Auckland is like any large metropolitan city and a bit dirtier than Denver. VERY humid! It took a bit of walking to find the hostel - and the roads here are steeper than any I've ever seen. I'm definitely carrying too much stuff!
There's a really cool old cemetery close to where I'm staying with what appear to be the original English inhabitants of the area. Its kind of funny how they just built roads over the top of it.
The plan was to look for a vehicle today. But my roommate at the hostel has just about convinced me I'll do better moving on to Christchurch to find one. Buses are relatively inexpensive and a ferry trip between the north and south islands will cost a couple hundred or more. Plus apparently there are a lot of junk cars being passed off to people like me here. So, I have booked a bus to Wellington today and a hostel to stay in for the next 2 nights (it's called Nomads Capital Backpackers) then on to Christchurch unless there is a reason to stay in Wellington of course! Wellington is the NZ capital city perhaps a trip to the capital will be in the cards.
I didn't get time to blog about it before leaving, but Vicki and I went to the Desert museum outside of Tucson on my last day there. It was a most extraordinary experience. They have a raptor show that was unlike anything I've ever experienced. The birds fly directly over the crowd so close I could feel the wings flapping. Vicki got an amazing shot of an owl. This video doesn't quite do justice to how it felt to have a bird fly that close to my head - like it's feathers were brushing my hair.
My stay in Tucson was terrific and I am so grateful to Jean, Vicki and Paul and Dana and Gary for giving me a temporary home! I feel I grew closer to them all in different ways and I am thankful they have accepted me into their family fold. I love you all!
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