First impression of Auckland

Saturday, September 3^rd. 3:07 pm 

Right now it all feels like a long, slow, relaxing dream. The kind of dream you have on a night in which you know you can sleep in infinitely the next morning. The kind of dream in which you don’t know exactly what you dreamt about, just that it was peaceful and heavy.

Everything so far is confusing, but not in a stressful way. The most obvious would be the jetlag. After a 30hr ordeal of traveling, which included just under 5 hrs of awkward sleep, we landed at 8 am local time and had a full day schedule that did not involve a moment of rest. Somewhere in there we rode a ferry from Auckland to Devonport where we hiked Mt. Victoria for a killer view of both the city and its neighboring volcano. Although I had already been in the country for six disoriented hours, standing on top of that mountain was the first time I realized that, “I’m really here.”

Ceremonial cartwheel, so thrilled to be off the plane. 

That first night, after practically falling asleep in our sushi dinners, we returned to the hotel at 8 pm exhausted, absolutely beat. But a few committed souls including myself, determined to fight the jetlag a bit longer, strode off to a pub downtown for a first drink in our new nation. I mean… the bar we settled with had a disco ball and “you’re beautiful” by lameo James Blunt stuck on repeat… but it was funny and fun and we absolutely earn an A for effort. 

So yeah, even on day three, everytime I sit down my body tries to sleep. And, to continue my list of confusing things,

• I am always hungry. Like, severely ravenous, not just the usual ‘Lara loves downing cookies and sweets’ routine. I think it’s a part of adjusting to the time change.
• Also the weather is so wild; it can go from clear sunny skies at 65F to windy gray rainstorms at 40F in a matter of ten minutes, then in ten more minutes it will have transitioned back to a sunny paradise. I heard a kiwiman say something like, “In Auckland, you can experience all four seasons in one hour” and I definitely understand that now, although the weather is supposed to stabilize as the Southern Hemisphere summer sets in.
• The vegetation is bizarre… there are vivid tropical plants right next to prehistoric looking evergreen shrubs. It’s a stirpot of trees from Dr. Suess, Jurassic Park, Avatar, and Hogwarts (I swear there are paralysis ridden Walloping Willows here). I wouldn’t believe that these kinds of plants could exist together in the same climate, but they do and they are, for lack of a more sophisticated description, super cool.
• I’m still bewildered by the whole north is warm, south is cold thing. Cars pounce out from unexpected directions and I guess the vehicles all drive themselves because there’s never anybody in the drivers seat.
• Prices of commodities here are much higher than at home because, well, this is an island in the middle of nowhere and everything has to be transported a very long distance.
• Auckland as a city is so weird; it’s like Asia meets Britain meets pacific island culture with a huge Indian influence thrown in. NZ has re-envisioned standards regarding an appropriate length for shorts on men and that still makes me double take. A lot of girls have bright blue hairdye… and it honestly works for them. I dig it, it looks like they dumped a slushie on their head, and I can’t promise not to make a terrible hairstyle decision for myself. The bars play American music, the TV is all American shows, and everyone wears American brands. But the style is European; supertight pants on guys and frilly dresses on girls, “edgy” hairstyles, and goofy dancing. The accent is heavy and the best way I can describe it is if you blend Australian and Scottish accents, and the speaker has cotton stuffed in their mouth. It’s fun to listen to, and sometimes when New Zealanders are speaking to me I forget to listen to WHAT they are saying because I’m so mesmerized by the beaut accent. One New Zealander thought I was German after hearing me speak, and another guessed Polish. When asked “where you from love?” on Queen Street today, my response evoked a street performer to serenade me with the USA national anthem in front of a large crowd of tourists… oh dear.
• Rugby is a religion, not a sport; more to follow. Kiwi people are friendly/laid-back/cheery, views of the harbor are fantastic, you never have to pay tax on purchases or tip on service.

So yeah, everything’s new and I’m loving it. This is what I wanted.

Failed attempt to get my first picture with the city. Thanks for that, wind. 

Day two involved getting settled/oriented at the University of Auckland, a massive school with about 44,000 students and an awesome campus. That night we had dinner in the downtown Skytower which overlooks the city… I didn’t have my camera with me so I can only promise that the view of the sun setting over the harbor and beyond the skyscrapers was incredible… that the food was phenomenal including scallops the size of my fist, monkfish, baby salmon, sweet lamb, and purple sushi. 

