Awkward Auckland

We’ve now been in Auckland for four days and rather sadly not done much. Instead much of our time has been eaten away by Chinese visa applications, an outdated Lonely Planet guidebook and a lack of touristy things to do. We have however had a brilliant time during the evenings thanks in no small part to our couchsurfing hosts and the legend that is Conrad.

One of the days was taken up by our visit to the Auckland War Memorial Museum. It was brilliant and restored our faith in museums in general after some of the atrocities committed on signs in Aussie museums (Fort Newcastle was better than this!). It served as a general museum as well as a war memorial and they managed to fit so many artefacts into such a small space, including a Japanese Zero and a Spitfire. It was incredible. However in some areas this did leave a problem as items were simply listed as opposed to having an explanation or back story. This aside we loved the museum, especially the National Geographic photo section. After looking in awe at some of the pictures we got to vote for our favourites at the end.

After the museum we attempted to see the Rugby Hall of Fame listed in our Lonely Planet guide and spent a while looking for it only to find out it had closed. This is probably due to it being a decade and a half out of date. This left time only for one other touristy thing and so we choose to climb Mt. Eden. We’d read the usual spiel about how it has ‘fantastic views of the city’ so we headed on up there not expecting anything much. As we traipsed the top though our first surprise was the gigantic hole in the earth, created by an extinct volcano. After a bit we finally looked around and noticed the views, which were quite possibly the best views we’ve seen of a city. It was a 360° view stretching from one harbour to the next- basically one side of New Zealand to the other. It was truly stunning and if we hadn’t have had gale force winds trying to blow us down the mountain we would have stayed for sunset.

We did however make up for missing the sundown by playing drinking games with our couchsurfing hosts/fellow couchsurfers. As mentioned before there is one person who stands head and shoulders above all else. Conrad. The mere mention of his name sets our pulses racing! He introduced us to a game called Threeman. All you need is two dice, a group of friends, a silly hat and a healthy supply of booze. Before the game starts each player rolls to decide who is ‘Threeman’. Whoever looses dons the hat and becomes ‘Threeman’. This means that every time one of the dice shows a 3, Threeman drinks. Trust us you don’t want to be Threeman. The behatted player starts the game rolling both dice. Whoever is in control of the dice is 6, to their right is 5 and to their left is 7. Should a total of 5 be rolled number five person drinks, a total of 6 and player six drinks and a total of 7 and the seven drinks. If doubles are rolled, the roller chooses another player who then has to roll one dice and consume the same number of drinks as the number shown (roll 6 means finish it off). Any dice shows 3 at any point during this the Threeman has to drink. Each player keeps rolling the dice until a combination arises where no-one drink (unless it’s the persons first roll and then they have to drink and continue playing). When this is the case the dice are passed left. If a player should roll a 1,2 they become the Threeman and passes the dice on. Should a player who is already Threeman roll a 1,2 they have the power to nominate the next Threeman before passing the dice. Sound complex? It does until about two dice rolls in and then it’s easy as pie. Good luck and safe drinking.

We played this game a couple of nights in a row and ended up going on midnight missions for more alcohol once our beer supply had run out. Our livers sufficiently battered, we’re picking up our campervan tomorrow ready to head off and do some exploring!

Rex’s Rules of the Road

• Although it sounds complex give Threeman a go. It’s so simple once you get the hang of it and you will blitz through the alcohol. Check out the facebook page here.

• If you’re using an old travel guidebook, make sure you check online or at an information centre that they’re still open.

• Either bring warm clothes or run straight out to an op shop (opportunity/charity shop) to stock up on jumpers. We weren’t the only couchsurfers there who went over to Karangahape Road for more layers.

• Check out Rach's reviews of the Auckland War Memorial Museum and Mt. Eden.