Auckland

So being 36 000 feet in the air was fun but setting foot in a new city is even better. So I arrived in Auckland around 9:00 am NZ time. Settled myself into my hostel and finally got my overpacked backpack off my back. I don't think I will ever pack 50lbs of stuff and trek it across the world ever again, my back was so sore.

I left my hostel insearch for a nice cup of coffee and write blog entries. As my first choice I was off to find a Starbucks since Tim Horton's doesn't exist outside of America. To my luck, there was a Starbucks at the nearest intersection from my hostel. I grabbed my purse, and computer and off to Starbucks I went. As I arrived I was welcomed by huge gliding glass doors. and the smell of cofffee. I asked for a coffee and the girl seem confused. i asked for just coffee and she said what kind. i guess i meant to say filtered coffee but as flashes of marge simpson saying "C-O-F-F-E-E." Finally we understood eachother and i got a grande filtered coffee with soy milk. hysterical from my lack of sleep i was in a super happy mood and sat myself down to start writing blog entries. i let my coffee cool, and while i waited for it to cool it started to rain. I watched the busy streets that i am new to. I finally took a sip of my coffee and it to my dismay it tasted like sweaty socks. I guess i can't just expect everything to be the same as life in Canada. It sort of hit me there that i wasn't home and that there are going to be alot of differences and i am going to have to adapt quickly or quickly understand that i'm not in ajax anymore.

Hostel's are fun, they're not scary like those terrible gore porn movies. maybe i just got a lucky room. no seriously. it's such a cool atmosphere. everyone there is doing the same thing. eager to see somewhere new, meet new people and go on an adventure. there are people from all over the globe. in my room i had a three other roommates. One roomate was from england, one from germany and the other from venezuela. everyone is pretty layed back and cool for just chilling. I had dinner with one roommate and drinks with another the first night i was in the hostel.

The next day, my second day and last day in auckland I decided to just go and explore the city all day. My first stop was the Auckland Art Gallery. To my dismay the gallery was under construction and only a selection of pieces were on display. it was free so i decided to go anyways. an di'm really glad i did cause i was introduced to a collection of traditional maori portraiture by two different artists. I was not just introduced but mesmerized by Charles F. Goldies and Gottfried Lindauer (yes go check out their works online now). I checked out the rest of the floor but was not as enchanted as i was by the maori portraites.

I finished with the gallery and it was off to the Auckland Museum. The walk was super long and on the way walked through the Domains, which is a big chunk of trials and gardens, art works and nature. When i was just about to get to the museum i stumbled upon the Winter gardens.