Day 52 & Day 53 & Day 54: Auckland...

Day 52: Was X-mas day and the youth hostel I am staying at had a nice BBQ for us for X-mas. Apparently I was told doing BBQ's for X-mas in New Zealand is quite popular. I also learned there is only about 4 million people on both the North and South Island and there are more sheep than people in New Zealand! I haven't seen any sheep as I have been only in Auckland so far. Auckland reminds me alot of San Fran. as well. With the rolling hills, the wharf, and it's very green. It is very similar to Australia in alot of ways. The currency looks similiar, they use the same type of words. Auckland is the largest city in New Zealand, and it is nicknamed the 'City of Sails'. I notice there are quite a few South Americans traveling around here. Hope everyone had a great X-mas!!!


Day 53: Was Boxing Day today and most places were closed, which was actually good for me to rest up for a bit. Boxing day got it's tradition when employers boxed gifts for their workers on the day after x-mas. I realized that on public holidays in New Zealand the restaurants are allowed to charge 15% more as I had gone out to a bar with a fellow kiwi. By the way I forgot to mention people don't tip in Australia, New Zealand, or in SouthEast Asia. I tried two New Zealand beers one called Steinlager, it was a lager didn't care for it and then the Black Mac, that was more of a malt beer similar to Guiness that was quite tastey. It doesn't get dark till about 8:45pm here...

Day 54: Today I was able to go out and explore more things.... The weather here has been rainy on and off the last couple of days. I started the day off going to the Auckland Museum to get my fill of Maori history. I was told that in school kids have to learn the Maori history and language. Then I headed to the Harbor to take a ferry over to Devonport. Devonport reminds me alot of Tiburon and Salusilito it's a cute little town across from Auckland. I walked around a bit and then took the ferry back to Auckland. I walked around the wharf area and noticed the Kiwi's love their Rugby team called 'All Blacks', as they have a giant clock displayed with the countdown in seconds until the Rugby World Cup in 2007, boy my Kiwi friend wasn't kidding when she told me the Kiwi's love Rugby!!!!