Day 2: In Which I Get A Lot Done

Today has been a rather eventful day!  Since I was up so early yesterday (before 4 am because they woke us up for breakfast on the plane) the day seemed endless!  Today has been a more normal length day (I am relieved that not every day is that long in NZ) but I have still managed to accomplish quite a bit.  First though, an update on yesterday:

Yesterday I took myself on a little urban hike. There is this "trail" that goes from one side of Auckland (the Pacific Ocean) to the other (the Tasman Sea). It's called the coast to coast trail. Auckland is on a narrow isthmus (look it up on a map) so there's ocean everywhere. In fact, just today I learned that you are never more than 105 miles from the ocean no matter where you go in NZ. Anyway, the trail was 16 km long, which is about 9.5 miles. I didn't wear good footwear so my feet got a bit sore and also I forgot sunscreen and I got a bit burned. Apparently there is a hole in the ozone layer right over New Zealand.  They have this ad campaign here "slip, slop, slap" which stands for "slip on a shirt, slop on some sunscreen and slap on a hat to protect yourself from the sun."  End result: the sun in NZ is harsh.  It was also really hot yesterday.  I will do better with the sunscreen in the future, though, I promise. At times the trail was kind of hard to follow, and I got off it a few times. It was mostly on city streets, but also ran through several nice parks. I saw Mt. Eden and accompanying crater (Auckland is surrounded by old volcanos) and One Tree Hill, U2 song fame, although it is now "no tree hill" since the tree that was on it was destroyed.  After I finished the walking track, I took a bus back to Auckland.  The driver was quite cheery and helpful, as most people have been so far.

Now, on to today: After a wonderful night's sleep, I attended the IEP orientation this morning, which was really helpful.  (IEP is an overseas exchange program that is the NZ arm of the US place that got me my visa.) Everything is feeling a lot more manageable, they were friendly and very helpful, and I am really glad that I have them on my side.  They have free internet from their office, which is across the street from my hostel, and they were able to get me the forms that I need to process my IRD number, which is like a SS number, so I can get paid once I start working.  I also visited the Kiwi bank, and opened an account.  This was actually easier than it is in the states, but only because IEP told me how to do it.  I dropped off my "application" which was really just a copy of my passport (because it has all the details that they need) and went back 2 hours later to pick up my new ATM card.  The Kiwi bank branches are located in every post office (how convenient!) and you can also do things like pay your phone bill OR buy stamps there, too.  I also got a SIM card for my phone with a discount carrier (it was only $2), so I now have a working phone in New Zealand!  I'm glad that my phone worked out and it was definitely worth it to unlock it before I left.  It feels very cool to be contactable.  IEP also recommended "the best bar in Auckland" with really good food and specials going on right now as well as a discount for IEP members.  I asked the girl staying in my room if she wanted to go there with me for dinner tonight, so that is where we are headed.  Tomorrow I fly out to Australia to visit with my friend Eve.  Let the adventure continue!