Day 1
By the numbers
Bag 11.8kg
Steps: 9915
Km: 6.83km
Entertainment value: High
1 packed lunch
1 dead fitbit battery - replaced
The day started with a sleepless night with broken sleep
after the thoughts of what I am going to do with the battery replacement for my
fitbit that died the night before. It went really well for a year surprisingly
enough. It has been a year since I bought it and I have only really used it for
my trips away so has been sitting idle on my desk until it decided to die. Once
I was up for the day I had a dog to be walked and the little bits to be packed
before leaving. A battery was found and wasn’t easy to get out of its pack, but
now we know they are packaged well. Mum would soon be along to pick me up.
Once I was picked up I was happy to wait in a short bag drop
line for Air Asia to Auckland. Yup I booked a trip that leaves in the morning
so we shall see. I didn’t want to arrive in the early hours of the morning as I
would get to the hostel very late. The security line was long and moving fast
enough that it didn’t take long to get through although one silly lady had
scissors in her bag and I left with my gear when she was being searched. She
was not allowed to touch her bag at all and she was warned at checkin. I don’t
think she understood the risks as to why as thats what it sounded when she made
excuses. I grabbed a coffee to fill in my paper work and then went through to
the international part of the Gold Coast airport where the scanner let me
through without a customs person taking my card. I found it had to be dropped
off in a customs card drop off box. While on the other side I had entertainment
from Scoot air where some slow customers were taking their time and they were
not happy at being told they were holding up a plane. I think they were
Singaporians who were arguing with the ladies that they were slow moving even
though they were told to hurry up. I feel sorry for the staff who were getting
stressed and the people were not really giving a crap at all.
I soon found that we were boarding for Auckland, but with a
confusing difference that proved I had not been listening. People from Kuala
Lumpur were transiting onto the current flight so they were taking a 2 hour
flight to Auckland after flying from their destination. One line was for
transits and the others for the Gold Coast check in. Now that was confusing,
but I soon found myself in the right lane anyway. The flight had been delayed a
touch for some reason, but we were on our way soon enough. I had the aisle
seat, which suited me and I was happy to read my book in what could be a bucket
type seat. I had my lunch and a bottle of water so I kept myself occupied. The
flight itself was not that bad and we landed in a timely manner. Through
immigration was easy as usual just how I love the easy to use electronics by
doing all the work yourself without the staff sorting it for you. There was a
border control line up after collecting my bag as I think several others landed
too, but wasn’t that long of a wait.
Once I was through I headed for the shuttle bus that I had
not booked ahead of time like I usually do. I could have caught the airport
bus, but that never goes to your door. The funny part was the afternoon traffic
and the stories by the other passenger beside me. The American had lost his
baggage somewhere between Philadelphia and Sydney, which included a stop in LA.
Another couple went from Canada and several other stops. I was laughing though
I would not like that to happen. The ride I was enjoying as I got to see places
like Mt Eden village. It was already around 6pm and I was hoping that I could
get some exploring done before it got dark as there was several places that I
wanted to walk.
It didn’t take that long and the hostel was the first stop,
so I was happy to be at the same place again. It was then I noticed the changes
at reception. The desk was higher and there was no key to open the fire door. Turns
out they upgraded and went away from keys that were sticky to keycards. A
brilliant idea and the rooms got updated too like the TV room / lounge became
more roomy and my room now has USB ports to charge devices. Once I left I was
hoping for heaps of light as I made my way to Albert street down at the
university. What was down that way had my attention as there was a wall that
was once part of the Albert Barracks built around the late 1840s. Said to be
the oldest surviving structure built by Europeans in New Zealand. I wandered
around the wall and went off to Albert Park after taking pictures of the
university clocktower. The afternoon or evening breeze was crisp until it started
raining. I wanted to have a look at the historic Symonds Street Cemetery as
they had completed some walks around certain parts along with sign posts, but
the continuing rain sent me in search for food before I ran out of light. I a
wanting to look again before heading to the bus stop in the morning where I
will head to Hamilton.
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