I reached the hostel at 5.30am. Its not far from the airport. As I'm heading for Tonga in 48hrs I thought I'd stay close by. There aren't any free beds so for now I have to sleep on the sofa in a sitting room for a few hours until my bed is vacated. People are up and about at 8.30 which means I have to get up as well as sleep is impossible. I take a shower which helps to wake me up. After some breakfast I head into Auckland.
When I get downtown the city centre is smaller than I expected. The first people I see as I begin to wander around are an Irish couple whom I've seen a couple of time over the last week. They have got to be the most miserable couple I have ever seen. They appear to spend their time walking around looking sullen and stony faced. I saw them first on the bus from Mendoza to Valparaiso. Then I saw them at the airport in Santiago. Now I have the misfortune of coming face to face with them in the city centre in Auckland. As we approach each other I nod at them by way of acknowledgement but Grumpy and Grouchy ignore me. Their made for each other.
The city centre is very quiet, particularly for a Saturday. I'm surprised how quiet it is. Despite the high rise tower blocks it feels like a small rural town on a Sunday afternoon. There was a lovely cool breeze this morning which, after the heat of Chile and Argentina, feels almost cold. I got a haircut at the top of Queen street from a Malaysian woman who, in between cutting the hair and giving a head massage, told where I should visit when I get to Asia. It was the best haircut I've had in years. It feels weird not to be in South America any longer. I have to remind myself that I don't have to speak spanish when talking to people. Its good to be able to relax in crowds though. I still have a tendincy to hold my rucksack to my chest when people are around me.
Whats particularly noticeable about Auckland is the large number of Asians who live here. For the last three months I've been seeing Latinos and indigenous south americans. Here the mix is so different. Maori, Asian, caucasians with a smattering of Indian. There's a very different vibe around the city compared to South America. Everywhere is so much more wealthy looking, ordered and neat. The suburbs are attractive, the traffic is orderly. There is very little pollution compared to the black exhaust fumes of most South American towns. A couple of the districts on the edge of the city look American. The facades of the buildings and shopfronts date back to the early 20th century and remind me of towns I saw in the mid-west. Seneca, Belleville andCarson city in Nevada immediately sprang to mind as I passed by on the bus.
In the evening back at the hostel I find I've been given a place in a 3-bed dorm. I'm sharing with a German lad and an Israeli so you can imagine the conversations they were having!!! The German, Udo, is an experienced cyclist and has spent the last 7 weeks cycling through New Zealand. This is his 4th trip to the country. The Israeli lad is travelling after completing his national service. We get chatting and after a while I ask him if he's worried by the trouble back home which has been ongoing since Christmas.He said that he wasn't but that his mother was and he was concerned for her. In New Zealand he and some friends attended a pro-Lebanese demonstration recently and mounted their own peaceful demonstration nearby. They brought with them flags and banners which were taken and burned by the hostile Lebanese. He was spat upon but no scuffles broke out. I wondered silently was it not slightly provocative what they were doing but didn't dare voice these thoughts as yerman was beginning to get angry as he recounted the incident. We dropped the subject.
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