to the island of waiheke....

HEY FRIENDS

touching base here from the Base hostel in Auckland. Super zonked so here's hoping this post is coherent...

Yesterday morning (feels like a lifetime ago), we got in to New Zealand. Shockingly we were able to locate Nealon in an extremely timely manner and we hopped on the airport shuttle to our hostel. It was a gloomy morning in Auckland, and it didn't look too promising.

When we got there, we strolled up to our 8 man room and met one guy from Germany (absolute gem), 2 British guys (less gem), and some other guy whose nationality I can't remember who has spent more time watching tv on his computer than interacting... There is also a 75 year old italian staying in our room... I only know that because his polka dot bikini style underware from 1930 are hanging on a clothes line in the room and I saw him sneak out at 5am this morning.

So yesterday after a welcome to Auckland McDonalds lunch (big macs all around), we hit the pier and contemplated what to do with our tired selves. We ended up taking a quick ferry to Devonport and hung out on the little beach for a while, then hiked up Mount Victoria and watched the sunset with the most amazing view of the Island. Some awesome pictures were taken (uploads to come), and we had a pretty spectacular day. That being said though, we also came to the shocking realization that it is pretty impossible to eat out for less than 20$, and also impossible to get beer anywhere close to the price of Canada at a restaurant (if you have any tips let me know). That was pretty rattling but we're adjusting.

Today we woke up, went downstairs to book some tours and ended up meeting a Scottish/French girl named Shauna. She was super down to hang out with us and came with us too Waiheke Island. We hung out on a super sick beach, played in the ocean, tossed the frisbee (ran into a new zealand women's player on the beach), and Nealon and I had a little hike date up to an even more amazing view of the island. I am also proud to say that we cooked our first hostel meal tonight (spirals with tomato sauce... decided to play it safe), and it was a success!

That's all she wrote for now folks. We have to crash and catch a bus at 8am off to the next location (still TBA).