Paeroa was particularly great as it had a recording that greeted you as you opened the door, and played music for you while you did your business.

The view from the summit of Mount Manganui.

Shells on the beach at Mount Manganui.

Me on the top of Mount Manganui.  Luckily, you can't see how sweaty I am -- damn humidity.

A little taste of home

I have been exceedingly fortunate that twice since I have been in New Zealand I've had visits from people from home. As you may recall, back in October, Christina and Nick were here on a three-week trip, and I joined them for the first third of their journey.

Then on this past Wednesday, yet another couple from the 14th Concession in Tiny Township made an appearance on these fair shores.  Adrianne and Gord Gardner, currently at the tail end of a six-week cruise around Australia, Fiji and New Zealand were in Auckland for one short day, and I was thrilled to be able to meet up with them and show them a few of the sites.

We had a delightful afternoon, if I do say so myself.  We took the ferry out to Davenport (a mere 10-minutes away from downtown) where we enjoyed a nice lunch on a patio (they marvelled at the size of NZ mussels, I revelled in the taste of chicken after a week and a half of vegetarian cooking). Afterwards we went out to Mt Eden (where I had been back in September) and took in the views. 

Sadly, this cyber-cafe computer won't let me download pictures at the moment, so I can't show you anything.  Sigh.

In any case, I thouroughly enjoyed my visit with them and it was over far too quickly. Hopefully this won't be the last of the home-town visitors.

Come one, come all!

What selling fruit looks like.

Here's how I've been spending my days this past week -- selling fruit along the side of Tamaki drive in Auckland.  What you can't see in the pictures is that just across the street is a beach with views of Rangitoto island (which I visited back in November).  It's a pretty sweet spot.

This beauty of a van is called Weevol.  It's since been removed from the fleet due to technical problems. 

 

The rainbow wonder is known as Jazz.  It's a nice van cause it actually has a radio.  Fitting, given its name :)

Still alive and kicking (and selling fruit) in Auckland.

 
Hi, all.  Sorry for the neglect of late.  I've been kicking around Auckland for the past two weeks, and not doing much worth writing home about, so I haven't (written, that is). It also hasn’t helped that I haven’t had regular access to a computer, let alone to the Internet, lately.

Upon returning from Northland, I dropped my laptop off at the Sony repair centre, and within a week the wizards there have apparently replaced my wonky screen. Huzzah! I’m picking it up tomorrow, and I’m very excited.  I’ve missed having it more than I thought I would.

In some (somewhat) exciting news, I bought a car a little over a week ago. It’s my first ever set of wheels, so I was a little nervous about it. Sadly, I have no pictures of it yet, so I can't share its magnificence with you all. Suffice to say it’s a white 1993 Toyota Camry station wagon (sexy!). I also have yet to name it. Suggestions welcome.

After spending all that money, I started to stress about the state of my bank account, so my search for someway to stop the one-way cash flow was intensified.

On Sunday I began another WOOFing (willing workers on organic farms – though the “organic farm” definition is broad at best) gig in a ‘burb of Auckland. Basically, I’m selling fruit out of the back of a van at the side of the road in exchange for room and board in a shared house.  Living the life I tell ya!  

It’s so funny - When I was stressing about buying a car, I told myself I would make a point to avoid driving in the city, avoid driving when roads were busy, and avoid driving any kind of big vehicle.  Here I am now zipping around downtown Auckland in a van during rush hour driving on the left hand side of the road no less.  Nothing like trial by fire to get over your fears.

The house is something I’d never have thought I’d enjoy either.  It’s basically the love child of a hostel and a commune.  There are about twenty of us fruit sellers living under one roof. We share chores, meals, rooms, and all of two toilets.

