Week 2, New Zealand: Auckland, north, and E noho rā (goodbye)

The experiences:
The first time I went to Hawaii back in high school, we got to spend a day at the Polynesian Cultural Center. That trip was more than just Eric B throwing a slushy on Diedre J or Lauren Z's impressive mastery of the Tahitian booty dance (just proving I still have a steel trap for a brain). It was a like an educational Disneyland highlighting all the different Polynesian cultures. Last week I posted about Waitangi day and briefly mentioned the Maori people. This week I ventured north and began to do more than just hear about the Maori culture and people.

I found that north of Auckland the Maori population was much more dense and the emphasis on their culture much greater. The Auckland Art Museum had a wonderful new exhibit showing how early European settlers communicated their discoveries through prints. Cape Reinga interested me when I first read about it since it reminded me of Kaena Point on Oahu.  Mindy and I made that hike, or half of it before I burnt to a crisp, in 2009. Both are spiritual places (Kaena for the Hawaiians and Reinga for the Maori) where spirits leave this world to meet their ancestors. The Maori have a bit more to the story though with a tree growing off the rock where no tree should really ever grow and it just keeps hanging on. There are also more specific pathways the souls use, other rock formations they visit, fountains from which they drink. As always, these are the cultural points I find most interesting. 

See the tiny tree!!!

Aside from enriching my Maori knowledge, what else was awesome? The Cape Reinga lighthouse was solar powered!!! My showers were with collected rainwater heated with solar energy!!!

While in Auckland I joined a group who did the usual tourist thing to do, hike across the island (coast to coast). Many of the people I was with wondered, where was the coast? Thinking it could be a nice and scenic walk. However we ended up climbing Mt Eden, visiting One Tree Hill (of U2 fame, not Chad Michael Murray fame), and then taking a bus through the city on the way back because we were soaked with rain. So we didn't actually complete the walk, but ended up with a nice afternoon over beer. I learned a lot about Swiss and Australian living here which I'm sure I'll cover in a political rant in the future (I think I'll hold off on that till I get more countries under my belt especially since Rick covered it pretty well). This conversation was mostly fueled by an american (yes, I met another american out here!) who left his job as an architect to take advantage of the work/holiday visa in Australia to travel the area.

I met several people in my hostel in Auckland that made me smile. A german girl and I talked for several hours though we never caught each other's names (actually very common while travelling). This was her first trip abroad and she was very nervous and didn't think she should spend the money to go, but her parents pushed her to do it. She was so thankful she did because now after months traveling she felt her mind was opened, that she not only was much more self sufficient but also that she was less anxious and more willing to go with things and learn. Next I met a nice lady from Switzerland who works in radiology and an awesome Italian woman named Italia. Italia and I had more time in Auckland together and actually caught the same bus north so we had more time to chat and she's graciously offered to give me recommendations and such when I visit Sorrento (her home town).

Then back to reality (or vacation minus the flashbacks to age 16)  and Auckland for dinner with a random collection of girls, Cricket World Cup Fever and a flight on to Australia.

The Lessons:

• In high season always book ahead. I ended up in a less than awesome hostel in Auckland with awesome people but always plan ahead so you can get a YHA.
• It's a lot like the US here in that some places adopt as much environmentally conscious standards as possible and others could care less. But I think the former is far more populous here than in the US. Bottom line: if you look for recycling you will find it.
• Sand surfing is fun
  

Interesting:

• In restaurants you go to the front to pay, you don't pay your server (could not get the hang of that)
• A guy from Sydney asked why cheese is orange in the states and really I don't know the answer, do you? He thought he heard we did that so it was more interesting to kids. There is no orange cheese here
• Interesting fact here is that deer were brought to New Zealand to be hunted for sport, but they too saw the population quickly outpaced the ability to hunt them so they captured all the deer and made deer farms instead. You can find venison on almost any menu.
• The bus driver taking me from Kaitaia to Ahipara told me I was a long way from home. I thought I was clever by saying :"not if you count Hawaii" I don't think he thought that was clever.