By the numbers
10 kms
12,399 steps
1 bus
Todays journey was going to be to Auckland, where I am staying for the next couple of days. For some reason the night before I began finding lollies in my bag and it wasn’t something I had put in there. I was happy that I hadn’t been searched as I didn’t know they were there, it would have been shocking as I never declared them. Stuff happens though and I should have checked properly. I woke up at 6am for some reason and found I had an offer of a lift north from Hamilton. Though I thanked the offer giver and said that I had a bus booked to take me that way. I didn’t say that I had that booked at least 6 months ago as I was totally organised With that I went back to sleep for an hour or so. I wasn’t sure what the weather was going to be and I went out walking to look for some breakfast. Once I got something to eat and a coffee, I was ready to check out of the room. On the way to the bus terminal, I had to visit a bookshop that I always visit when I am in Hamilton. I did find two interesting books and I may or may not have bought them. I havnt been to the shop since before the pandemic so it has been a while.
The wait wasn’t too long at the Hamilton bus terminal as I had a coffee while I was there. I thought he driver was doing something new when they started calling the names of passengers, but I think it was a premium part of the service as I had to line up and tell them my name instead. I loaded my bag as it would have been too heavy for the lady to load into the bag bay, but it stayed there until I reached Auckland. It was only a 2 hour journey to Auckland, but we were going via the airport so I would get to see the changes that were happening there. So many places seem to have experienced change as we stopped in Pokeno for a pit stop and the toilets are now a shipping container with doors and cubicles. I had never stopped at the bus station at Manukau before and that place is huge and looks modern especially to go with the train station too as its a transport hub. The airport itself is getting work done and lots of building going on there too. Should be interesting when I am going through there too.
It wasn’t that far to Auckland from the airport and I was happy to be getting off as I was at my limit as I wanted off the bus. I wanted to explore Auckland, but I wanted to see Parnell for the rose garden and all that. Heaps I would have wanted to do, but biting off more than I could chew.. I went to the hostel, where I am staying and was able to self check into my room. Everything was electronic and I took a picture of my room, even loaded my own keycard as its just a credit card made of plywood. The rooms are good. There are 4 beds that are totally private and you are allocated one on check in. It has a light and storage and there is even a locker that your card then locks as well so its pretty much secure. The washing machine and the dryer are $5 each for a token, and I think I will wait until my next destination before doing the washing. I went for a wander around Auckland afterwards and there is plenty of changes happening there too including the music shop moving, and other buildings on Queen street vanishing to be rebuilt. The music shop wanted my bag as I guess people steal and I was after some music. The lady told me to put my bag into any hole and I cracked up and said thats what she said. I think the lady heard, but has heard it before. I had to ask for the wifi password as I wanted to use the website to search for CDs as I couldn’t remember if they had what I was looking for. I ended up only going to the music shop, and into Smith and Caughey department store. That place has shorts for nearly $200 and same with shirts that include the Smurfs. I had found an Irish pub that had a Tuesday special for steak being $18 and I wanted that. When I seen some for $38 to $50 in restaurants, I thought this was a better deal. I thought it might be best to have an early night and sort out my stuff as I have others in the room too, and they might not like it if I get up early to head off into the wilderness tomorrow. I have the archives sorted, but I will have only 4 hours before I go elsewhere, so I can think of places to visit in the morning once I am done.
I do have to get used to being in a hostel dorm again as I havnt done this for a long time basically ever since I got sent home in 2020. Its not too bad though and I will quickly get used to it after a couple of days. It just means that my trip is slowly coming to an end.
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