My Last Day in New Zealand
This would be my last morning at Chester Street
and while I wouldn't call this a five star hotel, the people here made me want
to stay longer.
This would be my last morning at Chester Street
and while I wouldn't call this a five star hotel, the people here made me want
to stay longer. They weren't all friendly, although most were in their own
little way, they were just a great group of people. From the cute little brit
girl who assures me her name Jemma is very common in the UK, to italian who was
the first to strike up a conversation with me when I came to Chester Street the
first time around.
However, I had to leave here and make my way to Auckland no matter what, I had the continuation for my LA to Syndey flight tomorrow. Knowing this I had to make sure that I was packed in the way that I wanted, and now that I was carrying around four bottles of very nice Pinot Noir, this had to be a well thought out process. I originally wanted to send a case home but when I found out that the cost of just the shipping was $400 NZ I decided to grab four of my favorites, and carry them myself. So based on the suggestion of a wine maker I went into Christchurch one last time to buy a Styrofoam case for the bottles which I planned on taking with me on the flight. I was hoping that once I got to Sydney i would be able to find a place to leave it until I came back through on my way out of the country. I left the hostel, walked into town, pciked up the styrofoam, went by the internet cafe, uploaded a new entry, and headed back to hostel to catch my noon bus. As I was walking back through the city center, I saw what looked to be like a march of reenactment soldiers in historic english uniforms. However as i walked up behind the group something wasn't right. For one, there was a few soldiers that looked as if they had elephant eats attached to their helmets. Also I noticed that there was a man dressed like a sorcerer, who when I arrived, introduced a women dressed like the queen. I was starting to think this was either a very odd division of the New Zealand army or some strange political rally. After listening to what the "queen" was saying I quickly realized it was the latter. The whole thing was done in a spoofing manner, but it all seemed to make fun of the crown, and chided its control by republicans. Not knowing anything about New Zealand, British relations I was very confused. However after some folks booed at the mention of the US I decided to leave.
I headed back to the hostel, settled down to a PB&J lunch, and waited for the van that sylvia and I were going to share to the airport.
The bus led to the airport, the airport to a plane, the plane to Auckland. On my fight I sat next to an older lady with emphysema that tried to convince me that smoking wasn't bad for you and all the smokers who contracted emphysema, lung cancer, and asma were all going to get it anyway. Other than that it was a good flight.
I arrived at the hostel where I stayed the first day I arrived, the Skyway Lodge. The driver who was an older gentleman greeted me as if I was a long lost relative. He remembered my name and asked how my trip to the South Island was. When I got to the hostel the manager, an older lady who I believed was married to the driver acted the same way. Apparently I made a good impression on them. She also told me that two scottish girls were upset that I had left and gone to the south island. She seemed to think they had "taken a fancy" to me. I found this to be great news, a little confusing seeing I don't remember ever meeting any scottish girls, but its always good to know you have fans.
I decided being my last night in New Zealand I wanted to hit the town. I threw all my bags into my room, threw my laptop, iPod, and notebook into my little backpack and went to wait for the bus. I looked at the schedule and saw that the bus came by every 30 minutes so it wouldn't be that long. As i was waiting the sun was approaching the horizon and made a beautiful sunset. One last good one before I left. I swear I have seen some of the most beautiful sunsets in this country. Of course no photo does then true justice.
I continued to wait for the bus. And wait, and wait and wait. before I knew it, 45 minutes had gone by. I was convinced that I was read the bus scheduled wrong, but every time I looked at it I could clearly see that the bus came around every 30 minutes. i thought maybe it was some strange holiday, but I am sure I would have heard about it. After an hour passed by I thought I would cross back across the street to Skyway to ask the manager Pat, about where the bus could be. Skyway was about 50 yards from the bus stop, by this point I was getting very frustrated with the whole situation. This was only added to when as i walked through the gates onto Skyway property, the bus, the stealthy bus I never heard, came flying by. I mumble a few choice words at the bus and watched to roll on by.
