getting settled in NZ
Tuesday, November 4th, 2008After spending my first day in New Zealand just walking around Auckland staying awake to adjust to the timezone, my second day here was equally unglamorous, finding out about fixing my computer and some other things I had saved to do until now that I was back in the English speaking world. Very nice sunny weather both days, and significantly cooler than Hong Kong. The lower humidity is appreciated.
Auckland is a nice enough city, there’s 1.2 million people here so compared to the cities I’ve been in Asia this is like a small town. The air is much cleaner than Hong Kong and there’s so much more space. Nothing spectacular whithin the city, at least that I’ve seen yet. The hostel I’m staying at is good though and I’ve met a few people here already.
Today I decided to actually go see something, caught a ferry to Rangitoto island, a volcanic island just 25 minutes on a ferry from downtown Auckland. Hiked through the lava fields, through the forests, walked into some lava caves and hiked to the summit to see inside the (collapsed) cone of the volcano (it last erupted 600 years ago). Since I’ve never been on a volcanic island before it was a cool and unique experience. It’s a very interesting ecosystem on the island, different than anything I’ve seen before.
I’m enjoying New Zealand so far, full of English speaking people (see how long until I get a kiwi accent…), it’s very catering to backpackers so travelling here is going to be very easy, especially compared to Asia. I need to do some shopping here in Auckland for things I’ll need for my stay here, I have 2 days left in Auckland before I pick up my car and head North. Time to buy some stuff, and plan my remaining time here.
Adam