LAUGHING OUT LOUD AS TYPE THIS ON DAY 5 IN AUCKLAND, NEW ZEALAND. It is September, 2011. As you may know I just completed a year in Australia of working, living, and traveling and did it by myself. Now I have rejoined forces with one of my best friends in the world, Marcus Robinson, and we are starting a new chapter recently by touching down (huge flash mob in the international customs receiving area started around ME out of nowhere while waiting for Marcus to land BTW...so random and such a great welcome for both of us to the wild fun and crazy New Zealand that it is) in Auckland on the North Island of NZ. The reason for the laughter is how fast our powers as friends have gotten us into living and working situations most people would never even dream of getting within 1 week of entering a country and city they know nothing of and know no one. Within 5 days of being on this island we have managed to do 4 things (we called them BANK, PHONE, JOB, PLACE):
http://test.skimlinks.com
1. Setup a bank account.
2. Get working cell phones.
3. Find two jobs each with weekly hours available of up to 50 if we want.
4. Find a privately owned condominium (flat) in a modern and 4 star hotel building to rent to us for 6 months.
THE REASON I LAUGH IS DUE TO HOW FAST IT HAPPENED AND HOW IT HAPPENED. Not to mention that the rental industry in this city is absolutely out of control and rentals are basically non existent due to the 2011 Rugby World Cup right kicking off in a week. That didn't stop us from anything. There were only about 20 furnished properties in our price range for rent in the city and maybe a quarter of them were ready to rent within this next 'crucial period' we were in because after September 1st hits, ALL THE HOSTELS AND SHORT TERM RENTALS INCREASE IN PRICE UP TO 50%. We didn't have a choice, we HAD to find something and lock it in or the next thing we would know we would be in a 10 bed dorm in a crappy dirty hostel in the loud city center paying $300 a week. With proper clothing, sharp looking faces and grooming, and a mouthpiece that Blake from Glen Garry Glenross would stamp with approval, we managed to hit it off well with our young Colombian female rental agent to where she turned down another offer from a couple that probably had better credentials then us. We love you Brenda Franco and thank you so much for the 2 bedroom 1 bath with city view, balcony, and modern furnishings!
I THINK WE EVEN MOVED MONEY AROUND IN OFFSHORE ACCOUNTS to show we had months of rent in reserves. We did...kind of, I think. It didn't matter. The woman at the rental office judged us on our character and that was enough. I can still vividly remember leaving the hostel we had stayed at in Ponsonby for our "get your feet on the ground" period. This was 6 nights total. I remember looking at some of the people that were "living long term" at the backpackers we were staying at...not a look of disgust, but a look of just feeling bad. Not feeling bad that they are living in a dorm room, not feeling bad that they have settled in a backpackers hostel for their semi-permanent living situation...it was more that I felt bad that I had tools/skills as a Speech Communications major that they didn't have. Actually, it may have been the way I was raised as a child being induced to social situations without even knowing it (3 sports a year starting early at an early age, church, youth group, Boy Scouts, etc). Thank you Mom and Dad. Having a "mouthpiece" as my mate of 15 years, Marcus, and I call it, is something you are not born with, but more develop through social and interpersonal situations that you don't know you are in until they are over. We took a cab to our new place, a hotel right in the CBD just close enough to the action, but far away enough from the noise to where we had peace and quiet.
LIVING IN A HOTEL FOR 6 MONTHS IS SOMETHING I DON'T KNOW MANY PEOPLE CAN RELATE TO. Key cards to our elevator, gym, and hot tub that say "Before you came our hotel had 4 stars, now that you are here, we have 5." Our place was small, a 2 bedroom 1 bath suite with a kitchen and two huge glass doors connecting to our balcony that looked out over the Auckland port and CBD. Nights of room key replacements (due to them being lost) and the staff getting to know us, we became the Americans that knew EVERYBODY. The bartender at the bar downstairs would sell us red wine on Saturday afternoons and not only give us an overfilled plastic "to go" cup, but more would sometimes give us the old and almost sour leftover bottles that they would have only sold to a patron that wasn't paying attention. It was once in a lifetime. The best feeling was just coming home at night. It reminded me of the building attendants in New York City that my friends who live there give cash Christmas gifts to. Everyone knew us and respected us. We worked hard and played hard and were very cordial to the people that maintained our building. On a fun note, we had a washer/dryer in our place that came with the rental (fully furnished). His name was Ralphy. Ralphy was one of the greatest laundry machines ever invented. While my flatmate and mother will disagree, I can only say that if you were patient with Ralphy, he would produce the results you were looking for. It washed and dried in the same machine -- GENIUS. Mind you sometimes Ralphy produced hot and steamy and wet clothes....but again, patience is a virtue. There was also a vacuum cleaner we were given. We named him OZONE. This was Marcus' favorite household device. While I questioned the ability of this young floor sucker, I still always compared him to the abilities of Ralphy...they never compared. Ozone certainly sucked. Life in a furnished flat in a 4 star hotel in one of the top 10 cities to live in in the world (rated by some entity I read about one morning in the New Zealand Herald) = priceless. It was 'sweet as' mate to say the least.
