In lieu of a hangover, one can often count on the weather to write-off the day. My room was mostly full of drunk (but friendly) Irish when I got back from being out with Kevin and Karen – so I chatted with them before actually getting to bed. One of them must have left the curtains drawn open, because I woke up to gray skies and rain splattered windows. I decided there was no point in rushing my awakening, so I slept for a little while longer, then decided I’d better get up if I wanted to check out by ten.
I had planned on going to Weineke Island, but that didn’t seem too likely. My alternate plans were to tag along with Kevin and Karen to a free concert somewhere in the city. I figured they’d probably bail on account of the weather, but I gave them a call to confirm. They were having trouble getting details on the event, and with the inclement weather they figured they’d probably pass on the concert – but I agreed to call them in a couple of hours to see where things stood.
Kevin told me where I’d be likely to find some secondhand bookstores, so I headed there and picked up “The Name of the Rose” by Umberto Eco, and traded in David Baldacci’s “Total Control”, which wasn’t all that great – but made for a very quick read (nearly 700 pages in three days). Afterwards, I picked up Chinese currency.
I gave the Double Ks a call and we decided to meet for lunch and maybe head to the museum or something. The weather had improved, but they still had no idea when the concert started. Ever so generous, they treated me to another meal, yet again. Not as tasty as the night before, but still quite good. We headed to the bookstore to find out the museum times in the Lonely Planet – and decided we didn’t really have enough time to see the museum (it was a late lunch and the museum closed early).
Instead of the museum we took the scenic bus to the Domain and walked around there. Similar to Sydney’s Domain, we checked out the Fernz Fernery (Fernz is a local company, apparently), and the Winter Gardens (aka greenhouses), then walked past the Auckland museum, and across the otherside of the domain. We were close enough to Kevin and Karen’s place that we popped in for tea. There place is a nice studio apartment close to the CBD. I had an L&P soda, which was quite tasty, and we chatted for a bit – but before long it was time to head to the hostel and catch my shuttle to the airport. I bid Kevin and Karen adieu, with the hope that we’d meet again soon. Their travel plans in North America don’t get them too close to Toronto, but I told them I’d be happy to show them around and offer free accomodation if they do find themselves in the area.
The airport was as airports are. I had a few New Zealand dollars to burn, so I wandered through some of the airport shops, then hopped on my plane at about 30 minutes to midnight.