Note: If you're here for the pictures and not the writing, just go ahead and scroll through my ranting on the American traditions I miss until you start seeing photos.
OK, I'll admit it. It's been about a week since America's sacred day of gratuitous overeating, and I've finally found myself missing home. All it took was Snapchats upon Snapchats of absurdly portioned plates of turkey and belligerent tailgate shenanigans. Yes, the glorious time of year has arrived once again, where the United States collectively drinks itself into a stupor on a Wednesday night followed suit by an entire day devoted to hungover eating and attempts to tolerate casually racist family members - all of which before the week is even out! Flash forward another thirty-six-or-so hours, and the greatest weekend of collegiate sports kicks off. Fans and students alike from Whatever State and The University of Who Gives a Shit dress in various team colors and get obscenely drunk once again, to meet and talk shit upon their respective rivals. A truly American week through-and-through!
Yes, there may have been a bit of dramatization above, but I have to say, even as absurd as that fourth week of November is, I love it; The drinking, the debauchery, hell - the Black Friday hysteria, and especially the food! Portion sizes down under are not even close to satisfy the day-to-day Madden appetite, not to mention there's nowhere NEAR enough added sugar. That being said, as I'm sure all of you back in the states are attempting to recover from a week of overall gratuity, allow me to guide you through a collection of some of my favorite photos I've taken thus far - hopefully offering some sort of escape from the gluttonous P.T.S.D. some of you may be suffering from after last week.
Let's have a look...
As I believe I briefly explained before, this is the city of Auckland - the most populated city on the North Island, currently where I work. I snapped this photo from my daily commute to work a couple of weeks ago, from the top deck of a ferry headed to the city's wharf (towards the right side of the photo). Quite the skyline!
Now, to offer a bit of contrast, here's another shot of the very same skyline - taken from about the same angle, but at about midnight, as I was taking the ferry back to the Island I live on after a day's work in the city. May or may not have been completely sober by the time this was taken, but nevertheless the photo turned out well. Take notice of the Sky Tower peeking out in the background - much like Seattle's space needle. My favorite thing of a calm night on the ferry is the bright reflections of lights across ripples of water in the bay.
And again, another shot of the same skyline, but this time much further back in much shittier weather. This was taken on last Monday morning - a cold, overcast day. However, with all of the military ships literally lined opposite the city, I couldn't resist braving the cold and rains for a shot. The week before thanksgiving marked the start to a naval week of sorts for the city; I believe from above left are Japanese, Korean, and Indian battleships respectively. The cover photo for this article is from the same Indian ship that I managed to get aboard for a tour.
If I told you there's no filter on this photo, would you believe me? This one was literally taken right out the front door of the beach house which I'm currently residing on Waiheke Island. Just a quick 40-minute ferry ride from Auckland (see first two photos), my commute to work is never a dull one simply because of the views. Leaving early in the morning or late in the afternoon, it seems I'm never on the same journey twice. There's always new things to discover on my way.
A bit further out on the island from my little home is Whakanewha Reserve. Pronounced fa-ka-nee-wa, the reserve is about an hour's bike away, but holds heaps of mountain biking trails spanning through dense forests and open ranges like this one above. I came flying out of the woods on my bike to this and was blown away by the contrast of green, blue and rusted rock. The variations in landscape throughout this whole country are nothing short of bizarre.
Speaking of various landscapes, literally just two-or-so miles away on the northern side of the island is Palm Beach. Although it doesn't hold the most pristine sand of the island's many beaches, the rock formations spanning outward into the ocean are incredible. This shot is taken from a chain of boulders forming a miniature archipelago outward into the Pacific. The texture on these rocks is actually little mussels clinging to their jagged edges, carved by eons of relentless ocean currents. Yeah, I cut the shit out of my feet scrambling out to take this.
Back inland and further northeast on the island is a region known as Stony Batter. Home to an archaic World War II gun emplacement, these lush green fields are home today to a shit-ton of sheep and seem to closely resemble the Shire (for you Lord of the Rings nerds). I forced my cousin to pull the car over at the top of this hill overlooking Hook's Bay below.
This week I'll leave you with one last sunset - again, I swear, with no filter whatsoever. This is taken off The Esplanade, a beach just a short walk down from my house (conveniently on the way over to my favorite local bar). While I miss all the holiday traditions back home, the vast majority of my time here is distracted by everyday adventures. Hell, Overindulgent Thanksgivings and snowy Christmases aren't going anywhere - I'll see ya'll next year!