ONCE AGAIN MY 2000 KEYSTROKES AN HOUR GOT ME AN OFFICE JOB IN THE INDUSTRY OF 'FAST MOVING CONSUMER GOODS.' FMCG...more like FML haha. I have been waiting to write about this for awhile (if you don't like boring explanations of transportation process chains, please skip 2 paragraphs down). There are a few companies in the world that move products around that you consumers go day and day out without ever thinking what goes into the production/transportation/delivery of them. Thank you to the Working Holiday Project that I have endeavored into, I now have the ability to understand these mundane household amenities that we share worldwide. Take for example something as simple as a Durex condom. It gets made in a factory in Thailand. It is then shipped on a container vessel that take weeks to get to New Zealand. Then the whole shipment goes on hold. A partial amount of the shipment is sent to an office in Christchurch, NZ to be tested. Then the test package gets mistakenly routed to our office in Auckland NZ. We send it back. The shipping company claims they don't understand how this could have happened. We resolve it over a week of confusion. The test finally goes through. Durex passes. We are now allowed to sell this product in New Zealand. The vessel that had the rubbers on it docks into Port of Tauranga. We get a call saying that due to the Auckland port strike, our containers are going to be delayed. My Irish boss is frantic. He has told so many Account Executives in the last 3 weeks for all major outlets that this product WILL BE HERE ON TIME (so they can hit their annual sales numbers and get bonuses to feed their families). I get off the phone with the guy who looks out at those AT-AT Star Wars looking things (btw where George Lucas got the idea) that crane/lift the containers around in the port and all he can tell me is that the container will be there in the morning.
NOW I HAVE TO CALL DHL. There is nothing worse in the world of corporate communication where you have to ask questions to an entity that can only answer/respond on an entity that he/she has no control of. This was my life in Auckland working for this worldwide personal/household products company. Responding to a boss who wanted results and answers on freight shipments that I had now control over. The best thing about it is that my boss never reprimanded me or put me down for not having our supply in on time. He knew there was nothing I could do. So DHL now says that the transport company (who picks the containers up from the port) was late coming in the morning so there will be a delay. Now I am getting calls about the condoms from sales reps that want the product in stock by lunchtime. Not gonna happen. I call DHL, they say maybe it can be delivered. No promises. Cool, can't wait to pass that message on. The delivery to the store makes it in time. The condoms get put on the racks. The innocent Kiwi shopping at the supermarket throws some Durex Pleasuremax condoms in their cart. The way I look at it; what took me almost 2 months of delays and headaches, sorrows, and stress, has now kept this New Zealand consumer from 9 months of an irritable wife, 18 years of dealing with an immature child, and a 10's of thousands of dollars. Lesson learned here: be patient and don't take any product you buy for granted, ever. You don't know the story behind it or the story it COULD HAVE created for you. BTW, I still want to know why they aren't called SMCG companies. Slow as.