All things considered, it’s OK. I am decidedly the eldest of the bunch, and at times I feel positively ancient (like when one girl came out wearing a pair of jean overall shorts – shudder – and I commented that I used to have a pair when I was in seventh grade, way back in 1990 or so. “you probably don’t remember much about that year,” I said. She replied that she hadn’t yet been born...ouch.)  But overall, I’m cool with it.  It’s only for another week or so, and I’ve got plans in the city tomorrow and the next day with a friend, so I have some reprieve from it.

Tomorrow I also have an official appointment in the form of a meeting with a recruitment agency that specializes in communications and advertising positions. I’m hoping that they’ll be able to help me find some short-term employment elsewhere than Auckland.

I’ll post again tomorrow to let you know how it went and hopefully I can share some pictures too!

Toodleloo!

Recapping Northland the lazy way: with photos.

As I mentioned in my last post, I headed up to the top of the North Island with a very nice girl by the name of Julia that I met at the hostel here in Auckland. 

It was a great three days and I am very proud to say I successfully managed to drive on the left-hand side of the road for the first time since 2004.  Once I turned right into the wrong lane, but other than that, I was golden.  Go me!

I could spend paragraphs describing the verdant hills, the sparkling bays, the misty horizon, the majestic trees and dunes and the gently swaying palm fronds that I enjoyed on my travels. But I’ll just show you what it looked like, yeah?

The route we took 



We spnt our first night in the very small town of Pukenui at a hostel that overlooked this beautiful bay. We were the only people in the place save for this German guy who was at the beginning of a five month biking trip up and down the country.  Crazy.

The three of us drove over to Ninely Mile Beach, which is, confusingly, a 64-mile stretch of uninterupted beach along the wesst coast of the top of the North Island. It's officially a highway, though you're not advised to drive on it.  Go figure.

There we watched the sun go down in a spectacular fashion.

The next day we went to Cape Reinga, which is the northernmost point of New Zealand.  The Maoris believe that the spirits of the dead reach the underworld from this point.

Here the Tasman Sea and the Pacific Ocean meet and make this funny wave. It's pretty cool.  

We also headed out to the Te Paki sand dunes where you can rent a board and, after a strenuous climb, slide down on your stomach like a tobbogan.

Te Matua Ngahere is the oldest and biggest tree in NZ.  This kauri is an estimated 2,000 years old and is six metres wide and has a girth of 16 metres!

This was the view from my room at the hostel in Whangaroa.  The town was laughably small, but the hostel was pretty sweet.  We were the only people in it, and it had a hot tub!

This awesome dog greeted us at the Ngwha Springs hot pools.  It layed on its back invitingly for at least five minutes after I stopped rubbing its belly.  It then refused to move when I needed to back the car up.

The Ngawha Springs hot pools.  They don't look like much, and smelled aweful, but my skin has rarely felt so nice.  Unfortunately, three days and three showers later, I still smell a little like sulphur.

Toi Toi grass is something you see nearly everywhere in NZ and it's awesome.

So that was Northland.  Now I'm back in Auckland and am back at square one.  What to do, what to do?  I applied for a job here, but haven't heard anything yet, and should likely continue looking for a car.  I just need to get motivated!

Back at it OR Deciding not to decide

So here I am again.  Back in New Zealand.  Back in Auckland.  Back in the sun and the summer. 

The journey here was less than comfortable: five airports (Ottawa, Chicago, Los Angeles, Nadi, Auckland), four airplanes, 36 hours, one hour delay, and far too many bodies in close proximity.  But I have to say, the more long-distance flights you do, the less long they seem.  A sleeping pill doesn’t hurt either J

I was extremely fortunate (and extremely grateful) to have a ride from the airport courtesy of my friend S____, a delightful German girl I met in Wanaka in October.  We stayed in touch and it happened that we were both in Auckland at the same time so she very kindly offered to pick me up in her rental car.  So sweet of her.  Unfortunately for me she was on her way home (to surprise her parents a few days early no less) the following day, so our time together was brief.

