MARCH 4, 2003
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APRIL 15, 2003
Well, I am now in Auckland, New Zealand after a rather bumpy ride from Hong Kong. It was an 11 hour flight and we arrived in Auckland about 1 pm. Now it is an 18 hour time difference from our home. They are on a different day than we are. It seems so weird to be on different days. We exchanged some money and then we had to go through inspections. They asked us if we had hiking/camping gear and certain food items which we had. They ended up taking my dried milk and then they took my tent somewhere to inspect it. They were looking for seeds that might germinate on their soil. They also checked the bottom of our boot soles incase we had stuff there.
We got to our hostel and got a room that holds four people. We thought it would be better than a large dorm area because we had to get up so early to catch our flight to Queenstown via Christ Church. It is a good thing I like to fly becaue I am doing a lot of it.
The place was OK. I have been to cleaner places, but it was acceptable. Laurie and I walked all over for a place to eat. We were looking for a Thai restaurant. We found a couple, but they were a little more than we wanted to spend so we said we can eat plenty of Thai food in Thailand. We ended up at Wendy's. For the people that know me, they know that Wendy's is my favorite fast food place.
We ate and bought some food for the morning. We have a shuttle picking us up at 4:30 am and there won't be any stores open to get anything. I am now in the TV room at the hostel, writing.
Auckland seems to have places for backpackers on every corner and at least two email shops. The hostel is filled with mostly young people. I feel a little out of place, feeling like I don't have anything in common with the people.
I talked to one girl who is in our room. She is a young German girl. She has been here for just a couple of days. She plans on staying here a year. She is trying to buy a car here and traveling and also hopes to get an intership. Very nice girl, her name is Maren and her English is very good though she doesn't think so. She can't always think of the right word to say, but does very well.
I meant to also mention that I met a couple from Melbourne, Australia. They seem to do a lot of traveling. The man lived in LA for 30 years. The woman is French and they just spent two weeks in Bankok. They said it was great. They said it is dirty, but everyone is happy.
It amazes me how many people that are just out there traveling from place to place. People that know me think I am the only one out here traveling, but it is a way of life for so many.
Being at the hostel reminds me of being on the AT--the only difference was that we knew most of the people. Here we don't know anyone, which will be a good expereince for me to learn to start conversations with strangers and get to know them. One thing about being on the AT--you always had something in common and we could always find a way to start a conversation.
I am reading a book called Gutsy Woman. It basically is a book with tips and ideas about traveling. It talks about woman traveling alone. I think that it would be very hard for me, but sometimes I think I would like to try it. I certainly think it would be a growing experience.
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