After my visit to Japan,

I took a few day stopover in New Zealand before continuing on to Australia. Having been traveling in the northern hemisphere for the past two and a half months, I was not prepared for my crossing of the equator. Whereas a t-shirt or polo had been perfectly comfortable attire in Spain, Germany, Qatar, India, Bangladesh and Japan, that was not the case in New Zealand. My first question upon arriving at my hostel was regarding where I could find a store at which to buy warmer clothing. Fortunately, Auckland's central business district was only a short bus ride away from the hostel and within a few hours of my arrival in the country, I was the proud new owner of a New Zealand sweatshirt. Following an afternoon of shopping in Auckland, I enjoyed a meal of steamed green-lipped New Zealand mussels.

The next day, I hiked up Mount Eden, an extinct volcano that was only a five minute walk from the hostel at which I was staying. Mount Eden is the highest natural point in Auckland and the peak at the top of its volcanic cone affords a beautiful view of the city and surrounding water.

On my last full day in New Zealand, I took a ferry ride from Auckland out to Rangitoto island. Rangitoto is a volcanic island a few kilometers off the coast of New Zealand's North Island which was formed through a series of eruptions beginning approximately six to seven hundred years ago. Rangitoto was covered in a variety of foliage which sometimes seemed to grow magically out of barren fields of volcanic rock. The island was home to a plethora of avian wildlife and featured a number of lava caves. At the top of the island, there was a spectacular view of the surrounding ocean and some other islands near to the coast of New Zealand's North Island.

The hostel proved to be a wonderful place to meet other world travelers and I greatly enjoyed the chance to talk to backpackers from Germany, China, Canada and the United States about their time in and motivations for coming to New Zealand before I continued on my way to Sydney, Australia.