Karangahape Road (colloquially "K' Road") is a hive of scum and villainy. Actually it's just filled with hookers, sex shops, clubs, and ladies called Brian.
My arrival in Auckland didn't start well. I paid $15 for a bus ticket I couldn't use, and then got a bus that goes anywhere to City Rd, which wasn't where I needed to be, so I ended up walking in the unfamiliar territory of K' Rd at 2:00 a.m. with all of my baggage towards my hostel, Borders Beyond. Dodgy walk through aside, I arrived safely, and K' Rd became my new home for 9 days.
The hostel was great. It's run by about 5 Sri Lankan guys who were all really friendly, and I guess as a result of working with backpackers, fairly liberal-minded. The owner studied (something) at Leeds! And apparently he was the first man to stay at the YWCA there as well. Then there was Mr Allans, an aging Australian who was trying to sell hand cream through old lists of people who used to buy his product before he was sold out by a backstabbing partner - he had been at the hostel for 8 months; Stevie, a reggae-dub musician from Fiji who lived at the hostel occasionally; Hagar, a German potential-farmer who had been learning English for a week; Marcos, the Argentinian; and a load of other people whose names I can't remember.
Anyway, more important than my hostel was the fact that Caitlin had no idea I was in the same country as her, let alone the same city, and Friday (22nd) I decided I'd surprise her at work. I spent most of the day beforehand exploring Auckland. K' Rd is great in sunlight (not that there was much sun). The unknown of the night was more intimidating through its unfamiliarity, but all feelings pass once the shadows are lifted. Auckland is not much of a city compared to Sydney either, and the constant overcast skies didn't help. The Sky Tower was an impressive part of the skyline, and the Domain was pretty, but beyond that, on the first day, nothing left me awe-struck.
So after my walk I went down to Newmarket to the café where Caitlin was working. After some stalking, and no sign of Caitlin, I warily approached one of the waitresses outside and asked if Caitlin was there.
"No, she left an hour ago" meant that I had to go to Orakei Rd and hope that she hadn't left partying or similar. I half-ran, half-walked the two miles, before turning a corner and stumbling upon what I thought was the address Caitlin had given me a while before. So I phoned her.
No answer.
I called again, three times before finally she picked up. I'm not sure I knew what to say, particularly considering I was about to turn her holiday around (at least until Sydney, 8 days later when she was meant to be visiting me).
So I asked her how she was, then double-checked she was at home, and that I knew her address (which luckily, I did), and then told her she should go outside, before hanging up abruptly. From outside the gate I saw some movement through the windows, and then a few seconds later Caitlin was outside, holding her mouth in disbelief, and running towards me.
It was so nice seeing her again. She couldn't believe I was there, and I almost couldn't believe I was either. After much hugging she took me inside the house, which belongs to family friends of hers, and introduced me to Andy (Mum), and Bez (son), before we chilled out and caught up in front of music videos.
Great times.
My arrival in Auckland didn't start well. I paid $15 for a bus ticket I couldn't use, and then got a bus that goes anywhere to City Rd, which wasn't where I needed to be, so I ended up walking in the unfamiliar territory of K' Rd at 2:00 a.m. with all of my baggage towards my hostel, Borders Beyond. Dodgy walk through aside, I arrived safely, and K' Rd became my new home for 9 days.
The hostel was great. It's run by about 5 Sri Lankan guys who were all really friendly, and I guess as a result of working with backpackers, fairly liberal-minded. The owner studied (something) at Leeds! And apparently he was the first man to stay at the YWCA there as well. Then there was Mr Allans, an aging Australian who was trying to sell hand cream through old lists of people who used to buy his product before he was sold out by a backstabbing partner - he had been at the hostel for 8 months; Stevie, a reggae-dub musician from Fiji who lived at the hostel occasionally; Hagar, a German potential-farmer who had been learning English for a week; Marcos, the Argentinian; and a load of other people whose names I can't remember.
Anyway, more important than my hostel was the fact that Caitlin had no idea I was in the same country as her, let alone the same city, and Friday (22nd) I decided I'd surprise her at work. I spent most of the day beforehand exploring Auckland. K' Rd is great in sunlight (not that there was much sun). The unknown of the night was more intimidating through its unfamiliarity, but all feelings pass once the shadows are lifted. Auckland is not much of a city compared to Sydney either, and the constant overcast skies didn't help. The Sky Tower was an impressive part of the skyline, and the Domain was pretty, but beyond that, on the first day, nothing left me awe-struck.
So after my walk I went down to Newmarket to the café where Caitlin was working. After some stalking, and no sign of Caitlin, I warily approached one of the waitresses outside and asked if Caitlin was there.
"No, she left an hour ago" meant that I had to go to Orakei Rd and hope that she hadn't left partying or similar. I half-ran, half-walked the two miles, before turning a corner and stumbling upon what I thought was the address Caitlin had given me a while before. So I phoned her.
No answer.
I called again, three times before finally she picked up. I'm not sure I knew what to say, particularly considering I was about to turn her holiday around (at least until Sydney, 8 days later when she was meant to be visiting me).
So I asked her how she was, then double-checked she was at home, and that I knew her address (which luckily, I did), and then told her she should go outside, before hanging up abruptly. From outside the gate I saw some movement through the windows, and then a few seconds later Caitlin was outside, holding her mouth in disbelief, and running towards me.
It was so nice seeing her again. She couldn't believe I was there, and I almost couldn't believe I was either. After much hugging she took me inside the house, which belongs to family friends of hers, and introduced me to Andy (Mum), and Bez (son), before we chilled out and caught up in front of music videos.
Great times.
No comments:
Post a Comment