NZ: Day One: Getting Stuck In The Fire Escape

My Air New Zealand flight over to Auckland felt very fancy, on a shiny new plane. I was a bit upset to not be able to admire the view though - why do people close the blind? They must realise there are other people craning their necks to get a glimpse out of "their" window. Nevertheless, it was a pleasant flight of just over 3hrs, I couldn't help but pity Ben and his mammoth journey out. I would be arriving about an hour after he had landed, I was so excited to be reunited and to explore New Zealand together!!

At customs, I had a few concerns about some of my possessions; I had brought over the last of my groceries (risotto rice, tea bags etc), and also had rather grubby shoes. Luckily, having queued to an attended kiosk, I could speak to a lovely chatty man who not only stamped my passport, but also advised me on how to fill out my arrival card properly. For the first time in my life, I had something to declare! Unfortunately, I wasn't the only one and had to endure a rather lengthy line before I could finally hand over my shoes for inspection. They were even worse than I had remembered, covered in sand; I apologised profusely for getting it all over the counter as I hastily crammed them back into my rucksack.

Walking through the arrivals gate, I finally saw Ben!! We had a big hug, and then headed up to a pub where Hazel (Ben's uni friend) was guarding drinks and bags. We were all very excited, and chatted for a while, until the drinks were finished, and we had worked out a route to get to the hostel. This involved finding the SkyBus terminal and squeezing ourselves, and all of our bags, on board the bus heading to the city centre. I had booked accommodation way back when in Byron Bay, we were staying at the Base Backpackers, right in the heart of Auckland.

It was a long and arduous check-in process, that involved downloading apps, signing forms, and dealing with a poor girl who quite clearly had no idea what she was doing; not helped by the stress of a ridiculously long queue. We were unable to get a second key card from her, so gave up and went to find our room on Level 9. We failed immediately by trying to get into the wrong room, we were 910 - not 901. Finally in the right room, a 4-bed dorm, Ben claimed the top bunk and promptly headed off for a shower.

I decided to try reception again for a new key card; opting for the stairs this time to stretch my legs a little. I quickly realised that I was in the fire escape, and couldn't actually get out at separate floors, nor could I return to our room as the door could only be opened from the inside. Fantastic. I had to climb all the way down to the ground floor, to travel back up in the lift. Luckily, it wasn't a wasted journey and I did manage to source a second key card from a different person now manning reception.

We had booked an 8pm show at the Planetarium that night and had arranged to meet Hazel to grab some food beforehand. What we hadn't accounted for was just how far away Stardome was, we only just had enough time to find a Countdown to buy dinner: sandwiches, pasta, and fruit. We then managed to hail a taxi successfully, but unfortunately for us, the taxi driver had no idea where we were heading. Using patchy Wi-Fi, we gave him rough directions and finally arrived to where we sincerely hoped was the right place. We were dropped off at the end of the road so actually had to run in order to make it on time. What a journey!

As we signed in, we were told we actually had a little time to explore the small gallery/gift shop before the "Spring Night Sky" show began. We used this time to look at images and models of New Zealand's meteorites, and to learn about telescopes and the history of spacecraft - which involved a lot of playing with Lego. There was even a weighing machine that told you how much you would weigh on different planets! By now there was a small group of us waiting at the doors, and we were soon invited into the planetarium and on to some wonderfully comfortable reclined seats.

The doors closed, and our guide flicked a switch - screens came to life and we were looking up at the sky above, full of clouds. Fast forwarding time, we watched the daylight disappear, and stars fill the dome around us. So many stars! As the guide pointed out popular constellations with his laser-pointer, and told us the origin stories, I couldn't help but notice that Ben was already asleep. Bless. I had to chuckle at some of the constellations, they were a bit of a stretch - like an extreme join the dots with a lot of artistic licence. We then focussed on one patch of sky with Orion, the Three Sisters, two dogs and a random unicorn(?). Zooming in, we were told of star clusters, Nebulae, Supernovas, the Andromeda Galaxy.... around this point I definitely fell asleep.

We were both awoken some time later by lights being turned on and everyone moving towards the exit, we had no idea what was going on, and to be honest I doubt Ben even knew where he was at first. Luckily, Hazel had been awake for the whole presentation and was able to fill us in - apparently the weather had taken a turn so we were unable to go and look at/through their famous telescope or observe the sky for real. It was a shame, but probably for the best, at least now we could get back and to bed a bit quicker. While waiting for the bus, we had another wander around the shop and played with the Lego again.

After an odd bus journey, where the driver kept loudly complaining about other drivers, motorbikes, and just life in general, and a short walk, we finally made it back to the hostel. Back in our room, we introduced ourselves to our bunkmates - two German girls - hunted for a plug socket and organised a little before getting ready for bed. It had been an exceptionally long first day in Auckland, and I was glad we had scheduled in a much more relaxing day to follow.