Rainbows, mushrooms, and work

Had a great first full day in NZ. Up at 5:30, walked through the park under the hostel, had breakfast, and headed out of the day. I had vague ideas of where I was heading (Auckland Museum, banking, etc), but never really ended up there. I wandered into several parks, they seem to be everywhere around here, which is really nice. It's a fun town to walk around in. It's built on the reminents of a bunch of volcanoes, so it's got hills - and great views - everywhere. The houses all look like they reside in little private jungles and the playground equipment is awesome!

After coming out of a neighborhood dog park, I looked up to find a beautiful rainbow! What a lovely thing to see first thing in the morning!

After coming out of the next park, I looked down and found a stump of tree with many mushrooms growing out of it.

I wandered up and down the steets (literally - hill after hill) for a bit. Stopped to pick up a chai latte and sat in a mini-park (Lundmans Green) between bustling streeets. 8:30 am and adults are going to work, children are going to school, and seagulls are looking for food.

I again started wandering the streets, still with vague ideas of things to do after everything finally opened, I even wondered if I could find a city map and walk up Mt. Eden. One street led to another and one direction would call to me more than the other. At 10 till 9, I had to make a detour to get off the street I was walking. It was crowded with boys of all ages headed to their school. I could see their beautiful school church on the hill ahead, and they all looked quite nice in the thier matching uniforms, but I just couldn't handle walking with all of them for another 5 blocks. This detour led to more hills and winding streets, eventually leading me to a sign pointing to "Gardens". I headed up that way. The two people at the curve of the road were quite friendly, the lady asked if I was there to work. I asked, quite surprised, if they had work. They had only volunteer work. I asked if I was looking at Mt Eden behind them, I asked how I could there. The man was heading out that way and offered me a ride. It turns out I could have easily walked, but I enjoyed the brief tour he gave me (pointing out the grand house where the Power Rangers was filmed - sorry now pics, but it was a huge estate with pillars and a tennis court).

Mt. Eden was beautiful. You can drive to the top, but I enjoyed walking the trail and passing the cows. Once at the top, you can look down into the crater of the old volcanoe. It's not far, and I had planned on taking the path to the bottom, but on my way around I found a sign asking that the sacredity of the crater be respected by not walking in it. However, the view of the city from the top is spectacular, of course.

I then took a shortcut back to Eden Gardens, via a set of stairs from one level of the mountain to the other. What a reminder of Juneau!

At Eden Gardens, Diane was very pleased to see me. I had come to help them plant tulip bulbs. How many tulip bulbs I planted is hard to say. They have 4,000 to plant, and we made a very good dent in that number today. It was easier than it sounds, since we were just putting them in pots and soil. The pots will then be planted, so they can be removed easily when the blooms are gone. I didn't get any monetary compensation for my work, but I did have fun talking with the ladies. They also served us tea, biscuits, and cake around 10 and then lunch at 1. It was a lot of fun listening to these ladies gossip in their accents over tea. I felt like I should be in London. I had planned to wander around the gardens when I was done working - it's 5.5 acres! - but I did want to get some things accomplished that I'd set out to do.

Diane gave me a lift to the trecking store all the ladies agreed was the best to visit. I came very close to purchasing new boots and some clearance item clothes, when I remembered I really didn't want to use my credit card overseas to much. It was a great reason to sleep on my purchasing decisions. Unfortunately I didn't have enought time in the day to find a bank and set up an account. I was so lost! I really had no idea where I was, where I had come from, and how to get back to Parnell. It agitated me a bit, mostly because I really do want to get a bank account opened. But I decided to let it slide, do it tomorrow and ask for directions. Oddly enough, I soon found that I was in front of the same store I had wanted to visit earlier this morning when it was closed - Macpac. I perused their items (why can't they put prices on their gear? is it really that expensive? how much could a fleece ear-flapped hat cost that they don't want to display the price?). After getting directions I remembered that I had seen an electronics store nearby this morning (again, it was closed when I was there because NZ working life is 9-5).

While walking up the street, the rain started. Not just the misty drizzle we had a couple times while potting tulips. This rain had a bit of substance! Not that it was pouring, but it actually made my hair wet while I was walking. All of the locals had umbrellas or ran from awning to awning. Me, I've lived in Juneau. It may be raining, but it was still fairly sunny and there was no breeze. I just wandered down the street as if the sun were out.

The rain had stopped when I left the electronics store (with a much needed cable, allowing me to charge my computer on a outlet). I followed the directions back to Parnell and found myself back where I had started my day - just under 12 hours earlier.