April: Travel Notes  

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MY TRIP TO AUCKLAND AND WAIHEKE: This was the big news of April: term break. I went away for a week of holidays to Auckland and environs. It was a low-key vacation: I got bad weather in Auckland and spent two full days holed up in the giant three-story Borders Books downtown. Not earth-shatteringly exciting, I know, but it is the sort of thing I enjoy and I had been hugely book-deprived here in Hamilton. I also took a day trip to Waiheke Island, and explored the parks and attractions downtown.

TRANSPORTATION IN AUCKLAND: In a nutshell: pain in the butt. There is a loop bus that goes to the main touristy areas downtown, but they were on strike for two days while I was there, and it is not an easy city to walk. It has two carters in it from various volcanoes, so they spread the city out around these natural attractions, and it's very sprawling. It is quite hard to be in Auckland without a car. It's the first time I have ever wished I had kept my driver's license up.

WAIHEKE ISLAND: Definitely worth a day trip, and the ferry was quite reasonably priced. But...Waiheke is quite hilly, so bring good walking shoes and be careful if you're carrying stuff. I got marooned out by the far beach and had to walk back to town with all my stuff and wound up pulling a muscle through a combination of too many hills and too much slouching from an over-full backpack. I enjoyed seeing the island, but I am not sure I would rush back there. I might try the day trip to Rangitoto next time.

PASSOVER IN AUCKLAND: I had a lovely time hooking up with a Jewish family for the first night of Passover. I had been emailing their daughter (the Auckland president of the Australasion Jewish student group) and gotten myself invited to servives and seder. We were late for synagogue and only caught the last few minutes, but it was nice to have some of that again. I was not a devout synagogue-goer at home, but I am more aware of my Jewish identity here just because there are so few of them here. So it was nice to have some company. The seder was really nice and I hope to get back to Auckland again to visit.