I never saw myself being able to handle driving on the left side of the road. But here I am, the proud owner renter of an adorable Daihatsu Sirion hatchback, zooming around Auckland, rounding roundabouts, and remembering to "give way" rather than "yield".
Had a fantabulous day yesterday. Got myself a prepaid SIM card, so I can send and receive calls and text messages. The prices aren't too shabby—receiving texts and calls is free, and sending international messages is only NZ$0.30/message. (I have to keep reminding myself that yes, we do indeed live in the future, when I can keep in touch with all my US friends wirelessly anywhere in the world). Lunch brought me my first encounter with a savoury pie (chicken and asparagus) and sausage roll (surprisingly, it was lamb sausage—the first sheep I've seen in NZ!).
To be good little Auckland tourists, we visited the gorgeous 328 meter tall Sky Tower, with its beautiful panoramic views of the entire skyline of Auckland. It was a gorgeous, clear day, and we were blessed with a perfect 360º view of the city. Auckland was remarkably low-key, I felt, much more relaxed and easygoing than San Francisco or Tokyo for sure. I got a great feel for the layout of the city, how it's nestled between natural harbors and gently spreads out towards the hills.
There were even people bungee jumping (well, guided-cable-jumping) off the top of the tower. One girl actually paused right in mid-jump in front of the glass and held up a big sign saying "THIS IS FOR YOU, MUM AND DAD"! Made me grin from ear to ear. I'd love to try that! I'll be heading to the South Island in about two weeks, so I'll hope to make it to Queenstown, the home of extreme sports like bungee and Zorbing.
Afterwards, we rented the aforementioned Daihatsu Sirion, and I practiced driving and turning right for a while. Surprisingly, I had no problem shifting (I like driving a manual) with my left hand, but what caught me unawares was how difficult it is to signal a turn with my right hand! I kept using my left hand like I would in the States, and I ended up turning on the windshield wipers more than once. I swear I'll get the hang of it sooner or later.
Today (Wednesday, August 22nd), I'm going whale watching on the Dolphin Explorer, which was highly recommended by Terry's good friend Ingrid Visser. I'm completely stoked, as Ingrid said they have a fantastic strike rate of being actually able to see dolphins and whales on a regular basis, especially in the winter.
I'm still posting lots of photos to my Flickr page, so check 'em out!
I'm baffled: how exactly does one pause in mid-jump...?
Posted by: Antonio | August 30, 2007 at 04:11 PM
The jump is guided by wires, and evidently they have the capability to pause the jump.
Posted by: Ben G. | August 31, 2007 at 02:02 AM