I arrived in Auckland on Friday 12th of December where I was met by my cousin Maddy. Apparently all play and no rest had taken its toll as I spent the next week recovering from illness. That didn't stop me from getting to know the city of Auckland. Auckland is one of the most spread out cities in the world covering a large area for a relatively small population, its possible to walk from the West coast of New Zeland to the East coast without leaving Auckland. Seeing Auckland with an Aucklander meant that I got a different experience of Auckland to the typical tourist and got to know the people a bit more whether chilling out at the beach or playing a crazy game of cranium. Auckland also served as a base from which to plan the next part of my trip. It also gave me the chance to hear about the reputation of Auckland Uni Canoe Club "they do more drinking than the drinking club" who I'd been put in contact with by Jono who'd spent a year at Auckland. I experienced this first hand on a trip to the Wairoa leaving on saturday evening. I wasn't feeling too good when I woke up on the Sunday and realised I had to paddle some grade 4 water whilst trying not to be sick. It's amazing how quickly the feel of cold water and the prospect of painful collisions with boulders can sober you up though.
Next I needed a car, after a quick look on trade me I decided a Subaru was the way to go, so after visiting the car arranged an AA inspection. The mechanic was shaking his head the whole time as he looked at it and by the end the list of problems wouldn't fit on one page, still it was cheap and it had roof bars, I just had to hope it would last for two months, even then the odds didn't look great.
I was now ready to go and so after packing up I left Auckland on the 23rd of December on a road trip to the ferry on the 26th where I was going to meet up with some of the guys from AUCC.
