Adventure time, come on grab your boots!

Yes, well, what did I get up to today you ask? Boot shopping! A country girl like me (as if) rarely buys shoes, my last pair were my beloved docs a year and a half ago. Lets face it, the only time I ever need new shoes is my shoes actually fall apart... Or if I find myself in a city, where there are many boots to tempt me. You can't see this, but I'm wearing my embarassed face, I like to think of myself as being above all that shoe nonsense that women get so much flack for. Shoe mad? Not me, I have one pair of each type of shoe, as is proper! One brogues, one converse, one vans (daps), one DCs, one boots (Dr Martens of course)... Oh, no... Wait... Boots... 

I must convest a shameless love affair I have been having with not one, but two pairs of Dr Martens down the street (no one tell my tea, it will get jealous)! 

I stumbled across two very different boots on a routine hunt for a raincoat yesterday, and fell hopelessly and irrevocably, head over heels. One a pair of eye stingingly bright yellow Adventure time ankle boots with two little Jake faces on them, boots for a childish yet edgy free spirit (read: five year old) and one a pair of dark brown, soft leather,

12 hole triumph boots with ribbon laces, boots for interesting, sophisticated person, in touch with nature and blah, blah, blah, cut to the chase. No you can't get 'em in Britain, no, neither of them. I've wanted the triumphs a long time, I've wanted the AT yellow monstrosities for a day. How long did I spend hassling the staff in Neon? Who knows, may have been anywhere up to two hours. Did I buy the bloody boots? Yes. Which ones? Both, with insoles and a pair of Levis dungarees to boot (Ha! See what I did there; boot).

Well, that was my day, (after all that life changing decision stuff I needed a lie down), how was yours? 

Jake boots (and Jake the dog, reference for those not in the know).

And a photo, NOT A SELFIE, of the triumph boots. Yes, I know, telepathically, which you like better. 

Get ready, it's a long one... (And a weird one...)

today I woke up 7.30 and I couldn't get back to sleep so I started planning my Day. I was hoping to go to Pasifika and the Zoo as they are right next to each other. It took me over an hour of scouring the Internet to find the right bus, not a single site was helpful! I eventually found a route map and pieced it together from that! Ridiculous! Anyway, I cooked myself some Pasta ready for tea tonight (whose idea was it to hide the washing up equipment when they left me alone in this house??) and eventually left for the bus. With an immense amount of worrying I actually managed to catch the RIGHT one, (Mt Eden Station to Britomart) which I now know isn't all that impressive… All roads lead to Britomart it would seem! I then waited a very long time at a very busy bus stop at Auckland's main bus station and eventually caught a bus to Great north road opposite motion street. Well done me! On the bus I witnessed the most wonderfull coming together of cultures. An older frenchman, decided to engage EVERYONE around him with stories of his life, his upcoming wedding, and quite unapologetically, of his conception! He targeted two couples specifically, as they were closest and at the journey went on, the conversation turned to pronouncing words. The couples were both a French boy with a Japanese girl, and I don't think they knew each other either! It was wonderful watching five people all trying to explain the meaning of different words to each other, but in English, which was no ones first language! It was great. Then we arrived. I looked over at Pasifika and instantly realised the only reason I wanted to go was so I looked like I'd done something worthwhile, “look at Hannah, out in New Zealand, going to cultural festivals” when actually I just wanted to go to the zoo. It looked far too commercial for me, all stages and thousands of people. I was sort of expecting something like the German Market at Christmas only with Pacific islands showcasing their cultures, but it was more like a music festival and it just didn't appeal to me. I decided the wiser thing to do would be to do what I wanted to do, not what I thought I should do because other people would be pleased. So, I went to the zoo. Admission was reduced because Pasifika next door, so that was positive too! I didn't see all that many animals, most of the good ones were hiding, although that depends which you consider 'the good ones' (the big cats, obviously! I got some good photos which I can't post now, but will soon. There where a few VERY high points, most notably, I saw a Kiwi. Not a fruit, not a person, a bird. A real, live, indigenous, endangered brown Kiwi. They are faster and bigger than I expected! I have to admit that this has been a dream of mine since I was a small child and after that I decided I couldn't really complain if I didn't see a single other animal that day. It was only 10 minutes or so later that I saw the eels swimming and I knew I had to be somewhere. I rocketed past all the other enclosures, saying hello to the animals who were there and moving past the animals who weren't. No Servals, No Lions, No Cheetahs!! What a jip! So I said one last good by to the Tiger, who was sulking the other side of the enclosure and hopped on a bus back to Britomart. I'm serious, I HOPPED on a bus! ME!! Literally, the bus that was already at the stop, not even a bus that I had looked up in advance! Although obviously I bought a ticket to where I wanted to go, I didn't just get on any bus, I'm not MAD! And from Britomart I headed towards Mission Bay to SEA LIFE! I knew I needed to be there, so I went. There were stingrays as big as me, Pinguins (go on, say it out loud, you'll sound like a New Zealander!) and Eels in abundance! There were some fascinating Octopods, and I took far to many videos of their beautifully ugly arms, suckers a plenty, swirling around! There were sharks, lovely sharks and best of all the sharks was a little smooth hound! I thought “Hello friend, you are like a little piece of my favourite memories!”. But all these beautiful and wonderful things could never live up to the WONDER and SPLENDOUR of what else they had. I think it was meant to be. I think I was MEANT to go there, I think it was CALLING ME.
ARCHITEUTHIS DUX. If the name sounds familiar but you have no Idea what godly animal I am referring to, then maybe you have heard my song 'Is that okay?'. Obviously not a living god, this was a 12 year old specimen, presumably in formaldehyde (but there was no information) and the most horrifically magnificent decaying animal I have ever seen! I left feeling amazed yet a little unsatisfied, it was my least favourite aquarium, probably just below silent world. It promised more than it delivered. I hopped home on 2 more buses (bringing today's total to 6!) not bad for a bus phobic recluse!
Now I am home, I think I will have to go and buy some more Apples before I leave for Wellington as I will probably not get a chance...I have PLANS for tomorrow and may not get back until the evening, then the next day is all travelling!!
I have sun burn! Love you all!!
(I will post Zoo/Aquarium photos another time when I can.)

