Lantana Lodge in Parnell, our first backpacker lodge in New Zealand
We left LAX at 8:30 PM on Tuesday, October 28 and were jet propelled across the international date line. Twelve and a half hours later, at 5:00 AM Thursday, October 30, we were in Auckland, New Zealand.
In the days before we left, we had numerous crises involving our plumbing, our cat, the stock market and our health (I now have TMJ and an expensive plastic thing to chew on at night). We wondered several times whether we could, should or would make this trip. We really didn't believe we were going to get here.
When we stumbled off the plane, we saw a sign advising us to Mind Step. It was starting to look like we weren't in Kansas anymore. As expected, we found the Way Out. We got on the travelator and continued to be filled with dread until we finally got through customs and found a shuttle bus to the city. The chatty shuttle driver had a lovely Ow-stray-lee-an accent and the steering wheel was on the right (or from our perspective, wrong) side of the bus. We saw highway signs that said Give Way on the ubiquitous roundabouts, and we were starting to believe we were really here and she'll be right.
On the ride to Lantana Lodge, our backpacker hostel in Parnell, a suburb of Auckland, the driver told us that ten years ago, you couldn't give away a house in Parnell. Now, he said, you'd be lucky to afford a dog kennel. Lantana Lodge is small, only nine rooms, and I think we have the best one, number 8. It is downstairs, and has a queen size bed and a balcony where we can hang our towels on the line with pegs. There are only two other rooms on the lower floor, and we share two loos and two showers with them. Number 7 is the worst: under the kitchen and next to the showers.
The shops along Parnell Road are so cute!
I am thrilled to be using my laptop in the sunny kitchen. I was able to plug it in with a plug adaptor. No power converter needed. We are a short walk from the wonderful restaurants and shops on Parnell Avenue. It's very quiet here, and the manager Raj, is very nice and helpful. The rate is NZ$75 per night, which works out to US$45.
The NZ$ has been in free fall. Bad for them, great for us. The exchange rate was NZ$1 to US$0.77 in July. Now it's NZ$1 to US$0.60.
Of course, everyone here is much more aware of what's going on in the US than our provincial country men are concerned about the rest of the world. The Chinese owners of The Strawberry Alarm Clock, a hippie restaurant in Parnell, asked about our presidential election, which for better or worse, we will miss. They even knew about the $150,000 wardrobe of She Who Will Remain Nameless. They were very interested in how freely we expressed our opinions of the candidates, and said no one did that in their country. I think they meant China, not NZ, because the newspapers here indicate that Kiwis (New Zealanders) are as opinionated as we are. Of course, they hope for their own good that we get a real fiscal conservative in office this time.
When we flew to Australia in 2000 on Qantas (Queensland and Northern Territory Air Service), it seemed like a really nice airline. Lots of space, good food, hot moist towels, etc. It seems Qantas is not immune to the troubles plaguing airlines. It was maybe 70% full, and the seats have less leg room than American or Southwest. There are two aisles, with three seats in the outside rows, and four in the middle. We tried to book two seats on the outside of one of the back rows, hoping no one would sit between us. Then we could sprawl over four seats and maybe actually sleep. That wasn't possible, so we sat in 73 A and B, the last two seats on the left outside row. Toward the back of the plane, there are only two seats in the outside row, so at least no one was climbing over us.
I noticed one savvy traveler found a wall outlet behind our seat and he plugged in his computer. It's hidden under a 4" x 6" cover, so hunt around and you may find it if you get a chance to fly one of these monster planes.
Yesterday we walked about four miles around Auckland. The Domain, a huge park, is near our hostel. We went into the Auckland Museum in search of bird guides and geology books, but didn't find anything portable enough. We walked in the general direction of the downtown Sky Tower, which looks a lot like Seattle's Space Needle, but decided against a lift ride when we found out it would be NZ$25 each. We looked in the Borders downtown for our bird and rock books, and I found a bird guide, but still no book on the geology of New Zealand. We could, however, get a Roadside Geology of Arizona, if we didn't already have two copies.
The plant life here is amazing. It seems anything can grow here. Palms, oaks, maples, gigantic Norfolk Island pines, magnolias, birds of paradise, cala lilies, a tree that's like a bottle brush, anything, apparently but cactus.
