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NZ: 1st day on my own

Posted on Mon 17-Nov-2003 7:53 PM  | Tags:
I covered the waterfront today - gave myself a good orientation to downtown Auckland. I now possess a bus pass, enough tourist brochures to wallpaper my bathroom, and I am testing out a film processing company. (Was it really necessary for Air Tahiti Nui to put us off the plane in order to x-ray my film a 3rd time? And luckily the NZ agricultural inspector agreed to hand-check my film, otherwise it would have had 4 x-rays before I entered the country! I want to know that the 64 remaining rolls are ok before we go to the South Island on Saturday.)


Reverse bungy jumping was not a popular activity today, so I can't explain how it works - I think they hurtle you upward in the basket. Santa Claus has a disturbing leer and waggles his finger. Corner of Queen and Victoria, Auckland

I suspect that Auckland is no more like the rest of NZ than NYC is the rest of the US. For one thing, there is a large active and visible Asian immigrant population that dominates the retail commerce for tourism. This is a desirable location to send the youngsters to learn English, and the ethnic mix is vibrant. One oddity - the ostentatiously modified sports cars running all over town with spoilers, running board lights, splashed with logos of after-market service companies - most seem to be driven by Asian men in the under-25 age group and one wonders if that's what their parents intended when they sent junior off to college.

There are definitely enough restaurants in this town - I've seen all sorts of pan-asian combinations, topped by the Chinese takeaway offering fish and chips. I received a pleasant lesson in assessing quality of jade from a saleswoman, who despite my absolute clarity that I would not buy anything today, still enjoyed telling me all about it. I wonder if they have after-Christmas sales on such things.

One thing on sale is the All-Black rugby paraphenalia. Watched the All-Blacks crater before the Australians on tv, much to the national dismay. The game surprised me with how interesting and fast it plays - will definitely be watching England whip Australia next weekend from some bar in Queenstown. Surely that won't be hard to arrange.

Permalink | Comments (2)

Comments (2)

Kathleen:

I am glad you are having fun!!!

Posted by Kathleen  |  November 18, 2003 11:33 AM

Posted on November 18, 2003 11:33

Sharon Forbes:

So happy to hear from you. We regret not being able to have dinner before you left. I hope you are in top notch shape now! We miss you both and look forward to reading all of your adventures aver the next several weeks. Keep postin the pictures and it will almost be like we are all their together!
All my love, Sharon

Posted by Sharon Forbes  |  November 19, 2003 1:59 PM

Posted on November 19, 2003 13:59