Yesterday

Well, what can I say? My first day in Auckland was a mixed bag. I walked to the supermarket through the prettiest neighbourhood I have ever seen! Think white washed houses and picket fence, think little front porches and flower beds... And then put all that in Jurassic Park! I'm not kidding, I wouldn't have been surprised to have seen some dinosaurs wandering about, Diplodocus nibbling at the sky high ferns! There was an abundance of strange plants and wildlife. The Cidada-esque bugs in the trees make the most glorious racket and the birds hardly move as you walk past them!
No one could walk through Mt Eden's affluent streets and not be awed by the way nature has squeezed itself into every available nook and cranny, and how the past seems to have outdone the present!
I bought many useless things at the supermarket, (countdown, in case you were wondering) all things I thought would be edible, but turned out to be too sweet. But also made some incredible discoveries... Wait for it... KIWI BERRIES!! Seriously, they look like dark green grapes, but when you cut into them kiwi inside!! They are also barely bigger than a grape! I will have to buy more, I ate them in one go. Shopping in NZ seems expensive, each item seems to be around NZ$4 which is fine for some things, but ridiculous for others. I left the supermarket weighed down to the point that the heat, my jet lag, my lack of food and sleep, my cough, my GHASTLY pulled muscle made me stop and sit in the shade of a tree to eat my first apple in 4 days! A Braeburn, it was amazing. I dragged myself and my bags back to my room a 20 minute walk away (which I think I made into a 40 minute walk...) and unpacked. I had been up since 4am so it was still pretty early. I heated up some pumpkin soup on the hob (no microwave!) and ate it in the scorching heat of the balcony. I also bought myself an amazing luck ox that seals and has it's own cutlery, so I can store any extra food I cook myself for the next day and take it on excursions!
I walked an equally long and infinitely more confusing walk to a cashpoint and then popped into the music shop (which is almost next door!) and bought myself a Kala travel Ukulele (for those of you who have met Adrian's Ukulele...) which I am THRILLED with, and WILL bring back with me, even if it means bringing it and no other carry on luggage, but I'm trying to find a way around that (suggestions welcome!)
In the late evening I walked up Mt Eden and watched it go dark, I missed sunset by 10 mins so will climb it again in the hope I will catch it next time! I had a poor evening but enough said about that. I also managed to use a pay phone to organise my hotel pick up for today's excursion as my phone wouldn't work. I was panicking but I found a solution and it was a very big deal for me so I feel proud for that. PHOTO TIME!! (I will walt the path to Countdown again ant take some photos, I will also put a video on youtube soon)