Day 4 - Canada Day!

It's Canada Day! And they have celebrations in central Auckland that I will attend. I got ready for the day and left to catch the bus. It was easy to catch the bus, and it was a long ride along the coast, because I looked up which bus route to take on Google. I never really took any pictures as I never brought my camera in order to save it from any possible festivities that may be taking place this evening (I also have plenty of time to take pictures). I took a couple with my cellphone though.

First, a little background. I do not live in Auckland and it takes me an hour bus ride to get there (see my About section for more information). I do not get to see the big city every day (I will be when I am doing research though). Cost of living is less, even though it is still high, living outside of the city, but public transport will do me well enough. I just bought a bus pass today, so for $160 I can travel anywhere on Auckland Transport, which serves me well.

I had two places that I wanted to visit today. I didn't fill my plate up seeing other places just yet so I could stick with Canada Day celebrations. On my first stop I went to Al's Deli. It had a distinct 60s feel to it with barber chairs facing the window and tables and chairs littered around the small space. It was busy there, but I was able to find a spot on the barber chairs and ordered a meal I saw them bring out before: a poutine burger. It was big and tasty, but the gravy and cheese curds were just not the same. The cheese curds looked like they were cottage cheese and the gravy was a little light. Either way it was good. After that I had a home-made doughnut. I had a chat with a Kiwi and her daughter that had a cool Canadian trip planned in the next few weeks.

I then left and walked around a bit. I was going to see a museum but it was closed. Oh well. I met a few people on the street and found this on the street. It's not a maple leaf, but looks awfully alike.

I went to a bar/lounge afterwards for the next party. This one was more of a party where alcohol is involved. The drinks were expensive, but you do not have to tip. This makes up for those that do not tip, those that do not want to tip, and those that tip poorly, as a drink was $8. In Canada the cost is around $7 for a beer if you include a typical tip (from me). I met the organizer of the party and started going around to all of the tables seeing who was Canadian or whatnot. I met a lot of people from Toronto, so I made it my mission to try and find someone who was not from Toronto or Vancouver (although I am sure they are very nice people). I met a girl who was from Alberta and actually spent some time living in the same town as I grew up in. Her father was a RCMP officer and I joked that he probably knew who I was. I then met a guy who was from Saskatchewan, I think Lumsden.

It was a good night. I mainly socialized with a group made up of an Irish couple, a Kiwi, and a Canadian (from Toronto of course). They were great people and we had a lot of fun. We all danced and made jokes for much of the night. There were a couple of people who could not hold their alcohol (nationality unknown), as one "spit up" on the ground (threw up) and the other was half sleeping, half texting on a bench. Drinks were prohibitively expensive for me, so I was not that intoxicated.

It was funny because my new-found friend asked me where I was staying. I told him on the beach and he laughed, but I didn't really plan that far (don't tell my mom or my landlord that I didn't plan that far ahead. They will just worry). I thought I might just have to get a hotel or something. I decided that it would be less expensive to get a hotel room in Albany, so I walked to the bus stop and took a bus back home. It was past 2:30 by the time I got to Albany and when I checked the routes to maybe get home, there were no buses running to Torbay. I started walking towards town and found some people. I started talking to them, telling them where I am from, what day it was, and what I was doing in New Zealand. They gave me a lot of information about homelessness and New Zealand. It was very interesting. I even met a Maori individual and it was a good chat about their past and where they are now. They ended up giving me a ride home at around 5 am. It was a late night, full of excitement and meeting awesome people.

I have not met a Kiwi I didn't like. Yet.

#Daily