So I’m back at Freeman’s Lodge in Auckland and it’s a bit of a homecoming.  It was here that I first alighted in NZ four months ago, and where I stayed before heading to Sydney in December.  I was very happy to find safe and sound the bag I’d ferretted away in the storage closet back then.

In the days since arriving, I am not proud to say, I have been less than productive. 

I’ve lounged around my dorm room chatting with other listless folk.  I’ve put together a portfolio (though it’s not as slick as I’d like. I may be picking some of my former colleagues’ brains for tips – be warned). I’ve perused magazines that previous guests have left behind (did you know that Jennifer and Angelina are in yet another feud? Riveting! And that Cameron Diaz exercises? Shocking!).  

I’ve debated the merits of buying a car (which looks like a sensible choice given my indulgent packing this time around).  I’ve half-heartedly started looking for a car. I’ve stressed about my financial situation. 

And I’ve endlessly vacillated between countless choices about my life – Should I look for work immediately or volunteer for a bit in exchange for room and board? Should I head north or south? Or should I stay put in Auckland? Do I want to be in a city or in the country? Do I want to look for “real” work in an office? Or do I seize this opportunity to try something totally different and pick fruit or prune vines for a few weeks?

With all this decision making threatening to drive me nuts, I’ve decided not to decide for the time being.  Instead, I’m heading up to Northland for a few days with a girl I’ve met in the hostel.  We’re renting a car and hoping for good weather for the beaches up there (it’s been a miserably stormy day).

When I return on Saturday I’ll concentrate my immediate efforts on purchasing a vehicle (a daunting task for a newby such as myself) and deciding on the volunteer/work situation.

I will just keep repeating my mantra: No matter what I choose, it’s the right choice J

It’s beginning to look a lot like (bizarro) Christmas

I keep having to remind myself that Christmas is a scant few weeks away.  It’s not that there aren’t reminders – stores of every ilk are hawking their wares with a festive spin (“It wouldn’t be Christmas without a new set of patio chairs!”  “Dingo’s World of Socks: For all your Christmas needs” “Get all your Chrissy prezzies at The Athlete’s Foot”). 

Decorations drip from awnings, tree limbs, and window frames. There was even a Santa Clause parade in Auckland last weekend (I missed it) complete with floating snow man (which makes absolutely zero sense given that it’s currently in the mid-twenties there).

Despite all this, I find it impossible to get in the festive spirit.  It’s just too weird to have Christmas lights when the sun doesn’t set until 9:00 pm. And that there are huge fake pine trees decorating building lobbies and public spaces when all the other trees around are fully covered in leaves, and many of them are palms. And that I’m traipsing around in sandals and sporting a rather impressive tan.

Well, in a short week I’ll be back in the land of REAL Christmas. You know, snow, darkness, cold.  Somewhere where the sight of someone in a fur-lined red suit doesn’t make you itchy.  Where “Let it Snow” and “Jingle Bells” and “Chestnuts Roasting on an Open Fire” make sense.

But, I guess “I’m dreaming of a White Christmas” fits for once.

Let's have a look at what Christmas looks like down under:

Decoration in a swank Sydney shopping centre.

Kitchiest Christmas tree ever in Darling Harbour

The coolest Christmas tree in Auckland's Western park.  It was basically strings of lights -- 350,000 of them. Every night there was a light show and there were bean bag chairs set up beneath it so you could lie at the base and watch.  I did for 30 minutes.  It was trippy.

The huge Whitcools Santa and his reindeeer. I guess he's an annual fixture. Two years ago he had an inexplicable wagging finger.  They've scrapped it, unfortunately.

Going Native

An aspect of kiwi culture that I find rather charming and quaint is the fact that going barefoot is so acceptable here. 

It’s actually fitting, given that it’s the unofficial land of Hobbits. 

It’s not uncommon to see folks (men, mostly) traipsing about un-shod in the street, at the shop, or in the mall. Never will you see one of those stern “no shirt, no shoes, no service” signs hanging in a window.  It’s jarring at first, but I really like it now.

