Hostel Environment

It's been two weeks since we've arrived in NZ and there hasn't been a single blog post to keep you up-to-date, but understand that we've already experienced so much and are finally making time to sum it all up! So here it goes...

The flight was long, of course.  Carly never has a hard time sleeping but I often do when not laying horizontal.  Needless to say I was more than happy to land in Auckland, where we were greeted with rain... and customs.  We had heard about how strict NZ customs can be, so I was sure to hose down the borrowed tent, tarp and even my barely-worn hiking boots before we departed.  While waiting in line, travellers are greeted with a HUGE billboard telling you that it's your last chance to declare any fruit you may have packed away, otherwise you're subject to a $400 fine! We got through without a hitch, but I would be lying if I said I wasn't the least bit anxious about the ordeal.

So we caught a shuttle-bus and arrived happily (and a bit damp) at the Pentlands Backpackers Hostel just outside the city centre.  Being that our Couchsurfing host bailed on us, we opted to spend our first three kiwi nights in the hostel.  This certainly wasn't our first hostel experience, and it didn't really differ from others.  It was a very nice experience and we may return before leaving NZ.  Vinnie (pictured with us to the right) - the duty manager - was delightful and helpful, and the room and utilities were well kept.  Nothing  to complain about.

It's always funny to us, however, how we fit in - or don't fit in - in hostels.  Amongst the revolving international crowd that occupy hostels all around the world, there's always a clique no matter when you go.  There's always a group who seem to be on the same page, and for some reason Carly and I have a hard time opening up.  Perhaps we feel a bit intimidated by their camaraderie, or perhaps we're a bit too shy.  It's a lot like being at a middle-school dance and we're the wallflowers.  We ended up leaving with a few good conversations with some global vagabonds, which is all we can ask for.

Finding a vehicle was our main goal in our three days in Auckland.  We tried a backpacker's car market without any luck, and the car fair that was supposed to be Saturday morning didn't even exist - which we found out after an hour long walk into the city.  Luckily the car fair on Sunday morning had our 1992 Toyota Camry Prominent which we named "Vinnie," an homage to the cheerful Pentlands duty manager.  She purrs like a kiwi kitten, and coughs up a knock-in-the-suspension hairball every once in a while.  Nothing a clockwise turn on the volume knob can't fix!

Finally, after three costly nights at the hostel we were on our way to life on the farm.  Carly and I enjoyed Auckland - it reminded me a bit of the San Francisco Bay Area - but it was time to get out of the city and into the countryside and WWOOF!