Day 60, Summer in Asia, Auckland, NZ
Last Auckland sunrise view from our bed.
We’re saying goodbye to the third most livable city in the world, hopping the Pacific, and landing in LA. Since we had to check out of our Airbnb at 10 am and our flight didn’t leave until 7:30 pm, the girls hung out at a coffee shop so they could do some work.
Meanwhile, I got a hair touch-up. The last time I got it done was in Chiang Mai and it was a fantastic experience. In Auckland I booked an appointment in a place that looked like a hair salon, and was, to some extent. It should have tipped me off when I asked them if I could get a cut and they responded, “We can trim, but we don’t do shapes.” What I learned was that their specialty is removing women’s facial hair. Eyebrow and face threading, and lots of entire face and neck waxing. The women were from a certain ethnic group who have a lot of facial hair, but mostly young women in their teens and twenties, not the grandmas.
While I was learning about women’s hair removal, Paul checked out a few more vintage shops.
Our week in Auckland has been relaxing. We’ve seen a number of movies, gone shopping, more the kinds of activities we would have done at home. There are many reasons why this city is so livable. We were planning to go to one of the islands to tour some vineyards, but there were high wind warnings and the thunderstorms were relentless, the visibility of the water and islands was almost none. So we changed plans.
The highlight of the day was our Uber driver who took us to the airport. She was part Maori, the Aboriginal tribe here in New Zealand. She talked of her history, the tribe’s history, her view on how different countries like Australia and The United States treated their Aboriginal tribes. Incredibly interesting ride, perhaps the most memorable part of my week. But then, I’m a sucker for stories.
We’re flying Air New Zealand for the first time.
