Right finally got my ass back on the road ...
Trip Start
Aug 08, 2002
1
30
64
Trip End
Feb 01, 2004
Auckland,
New Zealand
Thursday, November 21, 2002
I've been up for somewhere between 24 and 36 hours straight, and will probably have been up closer to 40 hrs by tonight, but who cares. My tip for the jet lagged? Get out and start wandering about, then have a shower (like I just did).
I arrived at about 6:10 am local time. I was at the hostel, in the centre of Auckland by about 8 am. No wonder they looked at me a bit funny. I was asked to come back at 10 am as they hadn't cleared the last lot out yet. So, I stowed my luggage in a locker and headed off to look around Auckland. I say a bit of NZ on the bus ride in, and my first impression would be to say it looked something like Scotland, or Wales, or Devon - that kind of rugged, rural look. The city itself is pleasant, just like a normal western city, if slightly smaller. I wandered around looking at the library (I wondered why it wasn't open, 'course, it didn't help that my watch was an hour ahead - this worked doubly well when I returned at what I thought was 11, which was actually 10. The girl on reception must have thought I was being just a touch punctual).
On my travels today I've found a few nice places to wander about, a couple of parks, the cinema (Harry Potter isn't out here until the 28th, but they're having the World premier of Lord of the Rings in Wellington on Dec 18th, so I might pop down and do some celeb spotting which should make up for HP), and the PriceWaterhouseCoopers building, with logo adorning the top (I have a picture) - dad'll be so pleased.
The plane ride over was interesting as ever. I flew from San Jose to LAX, then LAX to Auckland. The first flight, I got security checked (along with half the plane, we finished boarding 10 minutes after we should have left), so it was the full boots off affair. Got there okay, transferred terminals, okay-ish, well I thought I needed to catch the shuttle from my arrivals terminal, to my departures terminal. I got on the shuttle, we start moving, the driver asks which terminal I want, I tell her, she says it's this one here (as we pass it). In the end I went one stop on the shuttle, and had to walk further than I would if I hadn't got on it!
I checked in 4 hours early, there was a line already, the poor Qantas people must have been thinking 'What the hell are this lot up too?' I sat about for about 4 hours (the flight didn't leave until 8:30, I arrived about 3:40), the we boarded. No security check this time, not that it would have mattered because Qantas, unlike Virgin, are still using stainless steel cutlery and proper glass glasses! The other wierd thing happened when I was flicking through the inflight magazine (I do this just to read something different, and save mine for when I don't have anything else) and I see an artical about an American firm (who else) which is offering to turn your loved one into a diamond (of various sizes and colours, prices vary accordingly) and provide you with ashes via a special cremation technic and industrial diamond technology. They can do it with existing ashes, thought it's more difficult apparently, so you can wear your hubbie, pookums the terrier, or any other loved one in either a necklace or ring, your choice, into which they'll set it for you! A snip at about US$3500 each. Oh, and I had to declare my hiking boots on my list of things I was importing (on the sheet where I would acknowledge any fruits or vegetables). Thankfully, they didn't confiscate them, they just had a quick look at the bottom and cleared me.
All the major firms are here, including many from home (AXA, SunAlliance, Vodaphone). In fact, in both Aus or NZ, if you bring your phone, voda are doing deals to let you rent a SIM card. Why exactly, I don't know, but I thought you should. And just as I thought I'd escaped them, a couple of Starbucks popped up. It was bad enough that I left LAX with a McDonalds and arrived at Auckland with, guess what? But, unlike Seattle, where there's a Starbucks on every corner, here, it seems to be backpackers hostels and travel services - they're everywhere!
So, I plan to get hold of my tax number (even if they're don't seem to be any local tax offices listed) and start looking for a job - yes I said job. No idea what, frankly I'm not fussed, but if the job as a salesman for having your cremated pet transformed into a diamond for a mere US$3500, I'm game!