LOVE

I’m proud to say that the majority of my first real night out was spent at a great bar called “Lenin” adorned with Soviet style décor, blazing tiki torches, and a full dance floor. Also our bartender had blue hair and that’s always a good sign.

              

View of the water from
Blockhouse bay in the evening.
Great area for shell hunting/star gazing.

And day three involved me getting adopted into my new home. The house is in Blockhouse Bay district. It’s a 5 minute walk from the little town and my bus stop, a 10 minute walk from the beach and the park, a 20 minute walk from my internship, and a 25 minute walk from a huge field with sheep and tiny lambs!!! (We passed it on the drive today and I’m determined to go find it again when I have some free time), and a 30 minute commute by bus to Auckland center. I have an unlimited bus pass for the semester, which is awesome because it will help me explore/get entirely lost out here. But seriously, sheep are awesome and I want to pet one ASAP.

My host mother is wonderful and has housed international students for the past eight years. We did some grocery shopping earlier and she bought three different boxes of cookies for us to try, so I can tell we are going to get along. She took me for a drive along the coast and showed me all the breathtaking beaches in the region… the water was turquoise dotted with sailboats and island chains… like nothing I’ve ever seen. She introduced me to her partner, Peter, and we all went to look at some house properties he was considering buying in the next town over… I was more focused on the view of the harbor from the cliffs these homes were built on, rather than the homes themselves.

Again, a killer view of the bay from some house. 

Everywhere you go in Auckland, these beautiful views peak out from between buildings and behind trees. I don't think i'll ever get used to them, they actually take my breath away. I have a theory that having unlimited access to such awesome scenery is what makes kiwis so laid back and is what makes time almost seems to stand still here. 

Wednesday September 7^th 7:21 pm

I have been in the country for one week. As bizarre as it feels, I am actually living here. By that I mean; I have my bus routes mastered, I can navigate alleyway shortcuts downtown, I understand the currency (NZD) and what prices are fair to pay, I’ve been thoroughly oriented/toured/introduced to feel comfortable as student at Auckland University and as teacher at my high school teaching placement in Lynfield. Furthermore, I know what time I need to catch a bus home if I want to see the sunset over the bay, I know that a lamb kebab is a great treat to warm up on a cold evening, that New Zealanders love to hate on the Australians so just roll with it, and that the chocolate is SOO much better here than at home. I’ve learned so, so much in such a short time… it makes my head spin.

Today was my first day at Lynfield College (my teaching placement). I was introduced to essentially all of the science staff… physics, chem., bio., and the student teachers from Auckland Uni. But before all that, I met with Rob, a younger guy who manages the science department. I told him I liked rocks… then he asked if I wanted to go on a field trip. So we drove for 20 minutes along the coast until we were sandwiched between Mangere Mountain to the south and the Mangere Harbor to the north. Here the rock was deep black basalt, and long, curving “pillow lava” flows poured into the harbor, perfectly preserved from when the hot lava hit the water and cooled. Corny as it sounds, as I stood on that formation facing the extinct volcano, I could actually feel the energy of that ancient eruption and imagine the lava and ash devastating the land. Sooo cool, and of course I chipped off a sample block of the porous basalt to take with me. Next he took me up into the crater of the extinct volcano… which was massive and fantastic. The slopes of these craters are far too steep to climb into, but Mangere blew off her southern slope entirely making her crater and inner dome completely accessible to hike on. I wanted to hike up to the northern ridge, but obviously we were pressed for time and couldn’t do a full hike so I’ll have to come back some weekend (and i'll get photos, which I did not take today). Yeah, just amazing. Never thought I would be seeing all that today. And then on the drive back Rob took me to his family’s favorite café in town and, although I tried to pay for it myself, bought me a coffee. Throughout the day, Rob was easy to talk to, really helped me get settled and, along with a number of the other staff, made me feel very welcome at the school. My impression is that Earth Science in NZ schools is, ironically, a new curriculum and needs help developing. New standards require that teachers incorporate earth science into the different scientific disciplines, but schools don’t really have a set way for how to effectively communicate these lessons (no formal labs, curriculum primarily focused only on plate tectonics). Anyway, I’m going back there all day tomorrow… every Wednesday and Thursday, 8:30 to 3:00, for the duration of my time here.

I am so overwhelmed, but in a good way. My purpose for this blog space is kind of an adventure journal. I don't have the time or patience to write about everything, but, when I have time, I think it's a good space to preserve/share some of the memories.