I like it so much, that I decided to give it a go last week.  Three days in a row I set out on errands barefoot (though I carried a pair of shoes in my purse, just in case).  It was rough going at first, especially since my first attempt was in an area where the road was rather bumpy and uncomfortable. My next two forays were on smooth sidewalks, through a park and even into a store (!) and it went very well. I’ve been assured that with time, my feet would become tougher. 

I’m not sure I’ll make a big habit of it, especially since I’m going to be away from NZ for the next six weeks, but it was still a fun experience to have.

Island hopping in Auckland

I am quite the neglectful blogger, aren’t I?

A thousand apologies for my absence of late.  I have no excuses beyond general laziness. It happens.

What have I been up to these days? Well, I spent ten days in sunny Auckland going for long walks, catching up with some mates, eating great food and drinking far too much wine.

One of the highlight of the week was that I managed to visit three of the islands in Auckland’s Hauraki Gulf.

Leaving on the ferry from Auckland harbour.

First on the menu was Rangitoto island which, atop of sporting a name that is oh-so-fun to say, is really pretty interesting.  The 5.5km long island formed some 600 years ago after a series of volcanic eruptions. 

From afar, the island’s volcanic heritage is apparent thanks to its conical peak.  Up close, it’s fairly obvious too.  The terrain is littered with dark, jagged rock and the vegetation (of which there was more than I had expected) is of the hardy and stunted variety.  It took me about 45 minutes to walk to the island’s summit and I enjoyed the beautiful views along the way. 

Yet another awkward pose thanks to the ten-second timer.

mmmmmm...old lava

What was less enjoyable was the teeming mass of young teens lounging noisily at the top. It appears that it was a 70-student-strong school group on a field trip. They were well behaved, as far as teens go, but the decibel levels (think giggling, screaming, cell phones playing music) were a bit off putting when all I was hoping to hear were birds and the occasional passing plane.

I shouldn’t have despaired, for I was soon to get that solitude and silence I craved.  Within the hour I had reboarded the ferry (thanks to its handy hop-on, hop-off service) and was deposited on the much grassier Motuihe island. Though the island was far from deserted (a few dozen people alit from the boat at the same time as me and yet another school group was enjoying a field trip on this island), it was much easier to distance oneself from the pack than on Rangitoto thanks to a wide variety of walking tracks.

With nearly three hours to kill before the ferry returned to collect passengers, I quickly set off to explore. Not really knowing where I wanted to go, I decided to wander about and see what the island had to offer.  Turns out it had a fair bit: grassy fields, pretty trees, huge plants, secluded beaches, and lots of birds. Other than the boats drifting by in the distance, I didn’t see another human for over an hour.  It was glorious. 

My own little secluded beach.

On the weekend my friend Inky (whom you may remember from Christchurch some six weeks ago) and I headed out to the most popular of the Hauraki Gulf islands.  A mere half-hour boat ride from Auckland, Waiheke is home to some 8,000 people, and during the summer months, some 3,000+ cottagers, and countless tourists and daytrippers descend on its pretty shores.  It’s not hard to see why. 

From the sky, Waiheke looks like a big ol’ inkspot, which means it boasts dozens of picturesque bays, a number of swimming beaches, and plenty of fishing spots.  Its enviable climate lends itself well to wine production, and as such many small vineyards produce some decent (if pricey) whites.

It was a nice weekend. Inky got to partake in his rugged outdoorsy pursuits (sleeping in the bush, spearfishing, rock climbing, cliff jumping), while I enjoyed the calmer side of island living (sleeping in a hostel, lying on the sand, floating in the sea). An activity we both enjoyed was drinking wine on the beach (wish this was doable in Georgian Bay) and eating a delicious meal at the Skinny Sardine (stuffed chicken breast and sinfully buttery garlic mashed potatoes for me – I’m salivating just thinking about it). 

Setting sun over Auckland.

