To Auckland Pt. 2

I have pretty much no notes for the rest of day, but I'll manage.

I left the hostel with every intention of going to Auckland Domain, as there was a museum there. I enjoy museums, and they are even dry! Since it was not even noon yet, I figured I had to go do something to pass the time. I imagined that the Museum wasn't too far away, having looked it up on a map.

Boy was I wrong. Well, it wasn't that far away, but I managed to get terribly lost on my way there. Several times I had to stop and look at my trusty map from the tourist guide, which was actually pretty useful once I figured out which direction was which. I walked probably five times further than I actually needed to walk, so it took me over an hour to actually get to the museum. The rain had let up a bit, but there was still a constant drizzle. I was soaking wet still. I made it to the museum though! And I wandered in, and couldn't figure out where I was supposed to pay. They had free internet, so that was cool. I went to their website and saw that admission was free, but that they asked for a ten dollar donation. Seeing as there was nowhere at all to make a donation, I wandered into the exhibits.

The rotating exhibit was only on its second day there, and it was pretty amazing. It was on annual photography awards from Nat Geo Australia or something, but there were entrants from all over the world. Some of the photos that people take absolutely blow my mind. A polar bear swimming, half of the lens above water, and half below. A rabbit barely visible against an Alaskan snow storm. Tens of birds taking off. The work was beautiful, and there were even categories for youth. They take better pictures than I, apparently.

The rest of the museum was not nearly as cool. It could have been that I was having trouble paying attention to anything, as I was going on 35 hours without sleep. I saw maybe two-thirds of the exhibits. The one on the Maori (sounds like moldy) was pretty interesting. Some of their art was very cool. It was interesting to learn a bit about them, because I hardly knew anything before. Unfortunately, I remember very little of the actual information, but I know I learned about it, dammit.

I floated through some of the other exhibits, but I had given up. I left through the other door. As I was going out, I realized that I had gone in the back entrance or something. So I "donated" my ten dollar admission fee, and got my neat proof of entry. So at approximately 2:30 PM on the 3rd of July, 2012, I was on my way back to my hostel. It took maybe twenty minutes, at a leisurely pace, in even more rain.

I thought this fountain was pretty. At least, I must have because I took about 15 pictures of it

I was glad to be back. I went up to my hostel to make my bed, and someone had just taken the bunk above me. I was struggling with making my bed, and having to avoid the person getting set up right next to me was not helping matters. So I made the ever so smooth comment, "Is it bad that I'm so tired that I can't even make my bed?"

She kind of looked at me weirdly, then gave a half laugh and said, "yeah."

Well then. That was a nice talk. I managed to get my fitted sheets to actually stay, and threw the top sheet and blanket over and called it good enough. I lay down on top of my sheets, but there was no way I was gonna sleep. It was still too early. I had to make it at least until eight, then maybe I could sleep. The person above me finally got her shit sorted, and asked me where the grocery store was. Luckily, I had no idea where. We asked the other person who was in the dorm at that point, and she thought there was one at the bottom of the block past Sky City. That would have only been about three blocks away.

I remembered seeing a clipping from the newspaper downstairs about a new supermarket opening, so I suggested we try, as I definitely needed food, and more importantly soap. I hadn’t had a shower since the morning of my flight, and that very nearly two days ago at this point. Plus, I had been sitting on the plane for hours and hours, and planes are always kind of gross. Plus I was still damp from the rain earlier. I assume I smelled something just beyond wet dog in a crate.

The birds did not mind the rain

We made it to the grocery store, and had a jolly time shopping, including not buying NZ$4.00 Bell peppers. No thank you. I got back from the grocery store, and finally decided to lie down. It was around 4:30 PM. I had been up for approximately 42 hours. I slept until 8:30 PM, ran downstairs and had some delicious instant noodles. Mi Gorang noodles are fucking awesome. I went back upstairs and passed out, again.