Sunday, June 19, 2005
What Lions tour?
Soundtrack: “X & Y” by the Smurfs. Only joking. “X & Y” by Coldplay, as ever. Well, I say as ever, but I haven’t even had that album two weeks and I can sing loads of the lyrics. It’s not as bad as with “Employment” where I could sing every single lyric within a week, but then it does have the words included in the sleeve, and I remember things that have been written down much easier.
Wednesday 8th June. I had had the room to myself that night, but then a couple called Simon and KT turned up at 8am. Argh! They had flown in from Santiago at 4am, so it was a blessing that the hostel didn’t have a 24-hour reception. I went down for breakfast at 10.30am, unable to sleep, and ended up staying for two-and-a-half hours listening to another American, Jon, air his grievances and disenchantments about the state of his country. I’ve become quite the expert on American politics. Jon was actually a pretty cool guy, though. Because he was so fed up with the US, he’d quite his job as a programmer, sold all his stuff, and got a work permit for NZ. Then he just turned up in Auckland two weeks later and was going jobhunting that morning.
After the rant, I went for a walk around Queen Street and went to find out what the best way of getting around NZ would be. I was recommended a whistlestop tour by coach. I spent the afternoon sitting in an Irish pub with Ben, Dark-Haired Mark, Rosie and Louise. The Irish girls recounted in great detail how Louise had been kayaking in the sea in Fiji and had been hit by a jet ski. Scary stuff, and the bruise was pretty damn impressive.
I was running out of film, so I went into a chemist’s to stock up. When the cashier heard my English accent, she asked me: “Are you here for the Lions tour?”
“Huh?” I asked.
“Not a rugby follower, then?”
“Not quite.”
I then took the Explorer bus around the city so that I could take in the sights of Auckland in an hour. It was a good time of day to go, as the sun was just starting to set, giving the ocean and the shiny tall buildings a majestic glow. Once the bus trip was over, I went up the Sky Tower, which is the tallest building in the Southern Hemisphere. This was so that I could see the lights of Auckland – fabulous stuff. I rather liked Auckland: a clean, modern, safe city, but more organic than Melbourne. Then again, it was just like any other city. They all seem to get a bit generic after a while.
One free dinner with the Irish girls later and I found myself down at Fox’s on the waterfront with them, Irish Simon and the Welsh boys, as the Two Marks were working there as glassies that night. We watched the Lions play Taranaki, and the Welsh boys very patiently explained to me the concept of a) a Lions tour and b) why the players were doing what they were doing. I don’t think that rugby is my game.
Wednesday 8th June. I had had the room to myself that night, but then a couple called Simon and KT turned up at 8am. Argh! They had flown in from Santiago at 4am, so it was a blessing that the hostel didn’t have a 24-hour reception. I went down for breakfast at 10.30am, unable to sleep, and ended up staying for two-and-a-half hours listening to another American, Jon, air his grievances and disenchantments about the state of his country. I’ve become quite the expert on American politics. Jon was actually a pretty cool guy, though. Because he was so fed up with the US, he’d quite his job as a programmer, sold all his stuff, and got a work permit for NZ. Then he just turned up in Auckland two weeks later and was going jobhunting that morning.
After the rant, I went for a walk around Queen Street and went to find out what the best way of getting around NZ would be. I was recommended a whistlestop tour by coach. I spent the afternoon sitting in an Irish pub with Ben, Dark-Haired Mark, Rosie and Louise. The Irish girls recounted in great detail how Louise had been kayaking in the sea in Fiji and had been hit by a jet ski. Scary stuff, and the bruise was pretty damn impressive.
I was running out of film, so I went into a chemist’s to stock up. When the cashier heard my English accent, she asked me: “Are you here for the Lions tour?”
“Huh?” I asked.
“Not a rugby follower, then?”
“Not quite.”
I then took the Explorer bus around the city so that I could take in the sights of Auckland in an hour. It was a good time of day to go, as the sun was just starting to set, giving the ocean and the shiny tall buildings a majestic glow. Once the bus trip was over, I went up the Sky Tower, which is the tallest building in the Southern Hemisphere. This was so that I could see the lights of Auckland – fabulous stuff. I rather liked Auckland: a clean, modern, safe city, but more organic than Melbourne. Then again, it was just like any other city. They all seem to get a bit generic after a while.
One free dinner with the Irish girls later and I found myself down at Fox’s on the waterfront with them, Irish Simon and the Welsh boys, as the Two Marks were working there as glassies that night. We watched the Lions play Taranaki, and the Welsh boys very patiently explained to me the concept of a) a Lions tour and b) why the players were doing what they were doing. I don’t think that rugby is my game.