AUCKLAND IS THE SMALLEST BIG CITY I HAVE EVER LIVED IN. The 3rd or 4th night we were sitting in a convenience store using computers to Skype the USA and a woman named Roimata Hawke (Maori woman who just opened her first bar up the street) overheard us talking about that we were looking for bar work and ran up the street to have her partner approach us for jobs (maybe she was intimidated by Marcus' beard haha). Harry, her partner of many years came in and the rest is history. Marcus becomes their Director of Marketing/Bar Manager and I become their Photographer. A cute and hip tapas and wine bar that was underneath a hotel, it was extremely tight. I barely ever had to pay for a beer and could stop in whenever I was on my home from work. We even had a photo shoot night where Marcus was one of the models. Again, our charisma and character landed us a family-type spot in this families first endeavor to own there own bar. It felt amazing. I started bringing my co workers there for rugby games where we had roped off private areas...but...as we all know...all good things come to an end. It was unfortunate, but after the Rugby World Cup, the foot traffic on this particular road in the city dwindled, and one party less after another, the bar couldn't sustain itself. We took part in the official grand opening of this amazing bar in Auckland to only see a few months later it flake off the map like a a 6 year old's booger. It was bitter sweet but such a great experience. Miss you Harry and Roi, thank you for the wonderful times and taking us in to be part of your journey and family/friends.
BEING IN THE COOLEST CLUBS AND TAKING PICTURES WITH CELEBRITIES HAPPENED... A FAIR AMOUNT. We made good with the bouncers all over town and the next thing we know we are in clubs that cost people annual fees of thousands to go into (we are let in for free just because -- I still don't why) and getting pictures with the All Blacks rugby players. These athletes would be like your Kobe Bryant, Derek Jeter, or Peyton Manning. And here we are, two American travelers partying with them during and after the 2012 Rugby World Cup that they WON (more on that below). What I am trying to insinuate here is that Auckland (and New Zealand) for that matter is such a 'hands on' place that if you want it to happen, it can. For example, at the end of our time in Auckland, Marcus organized a charity party event that drew in almost 100 people in on a Sunday. Raffle prizes, talking on the microphone, drink specials, mates from all the networks we had made, and dj's and dancers; we raised $500 for the kids. The event was called 99 Problems But A Kid Ain't One and the money we raised helped a few handfuls of kids get lunches, raincoats, proper school gear in poverty stricken South Auckland areas. It felt amazing. Thank you to everyone who donated and came out.
WHEN IT COMES TO TRAVELING ABROAD AND SEEING THINGS, PLACES, AND PEOPLE...THERE IS NOTHING AS BIG AS A WORLD CUP. Period. Whether it is soccer, rugby, the Olympics or a week long festival in a European city, World Cups are EPIC. Yeah festivals are gnarly; but...they last a weekend. World Cups engulf a community for weeks on end. They create a buzz for the city, culture, people, and country they are held in that can't be pinpointed but can be felt in an awesome way. People from all over the world turn out, every hotel is overbooked, every street corner on any given night has fans walking downing it chanting all type of patriotic songs. I saw white knights with a red cross painted on their chest (thank you England), green painted faces (thank you Ireland), normal street clothes (thank you USA -- we suck at Rugby Union), and locals dressed in ALL BLACK. For those of you living on the athletic moon for the past 100 years, the All Blacks Rugby Team of New Zealand is the most successful athletic team of all time. Ever. They don't lose...well, ahem, except for some recent World Cups BUT, honestly, they dominate. Year after year they are the ones who hold the line, they hold all the records, they set all the tones. My office had cubicle dress up competitions, outdoor Friday beer drinking rugby Olympics competitions, and a ton of stressed out Kiwi co-workers (i.e. game against Australia). Here is a good way to relate it; numerous times from numerous mates of mine at work that follow rugby I heard the phrase "if New Zealand doesn't win this Rugby World cup, this country will go into recession." At first I would here this and think haha that is funny. But no, really, they weren't joking around. Keep in mind these people live on two islands in the South Pacific ocean and there aren't a ton of sports to harness and hold on to. There is no baseball, no basketball (except for 1 pro team), no grid iron football, no hockey, etc...there is RUGBY. Rugby, especially with their worldwide honored team playing in their home country a Rugby World Cup that only happens every 4 years is a MASSIVE DEAL. I truly believe that if France didn't have that penalty at the end and New Zealand lost that championship game (who, by the way, upset them in past finals), the country would have seen a drop in their GDP, a raise in their unemployment, etc. I can't pinpoint it but all I can say it was a very emotional roller coaster to live, work, and watch through this small country's (4.4 million ONLY) eyes. On a final note, the night that they won the World Cup, I was with all my Kiwi mates in the heart of the CBD of Auckland in one of the most happening outdoor bar venues (lines were around the corner to get it and most people never did) and when it hit that the French made a penalty at the end of the game that would ensure an All Blacks victory, the bar became absolutely CHAOTIC. I have heard the 12th man in Seattle at Qwest Field, I have been to a Def Leppard rock concert, I have seen monster truck rallies...but none of them will ever compare to the SHRILLING LOUDNESS of the screams out of the hearts of these Kiwis the moment New Zealand won the 2011 Rugby World Cup. As hugs began to fall into tables and glasses began to break, I remember embracing everyone I knew and met that night with the longest and biggest hugs...I started crying (it actually wets my eyes right now writing about it) and I was not the only one. It was heart wrenching in such an tremendous way it is hard to describe in words. Go the All Blacks.
