Left, Left ... Ahhhh! Stay on the LEFT!

Flavourful – that’s the word that comes to mind when I think of day 2.

It started early – very early. 1:30 am my eyes popped open and everything in my body was raring to go. The problem was ...the rest of the country was just crawling into bed for the night.

I forced myself to doze in and out of sleep for another hour and a half until I could resist no more. 3:00 am it was – my feet hit the floor and the only thing I was able to do in the pitch black darkness was to quietly begin this travel journal.

Sunrise eventually came and 7am had us waiting outside our hotel door for the shuttle driver to take us to the airport. We needed to do one final leg of the journey to take us to Auckland, NZ for a few days before we boarded our ship. An invigorating 1hr ride through the back alleys of Sydney with an overconfident shuttle driver got my adrenalin flowing. That was thankfully followed by a quick and uneventful 3 hr flight to another beautiful location on the North Island of New Zealand.

First order of business was to secure a vehicle that would transport us for the next 4 days. Oh, did I mention, New Zealanders and Aussies drive on the left-hand side of the road. Main goal of this adventure today was to acclimatize quickly to a new way of driving, stay left, and pray – lotsa prayer! Word to the wise ... left-handed driving is not for the faint of heart, weary of body or mind, or seriously sleep deprived human. John’s job was to sit behind the wheel and stay alert. My job was to keep the driver calm, verbally remind him to keep to the left, and navigate – yep, did I say navigate? Big mistake! Anyone who knows me well enough knows that I am directionally challenged at the best of times. Ya – so because of my great skill at going the opposite direction we are suppose to, we ended up taking the scenic route through Auckland and surrounding neighbourhoods. Didn’t someone once say life is about the journey – not the destination? Well, I have taken that to heart quite literally and consequently have enjoyed a few great journey’s in my day.

Finally arrived at our next place of rest (I use that term loosely). Downtown Auckland. We hit the streets quickly to catch the essence of where we were. Turns out we were very close to Chinatown. Here’s where the flavourful part of the day comes into play. Of course, when in Chinatown, we need to eat like the locals ... and so we did – I think. We found an amazing “hole in the wall” sushi place that offered the most beautiful, flavourful fare I have savoured in a while. Don’t ask me what it was ... no idea .... probably better off not knowing. Definitely a feast for all my five senses. After satisfying our palates with exotic delicacies we continued on our journey deep into the heart of Chinatown We discovered a vibrant area of town teeming with life, noise, color and sound. Boisterous youth cat calling back and forth to each other, wary shop keepers surveying the hoards of humanity herding past their windows, gaggles of giddy girls linked arm in arm and moving as a solid pack of felines, music blasting through open door night clubs – enticing passers-by to join the excitement inside and, of course, the ever present brilliant red Chinese lanterns hanging from every lamppost on the street in preparation for the Chinese new year festivities. Yep – this place had a heartbeat and a pulsating rhythm lively enough to wake the dead (or massively sleep deprived). As “luck” would have it – all this excitement was percolating just outside the window of our hotel room and continued well into the wee hours of the morning – hence my earlier reference to why I loosely call this a place of rest J Oh well, the day will be remembered fondly for all the flavours imbedded in my brain. And life is nothing if not seasoned with unique flavours to spice things up a bit.

Things I learned:

· My husband is a cool cucumber under intense pressure – of course I already knew that, but just had it re-confirmed – he is married to me after all :)
· When your hairdryer turns orange with green flames shooting out – turn it off quickly!
· People can communicate with each other regardless of language barrier – animation and smiles assist greatly in the process