Waiting to go to Aussie means multiple blog posts a day

The rest of today was pretty good. I took the free shuttle (sadly, the shark bus was having repairs so I didn't get to ride that, which would have been epic) to Kelly Tarltons Underwater Antarctic Adventure. Kelly Tarltons was pretty cool. I saw lots of fish, some sharks, and (drumroll because this was my favorite part) some penguins! There was of course lots of information about it, including a ride around where the penguins live, and a stingray feeding. It was really cool. I feel like such a tourist doing these things though. I haven't done touristy things in Auckland in...forever, and now I'm doing many in the span of a few days.I decided to continue walking down the road to Mission Bay. Mission Bay is the beach in Auckland, and I was filled with nostalgia because in my first week of being in Auckland I walked down that same road, and I haven't been since before today. It was a beautiful day in Auckland, too; no rain, just sunny with a breeze. I stopped and bought some hot chips from Burger Fuel (I actually like their fries with aeoli) and sat on the beach, looking at Rangitoto. Again, nostalgia. I am going to miss seeing a volcano everyday. And a volcano that I tramped within my first week of being in Auckland.

I took the bus back to downtown, where I walked up Queen Street and got a delicious filled Korean pancake again. I ate the scorching hot/fresh pancake on a bench in the Quad at Uni - which is basically a courtyard/table area where people eat and hang out. Again, nostalgia. I remember doing that my first few weeks in Auckland during my lunch break. I took the Centennial Walkway from uni to PSV, listening to Ingrid Michaelson and Adele (I listened to a lot of them while walking to/from class this semester) and remembering why I am NOT going to miss that walk back from class, as I was out of breath and sweating by the time I reached the top of the path. I guess you shouldn't miss everything.

And after that... well I haven't done much. I watched SYTYCD online (I was going to watch it with a friend who's still in Auckland but she never got back to me, boo), made a packing list, emailed my hostels that I would be checking in late. I think I've decided on my tours in Cairns though! I compared price with what you get, and so I think I'm going to splurge when I do the Great Barrier Reef and try one scuba dive, but then do a cheaper tour to see the Atherton Tablelands and Waterfalls. And as for my third day, I think I will ask my hostel what they recommend. I'm also getting some recommendations about Sydney and Melbourne, but I'm less concerned with booking tours for those since I think a lot of that will be walking around, exploring, and impulsively doing things.

But at this point, I just want to GO already. I have a list of things I need to do tomorrow which are important, but there's not really anybody around and not a lot to do that doesn't involve spending lots of money. And because of the time difference, there's not a lot of people to talk to at night. But soon I will be in Aussie for 9 days. And I'm just saying, I looked up the weather in Sydney and Melbourne and they're pretty similar to Auckland right now (though with less rain in their forecasts!) but Cairns is going to be like flying into summer. Well, not exactly summer, but it's a lot warmer and sunnier than it is in Auckland, that's for sure. And then I will be in Auckland for a day, probably doing everything I haven't done, repacking, and buying any last-minute souvenirs. And then flying for a ridiculous amount of time (22 hours if there are no delays) that because of time travel is actually only 5 hours.

Okay. I will either sleep now or go back to watching Veronica Mars.