MY 31ST BIRTHDAY I WON $1350 ON ONE HAND OF THREE CARD POKER AT THE ONLY CASINO IN AUCKLAND. It was a typical Friday night in Auckland with friends. Beers at the office at 4pm (huge fridge FILLED with beer and wine). Go home, work out in our hotel's gym, sauna, shower, music, dinner, drinks, out the door. Head to Sam's (my best friend in NZ) house in Ponsonby (suburb of Auckland that is very artsy and has a good nightlife). Drink beer and take shots in the kitchen until Fleetwood Mac comes on. Sing and dance and laugh. Walk to the Ponsonby bars. Dance. Head to the Auckland CBD. Dance. ------ This is where it gets hazy but we went to the casino early on and lost money. Everyone dispersed after the last bar in town (one of those times on a street corner where you see everyone walk in all opposite directions to go home and call it quits) and I turned to my mate Shane (Ozzie neighbor who I carpooled with and consider a very close friend now) and said something like "Will you wingman with me back to the casino? I am not going home a loser on my birthday." (or something like that). He did. Next thing I know we are up a few hundred playing three card poker where I have enough to start betting larger on the 'pair plus' bet. I put $40 on it and was dealt three 7s (my lucky number actually) which is a 30 to 1 payout. $1200. Thanks Sky City Casino. I didn't think anything of it until the next day when a friend mentioned to me that it was fate 30 to 1 on my 31st birthday. Gotta love destiny.
BEING ON THE ROAD FOR ALMOST 2 YEARS YOU FORGET HOW NICE IT IS TO HAVE HOME (HOUSE) TO YOURSELF. I was blessed to have this gift (household) given to me the this last Christmas of 2011. A South African friend at my work offered me to house sit for her while their family went to Wellington over Xmas/New Years. Traveling the world you don't get all the luxuries that you are used to. My cell phone, for example's, coolest feature is a torch on the front (flashlight). It doesn't connect to the Internet and doesn't have a keyboard. It has one game on it. I haven't owned a car or vehicle for 22 months. I have driven a handful of times no more than a handful of hours. I don't have a house to go home to with various rooms to relax in. Growing up in a home you are accustomed to having a household with a yard and garage so when you take one's self away from it, you LOVE it when it comes back. This house that my friend let me house sit was everything you long for while being on a journey. Big huge vaulted ceilings, sun rooms to nap in, art on the walls, large kitchen to cook in, a trampoline, etc. It was amazing. Set on the end of a road on the edge of One Tree Hill park in a nice suburb of Auckland, this house treated me to a Christmas filled with lots of sleep, food, bike rides in the park, sheep chasing, wine, writing, video games, movies, and photography. I think the first day I was there I accidentally napped in 3 different areas of the house. I was in paradise. It almost felt like I had won the lottery.
