Day 3: Auckland: Art Gallery + Tanukis Cave

Just another day in Auckland... I'm here for another 2 more nights. I'm finding it harder to find things to do here. I was contemplating going to the Shire, but for some reason I want to save it for later.

I switched hostels in the morning to Base X backpackers, which is pretty much in core of Downtown Auckland. It's definitely a busier and bigger hostel, I'm just hoping I can get a good nights rest.

I went to visit the Art Gallery of Auckland today. I'm trying to find free things to do here so I don't spend too much money in this city.

Here are a few of the pieces that I thought were cool:

After the gallery and a bit of wandering, I went to have some dinner and drinks with my old roomie from the first hostel I was in.  After checking out yelp to find good bars in Auckland, we found Tanukis Cave. I tried some Midori lemonade (some fruity chick drink) and it was pretty good. I ordered some takoyaki and sweet potato and it was amazing. What sucked was the price of beer. $10 for a can of beer? aiyaaaaaaa...... why does it have to be so expensive here...

- Mike

Day 2: Auckland: University and Museum

Today was just another day of exploring. I walked to downtown Auckland and had burger king for brunch so i could use their free wifi.

My plan was to book a bus and hostel for tomorrow but plans changed since im going to meet my moms coworkers friend this week (the closest person connected to me in new zealand...) the reason why i didnt want to stay in auckland is because its pretty much a smaller Toronto with hills. I think it ends up working out because it gives me time to maybe check into a job i found a while ago.

The hostel im staying in currently is booked for the weekend so im going to be moving to one downtown. Luckily itll be a lot closer to places with free wifi so i can use this time to check out some jobs. Fruit picking maybe?

After burger king i decided to go to auckland museum. I walked down the shore and happened to pass by university of auckland. I thought it would be interesting to check out the school. I walked in and started following a few students. The few students eventually grew to a crowd in their main student centre (slc equivalent). Apparently it was their clubs day (their school runs through february to november). It was actually really cool i wandered around and ended up signing up for a club. Pokecenter of Auckland University. I tried looking for a bboy club or hip hop club but there was none. If i went to auckland university id probably have straight A's...

I eventually found myself at auckland museum after wandering through random streets and hills. I learned some things about the maori and a whole bunch of other stuff. Too much to explain here so just check out the pictures.

Golliwog toys. They re like little Mr Popos. My roomie says golliwogs are really cute. interesting toys...

So... this display made me feel REALY old... ps1? DRIVER game? CRT tvs? did they have to make a display for that?

flightless birds. Moa on the right.

cloak made of feathers... thats a lot of birds.

Moari Pa

the line on the right is made with human hair. whoa.

-Mike

Day 1: Auckland: mt eden

I arrived in auckland airport at 5 am. Walked out and realized wtf am i gonna do for half a day before getting to the hostel? I wandered the airport,read a bunch of brochures and bought a sim card.

I took the taxi to the hostel at 8 am. Bad idea. It was rush hour. The taxi costed a fortune. Lesson learned. She was a nice samoan lady though.

So its 9 am and the manager said the rooms not ready till 2. I have half a day to kill. I wandered the streets of auckland looking for mcdonalds for free wifi. I got there. Wifi didnt work.

I got back to the hostel to move into my room. Met my roomie for 2 days. She s cool check out the bug skin she picked up! I also went to mt eden which was just a 10 min walk away. Apparently there were a few volcanos here in auckland.

-mike

Flight to Auckland

I was planning to have one more thoughts in transit but I fell asleep and didnt have time to add another lengthy blog. Let me just summarize what happened trying to get here:

On the way to the airport i learned my flight to vancouver at 12 was cancelled. I got to the airport and had to rebook the next flight to vancouver for 2. Unfortunately the plane intended for the 2 o clock flight was switched to a smaller plane so the only option for people with seats higher than 39 was to take the next flight at 6. My seat row was 41... fortunately for me i had to take the 2 o clock or else i would miss my flight to auckland from vancouver. I took the flight got to vancouver and had 1 hour in between to get to the next flight. I got to the boarding area showed my ticket. And they told me i couldnt board because one way tickets werent allowed. I moved aside waited a bit. Double checked my whv papers and showed them the part where it said i could get a one way ticket and they let me through. Clutch!

When booking the flight I tried to get the shortest layover time in vancouver (4 hours) but i realized that it would have been way better if i took the longest layover time to make time for me to get out of the airport and check out vancouver for a bit. Lesson learned.

-mike

Thoughts in Transit: Lloydminster, AB

Its been a while since I last posted... a lot has happened between the last post and being here now on the plane to New Zealand.

Lets start with the work. I worked as a materials tester in Alberta for 4 months. Its an experience I will never forget. Here are some of the few things I ve learned while working in Alberta:

- There are always easier ways to make money.
While working in Alberta I ve met a lot of people from all parts of Canada while working on site. At one particular site I found out general labourers make 3000 a week (imagine how much the rig pigs make). This is a real eye opener for me because it taught me that whatever I decide to do in life it should never be solely for the money because there are always easier ways to make money.

- The people you work with/for matter
When the lab manager was away for a few weeks someone else filled in and work felt a lot different. Although work was the same and i liked working under both lab managers, there was a stark difference in managing styles. I realized in any workplace I would prefer to work WITH people rather than working FOR people.

- I can work long hours
Right off the plane kyle and I were supposed to get a day off before work. Instead we went straight to the office and started orientation. I averaged 80 hours on the first few weeks and never worked under 50 hours a week the whole time (I think one week I worked 40 hours but that was the time i could only work 3 days out of the 7). I even hit the legal limit of how many days straight I could work woo! To me this is a big thing because Ive never really had the opportunity to push myself physically and mentally for a job. Since there was so much to do in the lab and out on the field Im glad that I saw this as an opportunity to push myself rather than seeing it as a list of chores that i have to fet through. I think what helped me get through the hours was being able to work with best friends, and the challenge of seeing how far i can go in work. Random story: an asphalt tester I met mentioned he worked 115 hours in one week once.

I feel that this was a great experience overall and i have no regrets of choosing to work.

Sidenote: I hate how the list looks like one of those stupid facebook links about what to do in your twenties or whatever

- Mike

Thoughts in transit: the months in between

The second part of my thoughts in transit...

The months in between have been interesting. After working for 4 months I went home. As great as it was to be back home I felt useless. It was only 4 months but in those 4 months I felt I had purpose. I had a goal to reach, I did something productive, I had fun. Coming back I felt useless... no more routine, no more income, lots of time on my hands. I would like to say I did something productive but I didnt.

I think the reason i felt that way after coming back was because I didnt set goals for myself. In summer I set goals and strived to reach them. It was the same in Lloydminster. I worked to reach a goal to save some money and have fun doing it.

Despite being unproductive I had a small turning point on new years. Jan 1 I booked my flight to NZ, a week after I applied and got my work holiday visa. After booking the flight I attempted to get back into dancing once a week and striving to catch up with old friends. I went to ottawa for a week and went snowboarding often. I also applied to nursing again (I really hope I get in).

I was set for my adventure, but sometimes shit happens...

-mike

Thoughts on transit: a fucked up shoulder

Warning: Im using this post to let everything out so skip it if you dont want to go through it. Its a rant for myself so it'll just be word vomit.