Auckland, Baby!

First and foremost I would like to extend my sincere thanks to Air Canada for getting me here on such a comfortable flight. You know how sometimes if you have a tight connection, the flight attendants will make an announcement before you land and politely ask people to wait if they're not trying to make a quick flight? And it never works because people are rude and at the center of their own experiences?

Well, it works when the plane is full of Canadians.

Anyways- I arrived here on the 5th (jumping over the International Dateline, thank you very much) and got settled into my little hostel a few blocks south of the Sky Tower. I was confused about how full of hills the city is, until realizing the city literally is a hill, because it sits on the side of the volcanoes that formed Auckland. You can even hike to the top of the largest one, Mount Eden (see cutie picture below)!

New Zealand began forming over 22 million years ago and owes it's creation to over 50 volcanoes, and the collision of the Pacific and Australian tectonic plates. The land mass is actually being twisted between the two plates, with the Australian plate slipping under the Pacific Plate in the south, and on top of it in the north. This is what creates such spectacular mountains and volcanic activity down New Zealand's center. I did spend a very long time in the Museum if you can't tell.

Everyone in the hostel has been super nice so far. A lot of them are working as well so it's quiet in the evenings and mornings. It's clean of everyone's very respectful of the shared spaces, which is pretty much all I could ask for! The New Zealanders have been super kind as well. They're quick to give me suggestions for around town and very friendly. Like a lot of Coloradans, they're made of quite a hearty stock. My morning volcano top hike featured a lot of Aucklanders just out for their morning jog. I'd like to think I'd have similar legs of steel if I was casually lapping a volcano everyday. Also like Coloradans, they love their water here! This is pretty crucial for me, and I've been so happy at the amount of free bottle stations around the city. Their public bus system has also been excellent and very easy to navigate.

I'll add more pictures soon, but I wanted to get a little update out there. I'm stoked to pick up my van soon and get to see more of the island.