Welcome New Zealand
Trip Start
Jun 26, 2007
1
51
60
Trip End
Ongoing
Auckland, New Zealand
Tuesday, December 11, 2007
For the first 5 days, I spent it in the YHA International hostel. A very clean hostel but had no atmosphere, but was ideal for catching up on sleep and get my self organise. One of my things on my to-do list was apply for an IRD (Inland Revenue Department) Number so I can start working in New Zealand without getting taxed at 40%. Unfortunately this took 3 weeks and until this number arrived I was stuck in Auckland.
The following 5 days were spent in another YHA (Auckland City Hostel), it was here I befriended a group of Argentineans and made myself useful in helping them in their apartment hunting and translating the quickly yet badly spoken English from the numerous Chinese landlords to more simplified translation. Got to experience a few Argentineans dinners in exchange for my service although eating just before midnight took a while to get use to.
For the Christmas period I moved hostels again and headed out of the centre to Mt Eden and Yaping House. Yaping House (part of the BBH network) is much smaller than the corporate YHA hostels but what it lacks in amenities it certainly makes up for in character. Set at the foot of the extinct volcano, it is one of the oldest wooden houses in New Zealand and the free Christmas buffet was much appreciated. Otherwise I climbed up Mt Eden to get some great panoramic views of Auckland and any spare days were spent watching Premiership football on satellite TV.
The last 5 days of my stay in Auckland was spent in the Fat Camel hostel right in the city centre. On New Year's Eve a group of lads went to the women qualifiers for the 'ASB Classic' Tennis tournament. Since it was only a qualifier, entry was free and we got to sit in an executive box. Although how we didn't get chucked out is beyond us as we kept taking photos when the ladies were serving and seeing who could get the best underwear shot. That evening a group of us drank in the hostel bar before heading up Queens Street to be the first in the world to see 2008 in and watch the fireworks display on top of the Skytower.
The last few days were spent car/campervan hunting and finally on the 3rd of January my IRD number turned up. Time to get out of Auckland.
