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Ok so i'm now in Queenstown and i can tell you all about the first part of my trip! So the flight was extremely long, there were no delays but none the less it totalled somewhere around 27 hours which i found quite difficult as i have never flown longhall before! There was an entire library of films to watch whenever you wanted which really helped. Any concerns about meeting people were quickly eleviated when a young geordie lass turned to me on the plane and asked my name, when i said it was Ben she turned to the girl next to her and they agreed it was definitely me...?! i was extremely confused, until i discovered the two other girls had the surname Rowsell! Freya and Sophie had been given my ticket originally by accident and so knew i was on the flight, i could not believe it. So we all hit it off soon enough we had landed in Auckland.
On the bus to the hostel we met Rich who was extremely friendly and we hit it off straight away. Auckland Central Backpackers is one of the biggest hostels in NZ, with 500 beds it's not exactly personal but it made do, and the fact that me and Rich were in the same Dorm really helped. First day we went up the sky tower, which gives you impressive views over the city, but apart from this we found that Auckland offers little else. We discovered there were several islands off the main city and decided to explore them. Me and Rich caught a ferry over to Waiheke, which is a beautiful island with great beaches about 35 minutes from the city. We had a dip in the sea and lounged on one of the top 10 cleanest beaches in the world. We had a further two ferry trips to Devonport (a suburb) and to Rangitoto, an extinct volcano. In Devonport we once again lounged on the beach, and relaxed with a couple of cold beers in Wild Bills! Rangitoto was not so relaxing, it's basically a 45 minute walk/trek to the summit which we decided to undertake. In the humidity it was a struggle, but when we got to the top there were the most incredible panoramic views of the city, far superior to those from the Sky Tower, so it was really worth it.
We've had a few good nights out with the girls i met on the plane and a couple of others in the room. The coincidence of the Rowsells became even stranger when i met the third sister, Anneka, whilst drinking in the hostel bar we got onto the subject of birthdays. I mentioned mine was boxing day and the girls faces just dropped, Anneka had the same birthday as me!!! Very weird!
I think that about sums up the first days of the trip, i'm now in Queenstown, back to square one on my own again!! it's a little strange but i should hopefully manage. I'll post some photos soon, i have over 100 from the last week in Auckland!
Ben x
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