At home already

Where to start...well, I have met a wonderful new friend Sonja from Finland. She had actually previously contacted me from a New Zealand backpacker board shortly before we both arrived here, and now we've been doing some exploring around Auckland together. Yesterday, we went to a cafe for dinner in the city, then out to the cinema for a movie--no, we are not lame...we were just tired. =)  Today, we met up in the backpacker lounge after getting ready, went out for lunch, then went to the harbour & walked around the city. Auckland is very similar to any other big city, except it is VERY clean and the people are soooo nice. The locals are so interested to know where you are from & are so genuinely excited to hear about what you are doing, where you are going, etc. It's very refreshing =)

I have also met a few other backpackers through Sonja--Nick from Holland, Taylor from Vancouver, and Victor from Sweden. They are all very nice as well. Brigita, my other penpal, will be arriving at the hostel in a couple of hours also, so I'm very excited to finally meet her. Tonight, there is a Backpacker Pub Crawl which consists you being taken to 4 different pubs/bars throughout the evening for only $10! It is apparently very popular & can get up to 100 backpackers all going out at once. I'm sure it will be an evening to remember! Tomorrow, Brigita, Sonja & I will be going on a FREE bus tour around the city--yeah, I'm not sure how that works, but it is actually completely free of charge. Then, on Saturday, we will be going to this Antarctic adventure thing so Brigita & Sonja can see penguins (they've never seen them before). This is the same place where I would like to cage dive with some sharks...so we'll see.

Auckland is SOO expensive. I saw one of those neck pillows you use on planes on sale for $39.50!! Outrageous! Oh, but how I knew I loved New Zealand (besides the prices) was when Sonja and I were out to eat today, I saw a woman in her 60s with BRIGHT pink hair, and then just a few feet from her was another woman in her 70s wearing bright blue converse shoes. It's official; I am finally home haha.

Cheers,
A