Pam (or Pat I can't remember her name) listened to my story and said that Skyway had worked out a deal with a cab company to take lodgers downtown for only $25. She called them and I waited outside. When the cab did arrive I was greated by an increbily jovial islander named Jeff. Jeff was from Western Samoa, and seemed to end every statement with a little laugh. He told me histories about Samoa, how they have a king, how they are completely different from American Samoa, and how he had travelled to LA in the late eighties. He also offered that he would stay downtown and pick me up when i wanted to come back to the hostel.
Jeff dropped me off at the warf where i had lunch the very first day. Not wanting to be repetiative, I ate at a resturant down a few doors and had an incredible meal The view was specatular from my table, and thanks to a wireless hotspot in the area I was able to log on and work on my email on the outside patio.
(The harbor was host the America's Cup which took place a few months ago. You can see in lights on the left, the New Zealand boat.)
After dinner I walked across the small harbor to take a picture looking back on Auckland.
I sent the next hour or so walking the streets of downtown Auckland. Most of the stores were closed but the there was plenty of people who seemed to be wandering just like me. I passed by a bunch of drunk hippie idiots who were singing Paul Simon songs at the top of thier lungs. As I walked by them two of them were talking to each other and I noticed that they were American. If this is the kind people we export to New Zealand, its no wonder they don't like us that much. I walked away ignoring them and trying to look as Canadian as possible.
I ended the night by stopping at book store where I purchased a book on the Maori Musket Wars which i had been looking for all over the country. With a few hours to kill I walked by the movie theater and decided that time permitted me to catch a movie. I decided that Terminator 3 was the only one that really matched my time allowance. It actually was not that bad of a movie. Once again proving that when you go to see a movie with almost no expectations its hard to be disappointed. I remember walking out of the theater almost forgetting that I was clear on the other side of the planet. I think my instinct was to go back to my apartment, funny thing is, I don't have one.
When i came out Jeff was right where he said he would be. We drove back to the hostel and he was as happy, and jovial as before. He was a great last encounter before I left the country.
I came back into the hostel at about 11:30 that night. Other than catching the tail end of a television show on Alfred Stieglitz when someone had left the TV on, I pretty much went strait to bed.
However, I had to leave here and make my way to Auckland no matter what, I had the continuation for my LA to Syndey flight tomorrow. Knowing this I had to make sure that I was packed in the way that I wanted, and now that I was carrying around four bottles of very nice Pinot Noir, this had to be a well thought out process. I originally wanted to send a case home but when I found out that the cost of just the shipping was $400 NZ I decided to grab four of my favorites, and carry them myself. So based on the suggestion of a wine maker I went into Christchurch one last time to buy a Styrofoam case for the bottles which I planned on taking with me on the flight. I was hoping that once I got to Sydney i would be able to find a place to leave it until I came back through on my way out of the country. I left the hostel, walked into town, pciked up the styrofoam, went by the internet cafe, uploaded a new entry, and headed back to hostel to catch my noon bus. As I was walking back through the city center, I saw what looked to be like a march of reenactment soldiers in historic english uniforms. However as i walked up behind the group something wasn't right. For one, there was a few soldiers that looked as if they had elephant eats attached to their helmets. Also I noticed that there was a man dressed like a sorcerer, who when I arrived, introduced a women dressed like the queen. I was starting to think this was either a very odd division of the New Zealand army or some strange political rally. After listening to what the "queen" was saying I quickly realized it was the latter. The whole thing was done in a spoofing manner, but it all seemed to make fun of the crown, and chided its control by republicans. Not knowing anything about New Zealand, British relations I was very confused. However after some folks booed at the mention of the US I decided to leave.
I headed back to the hostel, settled down to a PB&J lunch, and waited for the van that sylvia and I were going to share to the airport.
The bus led to the airport, the airport to a plane, the plane to Auckland. On my fight I sat next to an older lady with emphysema that tried to convince me that smoking wasn't bad for you and all the smokers who contracted emphysema, lung cancer, and asma were all going to get it anyway. Other than that it was a good flight.
