Auckland Observations

One thing that I have noticed while here in Auckland is that things are on the expensive side. For example, here are a few items from the hotel restaurant menu:

Toasted Muesli with honey, yogurt and milk - $12.50

Fresh Fruit Salad $12.50

Delicious Omelet on Toast with bacon and cheese $17.00

I realize that the prices are in New Zealand Dollars, which is worth about

$.80 on the dollar, but it’s still pretty pricey. If I’m going to pay $17.00 for an omelet, there had better be gold flakes in it.

One thing I have enjoyed is catching a couple of movies. I have yet to go to a movie in China as I generally find DVD man and watch things at home. A movie costs about as much as an omelet, but that is a price I am willing to play. I’ve seen the Hunger Games and a British film called The Best Exotic Marigold Hotel. It was delightful – Maggie Smith, Judi Dench, Bill Nighy, and a bunch of other British actors tell the story of a group of British retirees that move to Jaipur, India as an inexpensive retirement solution. It doesn’t make me want to visit India, but I enjoyed the flick. Worth seeing.

Yesterday I decided to take a ferry to a volcanic island here in Auckland for a little hike. It was about a 30 minute ride to the island and all of the signs told me that it would take about an hour to climb to the summit. There were all manner of ill dressed tourists with handbags and impractical shoes. I blew past all of them, as I wanted the trail to myself. I kept passing signs and noticed that I was well ahead of pace. All in all, it took me about 30 minutes to climb to the top. I made it down in time for the early ferry. When I got to the bottom, I noticed an Arab family that were on the ferry over. Two parents, three boys. One of them, he looked to be about seven, was crying inconsolably as we waited for the ferry. I thought about asking him what was wrong, but he was clinging pretty tightly to his mother. The boat stopped at Devenport on the way back to Auckland to let off passengers and as we disembarked, I heard one of the crew members say to someone up the stairs “have you lost your family?” The boat turned around. I was expecting to see the crying boy. The crew member came back down and I was surprised to see not the boy, but the mother. Her family was waiting for her on the dock. The crew member said to her as she got off, “Next time stay with your family.” It was amusing.