Fortunately my backpack decided to show up the day after I arrived, but it really put a kink in my plans and required me to spend much more money in my first two days than I was hoping to.  Nevertheless, I am having a marvelous time.  My second day in Auckland I met up with my friend Joe with whom I met while working in Oregon.  We decided to take the gloomy ferry ride to Waiheke island (where I will be working) so that I could meet Duncan, my future boss, and drop off some baggage.  Duncan turned out to be a super laid back and cool guy who took us out for beers (which are astronomically expensive) and then brought us back to his house to drink some Man O’ War wines.  Wonderful day.  The best part was when he told me the reason he hired me was because I had stated on my application: “I am a badass worker and I guarantee that you will not regret hiring me”.    He got a kick out of it, and the rest is history. You never can know what will catch your future employer’s eye.  I tend to be more bold and irreverent in job applications because I figure if they don’t have a sense of humor, then I don’t want to work for them anyway.  That mantra might not work for ‘real’ jobs, but it works for me. 

On my third day, I started to travel south.  One train, 2 buses and 6 hitches later, I am now in Wellington which is the capitol and the southern tip of the North Island.  Hitch-hiking is a fantastic way to meet interesting people and learn about the local area.  I got rides from many different types of people, but certainly the most interesting were two pleasant young Muslims.  The driver looked and fit the Muslim profile, whereas the other was a scrawny white guy dressed in Camouflage.  The car smelled of freshly ground cumin, and we listened to musical Arabic chanting and pop music. It was unusual and fantastic at the same time.   The most pleasant ride was from a guy named Martin who was of the indigenous descent of Maori, and was the director of foreign trade for the country.  He was extremely intelligent and congenial, and took me all the way to Wellington where he invited me to stay the evening with his lovely family!  I love this place!