The good folks at the Aussie Department of Immigration and Border Protection (which is mildly ironic when you think of the country as a former prison colony) decided to grant me a tourist visa this afternoon. I've known for weeks that I'd like to extend my trip into a brief Aussie foray, and I've been quietly googling my way through other people's itineraries, scoping for ideas. So I booked a flight immediately, for tomorrow evening. After all, that's part of the reason I've stuck around Auckland.
So what was the hold-up with the visa? Well government offices are typically closed on weekends, and I only applied for it on Saturday. If that surprises you, then you definitely don't know me well. How did you find my blog?
Anyhow, before I get into the new travel plans, an update on my time in Auckland as an adopted tourist! On Sunday my friend Charlotte picked me up and took me to the North Shore, a lovely bit of suburb that's across the harbor from the bustling CBD. The weather has been beautiful since I arrived, and we were able to get some beach time before the sun started to cook me through the rather lacking ozone layer.
Had another quiet night, a drink and some quality frozen yogurt, and made plans with a different new friend to explore one of the black sand beaches out to the west of Auckland. After all, at this point I was at the mercy of the Aussie consulate, and I figured I might as well enjoy myself as I waited for their all important yea or nay to me crossing the border of their country.
So Monday morning we took a drive out to Bethells Beach, just north of Piha, the more popular but also more crowded surfer beach. Here's a series of three pictures, showing why you should always go to the beach on Mondays while everyone else is working.
Auckland gets a bit of a bad rap with tourists traveling the country, and I think I know why. You get off the plane, and the shuttle dumps you in the CBD, where you find your hostel. The CBD is a business district, and though there are parties to be found, it's no Queenstown where the bars essentially spill out onto the streets. This is a fully functioning city, and I wouldn't expect a tourist to immediately catch on here any more than I'd expect a Kiwi dumped in the Tenderloin to stumble their way to 16th and Mission in SF.
Once you meet people though, that makes all the difference. Kiwis will bend over backwards to accommodate anyone friendly, they're just wonderful like that. And I've had a much, much better time since I've been in this city and had people to show me around and sightsee. Just my 2 cents, which would be rounded out of any Kiwi transaction because their money doesn't go lower than 10 cents.
I promised you all the exciting travel bits! And I won't disappoint by omitting them. But first, a story about my flight into NZ, which I neglected to mention because I didn't want the NZ version of the INS to track me down and deport me. You see, websites are misleading. And my grand plan was to take off to NZ with a one way ticket, and come home when I was good and ready and poor. On the surface that jives with the NZ immigration website, but the big gate agent at SFO seemed differently informed, and indelicately refused to give me a boarding pass without a return ticket.
So, having just said goodbye to both my parents at the International terminal, I was faced with the option of either booking a flight home on a random day, or calling my folks and telling them to circle around the parking structure and pick me back up. I chose the former, and booked a ticket home for December 5th, next Thursday. I was given my visa, boarded my flight, flew to Auckland, checked into the hostel, had a nap and a coffee, and then canceled the return flight with 2 hours remaining on a 24-hour cancellation window. Style points for me.
So let that be a lesson for you: countries don't tend to let you travel into them without proof that you'll also be leaving. Extending that to my current situation, I know full well that Australia won't let me get my first Southern Hemisphere sunburn without a flight out. So I've booked a flight, out of Melbourne, on December 17th. To Nadi, Fiji. Where I'll be staying for a few days until I fly home to San Francisco on December 22nd, just in time for Christmas so my dear mother doesn't have to chase me around the world and take me home by force. Also, because I miss my family and friends, and I'm really looking forward to Christmas at home. But also that first reason. Love you mom!
That's life for me right now. It's weird to think that after all the dreaming, planning, and doing, I've got less than 24 hours left on this gorgeous island. Seems crazy how it all flew by, but I've got so many great memories to share in the coming weeks and months, and so many to keep just for me.
I don't really want to leave. But a lot of the joy I've found on this trip has been by pushing through comfort and finding even more wonderful things. In that spirit I'm saying goodbye to New Zealand. For now. Let's just call it "See you sooner than later."
Cheers,
Jared
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