I Take it Back, Auckland is a nice City When the Sun Comes Out

*fyi, all of this was written awhile ago when I didn’t have internet!

Last time I wrote I had not really ventured outside the 10 block radius known as "Cbd" or "Central Business District," aka Auckland’s downtown. Turns out a combo of leaving this area plus sunshine equals a nice city.

To check out what’s happening around Auckland, I climbed to the top of Mt. Eden. This was actually more of an hour-long walk up a hill, but still the view from up there was amazing! Mountains and/or water in every direction. Green cones created by past volcanoes popping up in the suburbs. I can’t even really describe it besides just repeating the words "beautiful" and "awesome" or perhaps "breathtaking," so just check out the pictures and see for yourself.

http://www.facebook.com/album.php?aid=2630459&id=8623916&l=9c02410d2d

If the biggest metropolitan area looks this beautiful, the rest of the country has got to be incredible.

After this little trek I strolled down to an area called "Ponsonby." This would be like the Filmore street of San Fran (but of course not nearly as cool), the Brady street of Miltown or kinda a more busy and non pedestrian version of State St. Either way, much nicer than the "cbd" area. But more importantly, Ponsonby is the place where I stumbled upon "Burger Wisconsin," a burger restaurant claiming to make the "best burgers in the world." Haha Wisco represent. Also in the photos. It was even red and white. Finding a Wisco anything was quite surprising since usually the only references to American states include "tex mex" restaurants, "mexi cali fresh" a chipotle-esque restaurant, (thank god they have Mexican food, I was warned otherwise), and some various New York references. I didn’t try it (too expense) but I checked out the menu and generally it sounded about right. Burgers loaded with cheese and other random fatty, delicious goods. They even had a burger with artichoke cream cheese, just like my beloved dane burger.

Anyways, moving on from wi’s claim to fame, I left Ponsonby and headed towards the harbor front. This was surprisingly beautiful as well. While walking along the harbor I started hearing tons of cheering, an announcer, music, etc. Then I started noticing an increase in saris and brownies. Following the noise, brownies, and saris led me to Auckland’s Diwali celebration!!!! So many people, so many saris, so much Indian food, so much marsala dosa, and basically so much goodness. Anu, soooooo sad you were not there. L The whole fest was on this pier right on the harbor, so I kept walking down the pier towards the stage where a bunch of super cute Indian girls were dancing to Mundian To Bach Ke. Awesome! I learned this was a dance competition, so more choreographed dancing followed. These adorable little girls were the best, all wearing matching little saris and choreographed dancing. Totally Bollywood.

Once the older and more boring kids got onstage I left to find some Indian grub. I decided to go all out with some butter paneer, a large samosa with chutney, and a mango lassi.

Basically, the combination of sunshine, great views, and all things Indian made me love Auckland/New Zealand. Can’t wait to explore the rest of the country.

the meantime, I am living at a hostel with a sauna, hot tub, tv in the bathroom…?, rooftop kitchen/sun deck, and still that free tiny dinner. I am still doing data entry for this company that’s starting up an amazon-esque website. This basically entails sorting through thousands of items and making sure they are labeled correctly. Although this is incredibly boring it does pay, my boss bought me some of the best hot choc I’ve ever had, and once in awhile there are some products that make me chuckle. And there’s an office dog.

Okay that’s all for now. Not sure how these blogs work, so hopefully I am not boring you!