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Tuesday 14 July 2015

Last Stop Auckland

The next day we were up and out of the hostel early so we could be on our way further north to our final destination for the road trip, Auckland. Since I was driving my friend was tasked with finding us a hostel for our stay. We were both slightly horrified with how expensive they all were but she found us a fairly reasonable 3 share room in the Parnell area not too far from the city centre. It also happened to be conveniently located near the car rental city office. I had requested an airport drop off but my friend suggested we ask to leave it with their city branch and they were quite happy for us to do so.

My first impression of Auckland was that it was not as cold as Wellington but still not summery. As it was Friday our first Auckland activity was to go to the ceroc class at their central branch. We were able to get a bus out to the venue and even though we were slightly early we weren’t the first. The guy setting up was friendly and chatty and soon had us signed in. The class was different again but interesting in it’s own way. Like Wellington here they had the beginner then the intermediate plus class. Obviously the beginner wasn’t a problem but I did find the intermediate quite challenging and the next day my muscles agreed with me! Despite being a quiet class we still managed to have fun and the dancers there were quiet generous with sharing the dancing in the early part of the evening. Later there seemed to be more pairing off and I must say after another long day driving I wasn’t too disappointed when my friend declared she was ready to leave that night.

The weather didn’t improve the following day so we made a trip to the art gallery. I hadn’t been to a proper gallery in over two years so I was interested to see what Auckland had to offer. The fact it was inside and the rain was trying to start again made it even an even more attractive proposition. We did wander around the city a little but soon the weather beat us so we headed back to the hostel for a nap. The nap was important as that evening was to be our final ceroc night. We had been told about a party and though it would be a fun end to our road trip. It turned out to be in far suburbs which meant to get the bus out we had to be there extremely early. Fortunately there was a lovely bar round the corner from the venue. There we had a rather nice glass of wine and whilst my friend tried their nachos I indulged in their tasty cheesecake. I decided there and then that no matter what the wine and cheesecake made the trip worthwhile.



The party happened to be on the same evening as a major rugby final so it was unsurprising that the party was quiet. This time we decided to merely watch the beginner class as it was well balanced and we didn’t see any reason to take learning time away from those already there. The party itself was quiet but there were a fair variety of people at many different dance levels that suit both me and my more advanced level friend. By this point I have to admit I was a bit weary. Partly because even though we hadn’t done much it had still been a tiring week but also I think I was staring too look forward and was very aware that ceroc wasn’t part of my near future. I was missing my ceroc friends and dancing with strangers whilst interesting just wasn’t as much fun. I had forgotten how long it took me to become familiar with the friends I had made in Wellington and whilst I have come a long way since that first class I think when it comes to visiting other ceroc classes I have a long way still to go. This was something I would be happy to revisit in September when I reached Australia but for now my sights were firmly set on where I could go diving first in SE Asia!

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