NEW ZEALANDERS LOVE THEIR COUNTRY AND ARE EXTREMELY PASSIONATE ABOUT SHOWING VISITORS EVERYTHING THEY CAN THAT MAKES THEIR COUNTRY SPECIAL. The birds, the foliage, the beaches, the music, the dance, the culture, the food, etc. are all well known about by Kiwis and they are very knowledgeable about everything domestic to them. I took a couple of side trips with my good friend Naressa (Aucklander/North Island local expert ;) ) which were amazing because she knew so much about nature and the country (identifying which sounds are coming from which birds in the bush, explaining how certain land formations were formed, etc). Kiwis also love to have a good time. I can vividly remember being a couple hours north of Auckland in this tiny tiny township called Leigh by the ocean and just DIGGING and RIPPING into the trunk of her car looking for clothes to put on for a show we were about to see. With LCD Soundsystem's "Home" playing in the car and red wine hitting our lips in between costume try-ons, I finally found what I was looking for; a massive huge large cream/brown mink coat with a huge lapel and a length that went down to my knees. We were late for a burlesque/variety show called Birds of Paradise in this small bar/venue in the middle of nowhere. It felt like one of those places the characters in Footloose would have to sneak out to dance in. The mink coat was a HIT. Towards the end of the show the MC brought me up on stage and I was awarded a hand knitted Italian scarf for being the most FLUFFY in the audience. I put the scarf on immediately and all it did was make me even fluffier :) The show ends and the venue turns into a cast and crew and a very few (me) dance party. I got my Nikon DSLR out of the car and became the photographer. Naressa is a professional dancer and had danced in the show the past few years so she knew everybody there resulting in a VIP party on the property in the annexed side house. After dancing the night away and meeting tons of great artists and dancers, I woke up in a tent to two Tui birds BUZZING THE TOWER (like Maverick would). I don't think they liked that our tent was underneath their tree. Cheeky little buggers those Tuis are.
ANOTHER SIDE TRIP OUT OF AUCKLAND FOUND ME ON THE DOORSTEP OF A HOUSE IN A FOREST KNOCKING ON THE DOOR AT 9:30PM. My friend and I had taken a day trip out to the small ocean side township called Piha. SPECTACULAR and so pure and pristine now I know why New Zealanders are so passionate about their country and landscape. The only campground that we were going to stay at was not taking walk-ins due to the septic tanks being backed up so, after some fish and chips, a couple of Canadian Club and dries, and a gorgeous sunset over the Southern Ocean, we were homeless for the night. It wasn't long before we ventured down this small road into a forest with no street lights (just dim house lights) and came across a circular meadow fenced in by trees, old broken down campers, and broken down machinery/wood working tools. It was SILENT. It felt like I was in an abandoned/condemned old Boy Scout day camp activities area. With our headlights dipping under the overgrown leaves and branches that scratched the windshield of our car, we descended down a 30 foot hill into this sanctuary for the night. The house on one side of the meadow was dark while the one of the other had a porch light on. We hiked around and went up to the front door of this old wooden and brick country house and knocked on the door. We wanted to make sure it would be okay to camp in the meadow for the night. An old man came to the door in his bathrobe...I noticed the large fire he had been burning in the adjacent study as we peered through the door. "Hello, my Kiwi mate said,...the campground was full in town and we don't have anywhere to stay...would you mind if we put up our tent in the meadow?" Then the old man's wife came up to the door and said "Who is it dear?" Old man "Oh just a traveling young couple looking for a place to sleep for the night." After a very genuine and overwhelmingly positive approval for their neighbors who own the land we were looking to squat on, we scurried back through the trees excited to setup our tent under the moonlight. It was like something out of a Colleen McCullough novel.
IN ALL, AUCKLAND IS AN ABSOLUTELY GREAT CITY TO LIVE IN. While sometimes the outskirts can feel like a trip into a twilight zone of the 1940's, the culture, diversity, laid back-ness and overall pulse is attractive. When I think back on it I just see laughs, music, and good people. My 1 hour walk/bus ride to work in the morning (yes the public transportation is not insanely advanced) was not looked down upon for this travel writer with headphones in his ear and a morning newspaper in his hands. The ride would float me through little surrounding towns and I would constantly zone off and examine abundant mom & pop bakeries, dairies, shops, and cafes. Pleasant and peaceful is an understatement. The suburbs are all ecelectic and different and surround the CBD like a big hug of embracement. You could walk from end to end of the main suburbs across the CBD in an hour. Auckland is that small. But come a Friday night or a Saturday afternoon in the heart of the city, Auckland's blood pressure rises to a level that even the tamest city dweller couldn't ignore nor not participate in. It is like a sleeping giant who's yawns are filled with festivals, music, culture, art, passionate people, and a city/landscape that could rival many cities in the world. Miss you already Auckland, stay cool. -RCM-
