New Zealand bookstores = my personal playground

A fun fact about New Zealand- their bookstores are awesome! All of their books are slightly smaller, and they all have different cover art than they do in the States. I've walked around a couple independent bookstores in Auckland now, and have been super pleased. Today, I found this paperback copy of Playground, a book that's still only hardback in the States. Despite my limited space, it's somehow ended up in my suitcase.

Auckland has been great the last few days! Nobody is kidding about the UV exposure here so I did have to buy more sunscreen pretty quickly, but I'm also planning to be incredibly tan by my departure, so this works well.

I've made some friends around my hostel as well, which has been nice. There's a huge variety of people and experiences and it's been really intriguing to engage with. Two new women from the UK moved into my room today, who had came from snowboarding in Canada. They've traveled all over the world to surf as well, so they're basically the coolest people ever. My new pal Sam and I went down to the harbor on Saturday and swam in a huge public saltwater pool, right next to million-dollar sailboats. The Auckland skyline from the water was a great view. It was a very palpable main-character moment. Sam also witnessed my discovery of Playground today, and I think I've got him convinced to read the Overstory.

Sunday, I took a little daytrip down to Piha Beach, on the west of Auckland. It's a fairly primitive beach known for aggressive surf, and the locals are so against commercialization that they don't have a municipal water or waste disposal system. Each house collects it's own water all year, and takes incredibly short showers throughout the summer. The beach was stunning and vast, and the lack of swimmers and beach-goers also gave it a bit of an eerie feeling. The waters were crystal clear though, and I'm feeling excited for some of my beach adventures down south.

Tomorrow I'll collect my van and head out of Auckland! So get ready for my picture features to be significantly better. I'm not much of a city scape photographer yet (ever?) but the landscapes should give you (my captive audience) some better content.