Another Free Bus Tour? Yes Please

So, I woke up bright and early for my 8:00 am interview the next day, after basically having zero sleep...oh, the agony. The woman from Velocity Recruitment whom I had scheduled the interview with on the phone the previous day had mentioned the fact that the elevators would not take me to their floor until exactly 8:00 am. So, she said not to worry if I didn’t get to the interview until a few minutes after 8:00 am. Well, by 8:05 am, the elevator still wouldn’t allow me to go to the 12th floor. In a moment of genius, I decided I would just go to the 11th floor, then take the stairs up to the 12th floor so as not to be any later for my interview. Well…my plan would have worked out perfectly if it weren’t for the fact that the building had locked access stairwells! In other words, I was in for a big surprise when I tried to exit the stairwell onto the 12th floor, only to find out you needed some type of security card or key to gain access to that floor. I thought, “Okay…don’t freak out. Just go back down to the 11th floor.” Yeahhh…the exit to every single floor was locked, leaving me stuck in this darn stairwell by myself, not knowing what the hell to do!

I had my phone, but didn’t have the number to Velocity Recruitment—even if I’d had it, I kept imagining my phone call to them. “Yes, um this is Ashley King. I was scheduled to have an interview at your office at 8:00 am. I’ve actually been in the building since before 8:00 am, but haven't made it to your office yet because I've somehow managed to get myself stuck in your stairwell. Yes…my apologies.” Haha. =) Luckily, after a frantic ten minutes or so of being stuck, a young businessman appeared out of nowhere and saved the day! I asked if he could be my hero, and he graciously obliged and lead me to the exit. Phewwww! What a start to a morning! The interview itself went really well though, and they even provided me with some delicious hot tea after my stairwell ordeal haha. After the interview, it was time to go meet John for our free bus tour around the city! Two different bus tour companies offer free tours around Auckland for ‘new backpackers’ as a way to try and get you to sign up with them for the rest of your travels around New Zealand. Brigita, Sontsa & I previously went on one of the free bus tours upon our initial arrival in New Zealand. However, the people that actually run the tours don’t really care if you are a new backpacker or not. So, John and I took full advantage!

In total, only about five other people ended up being on the bus with us. After some quick introductions, our first stop was the Auckland Harbour, where a local Kiwi guy talked to us about the jet boats you can ride in the harbour. Known for their thrilling maneuvers and quick, 360-degree spins, jet boats are quite popular in many of New Zealand’s big tourist spots. The guy had us all line up on the deck for a wee little competition, offering a free jet boat ride for the winner. The test was a simple one: be the first to put on a lifejacket and fasten it properly. The catch was that the vests were equipped with really strange clasps. John had it done up in seconds though and won the free jet boat ride worth $65—sweet! Next, we were all handed free ferry tickets and took the ferry over to Auckland’s historic harbourside suburb Devonport, which has been compared to Sausalito, California. While there, we explored the green hills of North Head, a volcanic headland within Devonport that was previously used by the military for coastal defense and still has old bunkers and tunnels left behind.

Plus, before heading back to central Auckland, we all had a tasty pub lunch at the Masonic Tavern in Devonport; built in 1866, it is one of New Zealand’s oldest pubs. While at the pub, I received a phone call from the temp agency I’d interviewed with that morning: the Serious Fraud Office was definitely interested in hiring me but just wanted to do an interview first. Done! We scheduled an interview for 4:00 pm that day. After Devonport, the tour bus took us to the Auckland Museum. Even though John and I had literally just been there a couple days before, it was still fun. I spent most of my time watching some local school children being taught The Haka, an intimidating ancient Maori dance that is also well-known for its use by New Zealand rugby teams. The last stop of the tour was the Harbour Bridge. Just like my first free bus tour with Brigita and Sontsa, we were given harnesses and helmets to walk across the bridge to the big pod in the middle where the bungy jumping station is located. However, since our group was really small and no one was bungy jumping (although I would have if I’d had the money!!!), one of the workers bungy jumped for us, purely for our entertainment.

After being dropped back off on Queen Street, I had to run back to my flat to get ready for my second interview of the day. The woman I met with at the Serious Fraud Office was really nice and the job itself sounded great. However, after all was said and done, the woman found out after making a couple of phone calls that I actually wasn’t allowed to work there. To my dismay, the job would have required me to be a New Zealand resident. Gutted! Oh well…at least I had the other 2-week job still lined up. After my interview, I attempted to meet up with Ricky again. Unfortunately, my lack of sleep and full day of excursions had caught up with me by that point, and I proceeded to get myself semi-lost trying to find where he and Ken were. Ricky ended up telling me to stay where I was, and literally came running to find me =) Then, he and Ken were sweet enough to drop me off at my flat so I could take a much-needed nap. Ear plugs in, and I was out.

I woke up a few hours later still feeling completely groggy, but needing to get up regardless. Daiana had a group of friends over at the flat, including Luciana who I had met a few times before. Luciana was on her way out just as I woke up, so I caught a ride to town with her and made a plan to meet her at Cassette. I went to John’s hostel, still half-asleep, and then the two of us walked over to Cassette for some free Tuesday-night pizza and beer. Once there, we met up with Luciana and her friend Juan (also from Argentina), and the four of us stayed there for a couple of hours chatting and eating pizza. Luciana and I did some dancing as well. I saw a couple of my favorite Surf N Snow hostel friends there again too—Francois and Manuel! Plus, I ran into Neve from Ireland and Derrie Anne from Whales, who I had also met while staying at Surf N Snow. I would have gotten Ricky to join in on the festivities too, but he had already made plans to see The Hangover II during the same time. We didn’t stay out too late though, as I needed to be in relatively good condition for my first day of work the next morning!

Cheers,
Ash