Sun setting over Waiheke

My last two days in Auckland I didn’t do much beyond tying up some lose ends, repacking my bag, and visiting a friend I’d made my first week in the country.  It was pretty chill.

As many of you have likely see via Facebook, I now find myself in soggy Sydney. It's apparently been raining here an extraordinary amount these past few months (which explains why I’m inside writing rather than enjoying Bondi or Manly beaches). I’m here until the 16^th at which time I’m hopping a plane back to Canada for Christmas and some rather important nuptuals. I’m looking forward to it.

Lazy in Auckland

It`s really unpleasant being sick in a hostel.  I'm tired, I'm cranky, I just want to be left alone or be waited upon.  Neither is bound to happen.

I'm also keenly aware that I'm very likely sharing my germs with the four strangers with whom I'm cohabitating.  I know I'd hate having to share quarters with a sicko. Everyone's been very nice though, and I'm taking care to wash my hands frequently and to sneeze into my sleeve. 


There's a fifth bed off camera.  Mine's the one furthest to the right.

There's a nice group of people here at the moment.  On Friday nine of us headed out to a bar downtown and had a pretty good time (I got hit on!  Twice!).  And yesterday five of us went to a nearby Japanese restaurant for dinner.

There's a pair of Scottish brothers who seem hell bent to prove the stereotypes about their countrymen true.  They're a total riot, and I'm amazed at their consumption levels and apparent lack of any repercussions.  There's also deux français who are really great.  They actually jumped to my defence yesterday when another very snooty French chick made some derogatory remark about my accent  (Vache.)

The last two days have been less than eventful.  The combination of cancelled ferries (which were to take me to one of the nearby islands yesterday or today) and the common cold have rendered me lazy and unambitious. 

Yesterday my only real accomplishment was doing my laundry.  The rest of the day I holed up in the room and alternately read or watched tv on the Internet. I finally succumbed to cabin fever and went for a walk at around 3:00, but it wasn't a long one, and I was soon back on my comfy bed.  I did rouse myself long enough to go to that aforementionned dinner however (don't want to appear too antisocial).



Today the weather is predictably unpredictable.  At the moment it's raining cats and dogs but ten minutes ago, it was gorgeous and sunny.  In ten minutes it'll probably be back to blue skies.  When dressing, layers is definitely the name of the game here.  What hasn't been erratic is the wind.  It's been steady for the past three days.  The sidwalks are littered with debree from trees -- branches, palm fronds, leaves, flowers -- and I was cursing my decision to leave the hostel without a hat to keep my hair in check.



This is very likely the wost length of hair to have, wind-wise.  It's long enough that it hits you in the face, but too short to tie back in a ponytail.

 But leave the hostel I did.  I went for coffee (flat white!) with one of my roommates and then I headed up solo to Mount Eden, one of the 49 dormant volcanoes in the Auckland area.  This one boasts the title of highest natural point in Auckland at 196 feet.  There's a cone at the top that's 50 feet deep and pretty cool to see.  (weather update: now sunny and gorgeous).

Some 15,000 years ago, that grassy knoll was liquid hot MAGMA (cue Dr. Evil pinky mouth)

The view from up there is pretty spectacular too.



On top of the world!

Tomorrow I unfortunately have to leave for Brisbane.  I had booked the flight months ago with the idea of just landing here to activate my Visa, then heading up to warmer Australia to do the same.  The plan was to get my scuba diving certification, but it appears that there aren't any courses being offered next week in the Brisbane area. My only option would be to either fork out $400 to take a flight up to Townsville, or sit on a bus for 8 hours each way.  No thanks. 

(weather update: raining so hard it feels like the windows will open)

So looks like I'm headed to Brisbane without a solid plan.  I'll likely head to the marvelous North Stradbroke Island, and take advantage of its uncrowded beaches, and maybe do one or two touristy things. 

Let's just hope the weather is better than here :)

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!