Auckland II

I've made a daily habit out of starting the day with a cup of coffee - always from a different cafe. Today, I was served a cup of "black coffee" (essentially espresso) along with a cup of steaming hot water to dilute it (I hope I didn't just get the water because I told the man at the counter that I was from the US). I also always spend time reading the local newspaper, which is an excellent way to learn about the country.

The weather was georgeous this morning as it has been the past two days, so I left early to walk through the city park and visit the Auckland museum (located in the park). The park was beautiful and I practically had it to myself. So many of the plants and animals (well, I have only seen birds so far) are new to me. The colors are quite vibrant and they had a very nice plant display within the park. The palm trees (I think they are palm trees at any rate) were also huge and impressive. Finally, there was a large collection of ferns that is upkept by the "Fernz Corporation" (coincidence?).

A parrot!

The museum was quite nice with interesting exhibits on Maori culture and on the volcanic nature of the island. Especially humorous was the simulation of experiencing a volcanic eruption from within a house in Auckland -- the whole little room within the museum shook violently as we watched the volcano come out of the water on the screen.

Tomorrow I leave Auckland for a guided tour of the North Island, which will also give me an opportunity to do some cycling around the country.

One other funny thing that I just remembered: As I was leaving the museum and descending from the hill upon which it stood, I was was stopped by a woman from Hong Kong who asked if I could push her husband up the hill in his wheelchair. A few seconds after having started, they discovered that they had left his hat in the restaurant in which they just ate (which was about 500 ft away). She wanted to go fetch it and asked me to keep going, but then she turned his wheelchair around so that he wasn't facing the sun and asked me if I could take him up backwards. The hill was quite steep, so needless to say, I turned him around as soon as she was out of sight.

-Brian