We got a car!

We are in Auckland now. For those of you who do not know much about the city of Auckland, it is the most populated city in New Zealand and it is pretty much the New Zealand version of New York City. Anyways, we check into our hostel called ACB and we literally can’t wait to get into bed!

The next day is Friday, and we are excited to spend our first whole day in New Zealand. We have orientation at the International Exchange Programs (IEP) office at 10am. We wake up to our complimentary breakfast and head over for orientation. Keep in mind… we don’t know where we are living, working and how we are going to get around.

Orientation is very helpful and everyone in the IEP office is enthusiastic and accommodating. We have a list of things to do and a list of suggestions to think about. Unfortunately, the IEP office is closed on the weekend, and thus we are unable to reap the benefits of the resources we need such as free Internet. We learn it is very hard to come across free Internet in this country BUT we do find a Wendy’s for Lindsay…. so it’s ”sweet as!” After our long day, we decide to ease our minds and walk down to the harbor. It is a beautiful night with plenty of options for dining! We find a cute little place right on the water and decide to try it out. A nice older couple from Alabama sat right next to us and it is refreshing to talk to them. They have been traveling on both the north and the south island, so it is interesting to hear about their experiences, especially that driving on the wrong side of the road wasn’t that bad. We finish up dinner and call it a night.

On Saturday, we wake up and have our free breakfast and decide to go to the public library to use the free Internet. We get some leads on cars, places to live and work availability. So we are feeling somewhat productive at this point. Emily and Katie decide to take a short bus ride around Auckland. They see the University of Auckland and a few beautiful parks around the city. After their short escapade, they return to the hostel to find Lindsay finally mastering the extreme difficulties of making a local call on the common payphone. She has called a few people about car possibilities and one couple has agreed to meet us at 6 o’clock. The couple is very nice and is excited about our interest in the car. Their names are Vera and Dave, and Vera is German and Dave is Irish. They had met five years prior in Australia traveling and had planned to live in New Zealand for several years, but unfortunately had to cut their trip short due to some family stuff. Anyways, back to the car. It is a 1995 navy blue Subaru Legacy and in really good condition. They had only had it for one month and bought it from a family in Christchurch. We take it for a spin on the wrong side of the road. At first it is very awkward but we quickly get the drift. Lindsay is the brave soul to test-drive the car. We love the car but want to give it some thought before we make a final decision. The couple informs us that they are taking the car to the car fair in the morning and therefore, we need to make a decision by tonight. The pressure is on!!! We head back to the hostel, stop at our first grocery store and cook our first meal in the community cooking area at the hostel. By the end of the night, we decide to buy the car and pray we had made the right decision.

Sunday is a cloudy day and we are itching to get out of Auckland at this point. So we suck it up and decide to pay for 24 hour Internet and plan our next phase of this adventure. Lindsay runs into yet another person from Alabama. Her name is Seema, and she is traveling by herself having taken a year off from the University of Southern California to travel New Zealand. Seema joins us for dinner tonight. We cook spaghetti and watch the Olympics with our new friend. Again we hop in bed pretty early because we have a big day ahead of us…we are getting a CAR!

Our big day… MONDAY! We wake up a little later than expected. We pack our things and have to be out of the hostel by 10am. We meet Vera and Dave at 10:15 to do the car swap and registration. We all load up the car with our oversized luggage and head towards the “post shop” to legally change over the ownership of the car!! Very exciting yet legal stuff!!! After we get all the paper work figured out, we say goodbye to Vera and Dave and go back to the post shop to open a Kiwi Bank Account. The post office ends up being our best friend because we not only open our new bank accounts and are new car owners, but they allow us to use their phone. If you have not figured out yet, domestic communication is a very difficult issue for us since we have not purchased a phone. This is an issue we will most likely be dealing with in the very near future. Anyways, from this phone use, we are able to buy car insurance through the IEP office, find a mechanic and send postcards out! Next, we decide to chill in a café, before heading to the mechanic. The mechanic is from the states and is extremely helpful in getting our car ready for our big trip. We then travel across the street to AA, which is the New Zealand version of AAA, to get maps and register the car! We are almost ready to hit the road but we stop and get a “chilly bin” for our food and make sandwiches for the road. Talk about feeling productive!!!!! Now where are we going again?????