which came first; the kiwi, the kiwi, or the kiwi?

After two weeks spent upside down, five hours behind my hometown of Seattle, yet a day ahead, I still can't answer that question. Was it the kiwi fruit, the kiwi bird, or the kiwi nationality? Doesn't matter much to me though. It's true, the kiwis (fruit) seem to be 100 times better in kiwiland than they are back home. I have yet to see a kiwi bird, but I plan on seeing one as soon as possible. I'm still waiting around to hear back from the New Zealand immigration office to see if they want to give me a working holiday visa. Shouldn't be a problem, but since I arrived a little earlier than expected, they probably had to do some extra paperwork on me.

the needle in the middle of Auckland; copy cats!

In other news, I am now a proud owner of a Mitsubishi Chariot. It's going to be my home for a bit. I got a for a killer deal and since I'll be living out of it, mostly for free, it'll pay for itself in a few weeks because I would've had to pay hostel bills. It does lack a shower, which would be nice for when I start going to interviews, but I'm sure I'll manage to find one somewhere.

Auckland is a wonderful city, but now that I'm in New Zealand finally, I'm really starting to get antsy. I want to get out and start exploring as soon as possible. Waiting to hear back from jobs in unnerving as I definitely need to start making money. Kiwiland is wonderful, and wonderfully expensive! Thank goodness one Kiwi dollar is 80 US cents; gotta love that exchange rate. I'm hoping for a barista position at a Cafe somewhere downtown. We'll see. As soon as I know though, I'm heading to a climbing area called Wharepapa (pronounced Fa-ray-pa-pa; weird right? 'Wh' = 'F' in NZ I suppose) and I'll post up there for a bit and get my fingers on some rock.

Went for a little hike to the top of Mt. Eden for sunset. It's the tallest place in Auckland and it's an inactive volcano. I didn't realize how beautiful the surrounding area is, absolutely gorgeous. Looking Southwest you can see the Tasman Sea and looking Northeast the Pacific, all from one spot. Pretty neat.

just me an my chariot on Mt Eden

As for tonight, well it's Saturday here, and for most of you it's still Friday so party on friends! Tonight there's a big Rugby tournament in Auckland, the NZ All Blacks vs. the Australian Wallabes. Rugby is really big here, they take it almost as seriously as I take American Football. Since I doubt they're going to show any Seahawks games at any bar, I guess I have to get used to rugby and get all rowdy with the kiwis. Should be just fine I think. Though they don't have Beast Mode....

Love and miss you all!

Much love