{"id":320,"date":"2020-01-12T11:59:06","date_gmt":"2020-01-12T11:59:06","guid":{"rendered":"http:\/\/pididu.com\/wordpress\/nz2019\/?p=320"},"modified":"2020-02-03T15:42:11","modified_gmt":"2020-02-03T15:42:11","slug":"working-together-for-wi-fi-in-auckland","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"http:\/\/pididu.com\/wordpress\/nz2019\/2020\/01\/12\/working-together-for-wi-fi-in-auckland\/","title":{"rendered":"Working together for Wi-Fi in Auckland"},"content":{"rendered":"

Sunday, Jan 12, 2020. Time to go to Auckland. We boarded the Rotorua City bus for the last time, to get to the central terminal on Arawa street. We had used up all but 40 cents on the bus card, so paid cash for one of the fares.<\/p>\n

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At the iSite visitor center. It’s 9 am, and the bus picks us up at 10:45. Fortunately, there was wi-fi. Hiring (=renting) a locker didn’t make sense for less than two hours, so Merrianne just hung out and watched the luggage. The center had power outlets and good wi-fi. Meanwhile, I walked a few blocks to Pak ‘n Save to get us some lunch.<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n
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I passed by Valentine’s Buffet on the way to the supermarket, and took a picture of the menu in the window. Unfortunately, our schedule didn’t permit going there.<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n
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This is the Skip bus. It’s different from the Inter-City bus, in that there is no tourist narration during the ride. MegaBus or BoltBus would be the closest things at home. Good solid internet, and USB charging outlets, too.<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n
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Neither hot nor messy food is allowed on the bus. So no milkshakes, curry, ice cream, etc. Coffee with lids is fine, as is cold food. I got two pastries and a couple sandwiches from Pak ‘n Save. Merrianne’s CCC (Chicken-Camembert-Cranberry) sandwich was only $4.12, because it expired the next day.<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n
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During the ride, I got up to put something back in my day pack, which was on the top shelf. I found that I could no longer pull my safety belt out after that, no matter how much I tried to finesse it. The woman behind us tried it too, and couldn’t budge it. The vibrations and swinging curves of the bus make the belt lock up. I had to wait until the next town. When the bus stopped at a yield sign, the belt pulled out smoothly.<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n
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As we got near the Auckland metro area, some of the scenery resembled Honolulu.<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n
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Auckland downtown looks like San Francisco.<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n

From the bus station, we had about a 15-minute walk to the AirBnb, which was a studio in a tall building. Merrianne had no internet connection, so couldn’t pull up the check-in instructions, but fortunately, had already loaded the Google map of downtown Auckland.<\/p>\n

Outside the building, we looked for the lock boxes for our key. They were not in sight as we stood at the door, but there was a railing going behind a wall perhaps a hundred feet away that looked similar to the picture I had seen on the instructions. Fortunately, I had an image of the lock box in my head (there were dozens on the railing), and remembered the combination. At first, we couldn’t figure out where to tap the fob to open the door, but someone on the street pointed it out to us. It was around the corner from the door. Merrianne remembered that the apartment number was 411B.<\/p>\n