I arrived at the hostel where I stayed the first day I arrived, the Skyway Lodge. The driver who was an older gentleman greeted me as if I was a long lost relative. He remembered my name and asked how my trip to the South Island was. When I got to the hostel the manager, an older lady who I believed was married to the driver acted the same way. Apparently I made a good impression on them. She also told me that two scottish girls were upset that I had left and gone to the south island. She seemed to think they had "taken a fancy" to me. I found this to be great news, a little confusing seeing I don't remember ever meeting any scottish girls, but its always good to know you have fans.
I decided being my last night in New Zealand I wanted to hit the town. I threw all my bags into my room, threw my laptop, iPod, and notebook into my little backpack and went to wait for the bus. I looked at the schedule and saw that the bus came by every 30 minutes so it wouldn't be that long. As i was waiting the sun was approaching the horizon and made a beautiful sunset. One last good one before I left. I swear I have seen some of the most beautiful sunsets in this country. Of course no photo does then true justice.
I continued to wait for the bus. And wait, and wait and wait. before I knew it, 45 minutes had gone by. I was convinced that I was read the bus scheduled wrong, but every time I looked at it I could clearly see that the bus came around every 30 minutes. i thought maybe it was some strange holiday, but I am sure I would have heard about it. After an hour passed by I thought I would cross back across the street to Skyway to ask the manager Pat, about where the bus could be. Skyway was about 50 yards from the bus stop, by this point I was getting very frustrated with the whole situation. This was only added to when as i walked through the gates onto Skyway property, the bus, the stealthy bus I never heard, came flying by. I mumble a few choice words at the bus and watched to roll on by.
Pam (or Pat I can't remember her name) listened to my story and said that Skyway had worked out a deal with a cab company to take lodgers downtown for only $25. She called them and I waited outside. When the cab did arrive I was greated by an increbily jovial islander named Jeff. Jeff was from Western Samoa, and seemed to end every statement with a little laugh. He told me histories about Samoa, how they have a king, how they are completely different from American Samoa, and how he had travelled to LA in the late eighties. He also offered that he would stay downtown and pick me up when i wanted to come back to the hostel.
Jeff dropped me off at the warf where i had lunch the very first day. Not wanting to be repetiative, I ate at a resturant down a few doors and had an incredible meal The view was specatular from my table, and thanks to a wireless hotspot in the area I was able to log on and work on my email on the outside patio.
(The harbor was host the America's Cup which took place a few months ago. You can see in lights on the left, the New Zealand boat.)
After dinner I walked across the small harbor to take a picture looking back on Auckland.
I sent the next hour or so walking the streets of downtown Auckland. Most of the stores were closed but the there was plenty of people who seemed to be wandering just like me. I passed by a bunch of drunk hippie idiots who were singing Paul Simon songs at the top of thier lungs. As I walked by them two of them were talking to each other and I noticed that they were American. If this is the kind people we export to New Zealand, its no wonder they don't like us that much. I walked away ignoring them and trying to look as Canadian as possible.
I ended the night by stopping at book store where I purchased a book on the Maori Musket Wars which i had been looking for all over the country. With a few hours to kill I walked by the movie theater and decided that time permitted me to catch a movie. I decided that Terminator 3 was the only one that really matched my time allowance. It actually was not that bad of a movie. Once again proving that when you go to see a movie with almost no expectations its hard to be disappointed. I remember walking out of the theater almost forgetting that I was clear on the other side of the planet. I think my instinct was to go back to my apartment, funny thing is, I don't have one.
When i came out Jeff was right where he said he would be. We drove back to the hostel and he was as happy, and jovial as before. He was a great last encounter before I left the country.
I came back into the hostel at about 11:30 that night. Other than catching the tail end of a television show on Alfred Stieglitz when someone had left the TV on, I pretty much went strait to bed.
Posted: Sat - August 23, 2003 at 09:33 PM
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Published On: Aug 01, 2004 11:37 PM
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Published On: Aug 01, 2004 11:37 PM