A new day. A new country

As I sit down to write this out I am more than a little sleep deprived. Having been awake for about 28 hours so far and moving through 4 different countries in the last day on my mission to get to New Zealand I have ended up more than a little sleepy. As I am sure you have guessed dear reader, I am now in Auckland safe and sound and have checked into my hostel. Part of me is really looking forwards to the adventure, but another part of me (the really tired part) wants to have stayed in Thailand, partly for the training, partly for the sleep but mostly for the amazing people that I have met there. I think Ursi put it best when I was saying I was going to miss everyone when she said “Isn’t it wonderful that you have met people that you will miss?“. I think that really hits the nail on the head. Rather than being grumpy about having to leave everyone I am so happy that I met them in the first place. I suppose it is the same as leave home and leaving friends and family back home that I also miss. It is amazing to have them in your life and it is nice to know that they are going to be in your life again at some point.

After dropping all the stuff in my room and getting a few bits of paperwork sorted I decided to go for a walk to try and get some bearings, but most of all to try and get a massive coffee to get my to stay awake until later tonight when it is time to sleep rather than going for a nap now and never getting into the right sleeping pattern. My little walk was quite a simple one (since the data isn’t working on my SIM yet so I have no maps) and basically involved me just walking in one direction as far as I could so see what was about. As it has turned out I must have picked the right direction as I have somehow found myself at the docks next to cruise ships and leisure boats while looking over the bay (cue Otis Redding – Sitting on the dock of the bay). To be honest (and to make a few of you happier) the weather isnt great. It is overcast and grey in the sky which sucks but I’m still warm enough to be sat here in t-shirt and shorts so it cant be that bad. I think more than anything I am just appreciating the novelty of not needing to change clothes 4 times a day due to being covered in sweat!

The dynamic here is obviously much different to how it was in Thailand with it being a big city and having lots of international people in my hostel with more language barriers and everyone wanting to do their own thing. At Tiger it was everyone doing “fitness” in one form or another so a bit easier to strike up a conversation. I’ve said Hi to a few people that I’m sharing a room with but that is about it. Not sure if its the temperature, the tiredness or just the fact that it is a big city but it does feel a little lonelier here than it did on the infamous Soi Ta-Ied. I suppose you just get used to seeing the familiar faces even if you don’t know anyone so then to suddenly be in a city of high rises and thousands of people is a little shock to the system on no sleep at all.

Although this all might sound like a complaint or that I am down please know that it is not the case. My main reason for coming away was to try and sort my mind out and decide some of the things that I wanted to do with my life and things I wanted to experience. I was happy to go to Tiger by myself as that would have given me time to train every day and then spend the free time thinking things through and working on all that bigger picture stuff that we all like to imagine ourselves mulling over from time to time. As it happens though I met an amazing group of people who sucked up all my concious thinking time with things like socialising with fun and laughter (what terrible people!). All in all my time at Tiger was just what I needed then and I think my time here in Auckland may be a little quieter but I quite like the idea of a few days of quiet reflecting and maybe even taking a shot at meditating. I have no clue what there is to do in Auckland (I probably should have researched it!) but I’m sure I can figure some things out. I think I will just keep walking about everywhere, laptop in tow, taking pictures and stopping to write my memoirs and keep everyone at home (mainly my mum I think!) entertained!