Clueless in Auckland

December 2nd 2016

23:43

It's around noon in Germany — here, a German-speaking UNO group forms in the hostel's community area as we approach midnight. I can't tell yet who in this hostel is not German — but it can't be that many people.
Sadly we are too stressed out to play cards — after what felt like an endless bus- and train ride from the airport and dinner at a hell-themed pizza place (pizza 'Greed' or 'Envy' anyone?), we are trying to plan our New Zealand round-trip with about two days to spare.

Which doesn't work too well, partly due to a flaky internet connection, but also because we have no idea how to get around here. The next day will bring some clarity.
On our second full day in Auckland, we do manage to get our planning at least somewhat straight and can finally start touring the city.
Food-wise, we still haven't left Asia — we start the day in a Chinese bakery, go shopping in the Chinese supermarket and have Malay lunch in the food court outside. As a little snack we add Korean pancakes leading up to Japanese dinner.

We start our exploration by heading up Mt. Eden, one of the 53 volcanoes that Auckland was built on.
Sadly, we can't climb down into the crater — it is very tapu, meaning sacred. But we do get a nice view of the sprawling city in which 30% of all 'Kiwis' live — most of them in typical single-family homes with a lawn in front.
Along the slopes of Mt. Eden one can still see the terraces on which Māori settlements stood in the 16th century. If you're interested in that sort of thing, we can recommend reading up on the Māori myth of creation — quite unconventional for our standards.
We move on, make our way into the city centre and end up in front of the city hall at Auckland Live, a small-ish event space with recliners and beanbags on astroturf.

Auckland feels like a cozy little town built on a lot of land and with very few apartment blocks. Even in the city centre, we don't feel like standing in a city of 1.3 million people.
And of course there's a Christmas tree, too — it's already the 2nd of December, after all.
Apart from the music there's also a shopping cart acrobatics show — sounds strange, is strange. But the five shopping carts being whirled around in sync with the music do look quite impressive.