Auckland and the Family

Well... I don't think I'm going to see too much of Auckland while visiting with the family. It is just a fact that I'll have to deal with during my travels. I had some hint of this while travelling in Taiwan, so I should have expected the same thing while here. I've been doing a lot of family oriented things the past few days which is fine. Some of these cousins or nephews I'm seeing for the first time or the first time in over 23 years.

My brain is finally catching up with the language. Most of my communication with my family has been a mix of Taiwanese and English with a bit of Mandarin mixed in. For the first day, I kept on saying Spanish words such as "Si" and "Pero." Eventually, I was able to shake the habit. It is also kind of weird seeing a whole set of relatives with Aussie/NZ accents.

My cousins and I decided to drive up to the bay of islands for the weekend. My cousin in law Raymond is the perfect stereotype for bad Asian drivers. He drives super fast on the winding NZ roads and doesn't believe in blind spots. When we got in the car, he put these big sunglasses on top of his normal glasses making him look like a male Yoko Ono. Also, he speaks Taiwanese like Archie Bunker where everything seems to be totally obvious to him and everyone around him is stupid. The rain on the drive up made me a bit uncomfortable with his driving, but we arrived in Paihia unhurt. The day was a total loss. Even the cultural show at the museum was closed due to flooding and rain. The next day was clear and we booked a cruise in the surrounding bay (along with all the other retirees). The boat ride was nice and we were accompanied by two pods of dolphins. Overall the trip was not a total disaster. The next two days were spent with family at Cornwall Park (none tree hill) and the suburb of Devonport. Auckland reminds me of a combination of both Santa Cruz CA and Portsmouth NH. Don't get me wrong. I like the place, but it is similar to other places I've been before. I'm looking forward to head to the South Island soon.

One thing I can always count on when visiting family abroad is that they will feed you until you burst. Every night, I've had excellent Chinese food and a lot of it. Even during the day, the aunts and cousins will offer up fruit (which is excellent in NZ), snacks, and coffee. All of the weight I lost tramping in Patagonia will be gained back in a week.