We drove South today for several hours, to arrive back at Auckland, by way of Omaha bay, on the Eastern shore. In Omaha, we had a lunch of “mussels” (which I would have called clams) plucked fresh from the Omaha bay by our hosts, Karen and Tony. Karen used to work with our intrepid leader. She gave me some fantastic information on a Maori creation myth.
Day 8 photo set.
Tensions were higher today than usual, and tiredness too. These two things are probably not unrelated. We were given the evening to “explore Auckland” but really that meant we all walked up and down the very touristy beach front and bought overly expensive dinners.
It is clear that we are in a richy rich part of town: the women all have the calm look of pilates and facial peels, while the men, of mistresses. Even the sullen teenagers are raging against all of their privilege. I had a $15 NZD cup of Asian noodles and a $12 scoop of Swiss ice cream and then headed back to the room.