Back in Auckland

Last night I arrived back in Auckland to spend a couple of days here before flying out to Cambodia. To be honest there is nothing specific in Auckland that I want to do, it just happens to be the biggest city and the main transport Hub so makes sense to fly from here than spend extra cash to fly from one of the smaller airports.

I booked myself back into the Base Auckland hostel that I stayed at my first few days in NZ. It is not anything special when compared to quite a few of the other hostels I stayed in on my trip but I knew where it was and what was in the surrounding area and I got a really cheap price so went for the familiarity option.

I had booked in online and managed to get a “web exclusive” price for the room that was a few pounds cheaper than the others but also stated that the room didn’t have a window. I wasn’t too bothered since I never spend any time in my room anyway so just wanted the cheapest possible for a few days before I headed out again. I must say that I was actually pleasantly surprised the room that I actually ended up with. When I first came to Auckland I was in a 6 bed room that was a small box room with 3 bunk beds in it. The carpet was a bit torn up and there were some quite questionable stains on the floor along with some the springs in the bunk beds being held together with zip ties. Cheap accommodation for a cheap price but nothing to write home about. The new room that I got was also a 6 person dorm room however this time it was made up of 2 bunk beds and 2 single beds meaning the room was much larger and felt more spacious. The room also happened to have an en-suite bathroom which is a bonus and although it stated that there was no window there actually was one into the hall way with a blind on it so it actually meant no external window. Last night I was also the only person in the room so it also felt more like a little private hotel room rather than a hostel which was pretty nice. The only downside to the room is that whenever someone upstairs uses their toilet is sounds like the world has opened up and all hell is breaking loose. It only lasts a few seconds but it did shock me when I first heard it. I don’t suppose I can complain much though for £11 per night!

As a bonus this morning as I was sorting my things out there was a knock at the door from the cleaning team wanting to come in and clean the room, change the bins etc. and into the room walked a familiar face. A lad called Dom who I met my first day here was also back in Auckland and is currently working for accommodation at the hostel and it was his first day today. It was crazy bumping into him after all this time especially since we have both been completely different places and then happened to be back at the same time. I will probably try and catch up with him a little more later.