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| Sky City all lit up at night in Auckland. |
| Glenn's Journal 01-03-03 New Zealand We awoke this morning around 10:00 am (remember we did not go to bed until 3:00 am last night). We did not have any real competition for the shower or bathroom (shared) since most backpackers were already up and going, even though there were plenty still lingering around. I assumed that they were the other travelers that had flown in late like ourselves. After prepping for the day we headed out with the primary tasks of finding breakfast, a phone card, and a rental car for the next 3 weeks. We were probably taking a few chances as this is "high" season and our first time traveling through a country during "high" season. We would probably have to start booking at least a few days ahead so we would have places to stay down the road but we will see. We found a phone card at one of many Star Marts around the city. We also found breakfast at a nearby bar. During breakfast we met a young couple from London that are traveling around the world for 10 months. We chatted with them for an extended breakfast hour before we both agreed that we needed to get on our way. I may have also forgot to mention that the hostel "The Fat Camel" that we are staying at is on Fort Street and is surrounded by "massage parlors" but not to worry as the police station is across the road. It was very interesting to be dropped off by the shuttle to find ourselves seeing the "massage parlor" ladies standing outside their establishment working to attract business. Our next stop was a payphone so we could check on price and availability of cars to rent. Lucky for us we didn't actually need the phone card as all of the rental places had toll free numbers. Erin had also picked up an Auckland information guide that listed 15 -20 car rental places to choose from. We called 8 places before selecting ABC car rental, who offered unlimited mileage, $750 excess, economy car for only $35 NZ ($18 US) per day. There were other rental companies that matched the daily rate but had a higher excess or no cars available until later in the week, so we chose ABC. We arranged for them to deliver the car tomorrow morning at 10:00 am at the hostel (as that is our checkout time) and this one task was accomplished. We could now spend the rest of the day checking out the town. Erin had seen a Starbucks near by so we had to stop there for a cappuccino. We enjoyed our cappuccino's while we people watched. We walked through the downtown shopping mall where we found a decent road map for our trip around New Zealand and spent a little time looking at all of the tourist items for sale. The day was beautifully sunny and warm so we did not spend much time inside. We continued walking down along the wharf and found ourselves at the America's Cup 2003 locale. We viewed some beautiful yachts and sailing vessels. You could even pay to sail on a America's Cup racing vessel ( they were from previous years but all the same thrill I am sure). We watched two racing vessels take out from the harbor. Telcom had a large booth where you could view the future in telecommunications. We even took the time to e-mail our parents an instant photo that we took while standing there. The rest of the afternoon was spent taking in the amazing yachts and sail boats along with enjoying the sun. We finally made our way from the docks just after 6:00 pm when we decided to walk around town some more. We found an asian food court where we had seafood fried rice. We talked about what we were going to do tonight and we agreed on either Imax or a comedy club. We made our way to the movie / Imax theaters and found the Imax closed and no movies that we wanted to see. They did have a demonstration of American Roulette that they allowed anyone interested (over 20) to learn about. The host provided Erin and me $50 worth of chips (we did not get to keep them) and we learned about the odds and how to play the game. We each quickly lost our chips (which is why neither of us are much for gambling) and quickly went on our way. It was fun!! We reached the comedy club just before 8:00 pm, purchased tickets and a few drinks, and were seated up front with a young lady from Christchurch. Katherine was a traveler, like ourselves, and enjoyed meeting other travelers. We chatted up until the show started. Radar was the name of the host for the night and Katherine let us know that he was a famous comic from New Zealand. I liked him as he quickly worked in the audience participation by asking different questions and sometimes specifically asking questions of certain people like Katherine and Erin. We enjoyed 7 different acts plus Radar, the host. The evening was very enjoyable and the comedy lasted until 11:00 pm. We then walked back towards the hostel while Katherine joined us. Erin took photos of Sky City all lit up at night including some of the local Xmas decorations still up. We returned to the hostel by 11:30 pm and ended up sitting up talking with some other travelers about our different travel experiences. We finally crashed around 1:00 am. We had to be up by 9:00 am to check out and pick up the car at 10:00 am. |