New Zealand – Part 1 – North Island
Friday, May 18th, 2007
Auckland (view from Mt. Eden)
‘New Zeeland‘ as it was originally named by the Dutch settlers (or ‘Aotearoa’, it’s real name in Maori, before any colonial country-stealing took place…) has a very, very familiar look and feel to it in certain ways. I arrived on the evening of May 11th into Auckland to be greeted by Hayley (yay! x) at Base Backpackers hostel after a supersonic-speed bus ride from the airport to the city centre. It was a bustling Friday night, but even so, what greeted me didn’t impress me all that much: quite a hectic, not-so-pretty looking city. But you shouldn’t (as they say) judge a book by its cover of course. After my brief stopover it was once again time to bid farewell to Hayley & co. as I boarded my ‘Magic’ bus [Magic by company name, certainly not by nature. I mean, I was disappointed to find out it couldn’t fly] headed southwards. Luckily, I swiftly made some friends in the form of 2 Scottish lads and a few English chums headed in the same direction as myself. [read on]
J