12/10/10

4:15 am wake up alarm on my watch......it was still kind of loud outside my window it seems that plenty of people where still out partying....I got my bag together and I went to check out. I knew that reception was closed and I did find the night manager guy and told him I needed to check out. I wanted to give him my room key back and get my $20 cash deposit. He told me that had not left him anything for overnight check outs. I told him to just give me $20 cash and get the money back when it opened...he did not have any money. How does a night manager not have a key to the office.....he knocked on the door of someone who must have a key but no one answered. I was still a bit mad about the shuttle the previous day and now it looked like I was out $20 for this free hostel night stay. I had to leave and the guy said they could send me money.....what the heck is $20 from Australia going to do for me in Minneapolis.... I grabbed a cab and was off to the airport but I was starting to feel like Sydney was just trying to screw me over. I checked my bag and got my boarding pass. While I was getting the boarding pass they asked me if I wanted to upgrade to an emergency seat for $40. I was not interested in dropping any more money but the guy was nice and told me that he got me a front seat with more leg room for free. OK something was going my way. I then did a B line to the information desk where I bought my shuttle tickets it was after 5 am now and I was hoping someone would be working so I could get a refund and let them know how crappy I thought the lady I dealt with yesterday was. I found the desk empty and I would have to let this go for now. My time in Australia was now over but it ended up being terrific. I had ambitions of getting to Alice Springs and also to Tasmania but with I was unable to find cheap flights or enough time. I was able to see a good bit of the East Coast and even with the weather being rainy I enjoyed my time. I am looking forward to spending some time in New Zealand and I have left plenty to see and do for my next trip to OZ. The flight was nice and very comfortable I slept for an hour and then I woke up ate the breakfast they provided. I then decided to watch some TV.....I had my own monitor and could choose what I wanted to watch and it was on demand. This was great and I ended up watching 3 episodes of Modern Family I had only seen the show once prior to this and I liked it so it was nice to see a couple of funny episodes. I arrived in Auckland right on time and from here I took a shuttle to get the bus to Rotorua. The bus was running late and I waited nearly 2 hours at the bus stop......that was not much fun.....the bus ride to Rotorua was three hours long and I slept a bunch of the journey. I arrived at Rotorua not having clue about anything or a place to stay. I talked to a very helpful lady at the information desk and she recommended a local hostel that was newly renovated and one nice enough she would be OK staying in it. That was good enough for me and off I went. The place was called Crank Backpackers and it was pretty nice with very cheap fast internet at $2 an hour. The reception workers name was Ivan he was from Argentina and was here on a work holiday with his wife Karina who also worked at the hostel. This couple made the hostel for me I had fun talking with them and got good recommendations from them. I did not do much that night just gather information on things to do while here. I also got online and booked a flight for Christchurch from Rotorua in a few days so I could get to the South Island. This area has a lot to offer with tours of river rafting, kayaking, sky diving, mountain bike trails nearby, and many more activities.