Day 38: The Calm Before The Storm

Today was very relaxed, as we prepared to head off again tomorrow for Uluru.  This morning I took the ferry over to the city to go to the map store.  Yes, they actually have a store dedicated to maps.  We needed a map of the north island of New Zealand, as we will be driving around, possibly without any mobile service.  The store was on Hay Street, so I stopped at a few of the many other shops along the way.  One shopping area off of Hay Street is all Victorian, resembling a shopping street in England.  Once I had the map I needed, I made my way back towards the ferry and home.  On the ferry ride, I was lucky enough to see some dolphins swimming down the river.  These dolphins don’t jump out of the water or do trips, but you can see their fins and backs when they come to the surface.

The Victorian Alleyway

The little, English shopping street.

Later in the day I went with Mary and Madi to the mall so that Mary could return some of Madi’s things.  I would describe the mall we went to as the most typically American mall I have been to so far on my trip, which made it rather uninteresting.  Back at the house, I packed my things back up for our flight at 10am tomorrow.

This evening, we went to an Italian restaurant with a couple of Greg and Mary’s friends that live in the same building.  They really pack everybody in the restaurant, and always have a wait outside to get inside the tiny building.  The food was quite good, and it was nice to talk with some Aussies (with some New Zealand and Korea mixed in).

Packed into the Italian restaurant.