7 Things I have learned about Auckland in 7 days.

[PrincessBandit]

1. All directions start with "Just get on the motorway..."

2. There is no such thing as off-peak. It's busy, or motorway parking.

3. Indicators are completely optional, and "the finger" is often presented after near misses when it is the "presenters" fault. (I got flipped off by an 80+ year old woman on Thursday, for letting a car in a side street into the traffic flow)

4. Real Groovy Auckland is feckin' awesome!

5. People aren't as openly friendly as they are in other parts of the country, often it seems they are always in a rush.

6. That nothing quite compares to Makara Hill, Paekak Hill, and the 'takas.

7. Having a public transport system that is somewhat reliable is fantastic, and I miss Welly because of this. You can't have a "super-city" without a rail network.

My 2 cents worth:
1. pretty much true
2. depends where you are, timing is everything!
3. yep
4. parts are, other parts are totally shit (nope, not going to spill the beans on that one)
5. possibly, but I'm glad you qualified with 'openly' The f in JAFA can stand for friendly
6. can't comment
7. somewhat reliable is good choice of words. The trains now are pretty good, but back in the 80s when I was at uni I missed heaps of lectures because the buses only ran every half hour (if you were lucky) and frequently they didn't turn up at all. When they did they were horrible bone shatterers to ride in.

You do need to be an assertive driver/rider here, courtesy seems to be in short supply and we definitely have more than our fair share of dickheads. I worry about my kids who are both just starting out (1 in car, 1 on bike) but I figure that if they can survive here they'll do just fine anywhere else in NZ. If I left Auckland I think I'd dread ever coming back in amongst the traffic etc. - I'd wonder how the hell I ever coped with what I take for granted every day at the moment

[skidMark]

Nonsense.

I was half-asleep in the Devonport New World supermarket the other day, pottering around looking for something or other, and suddenly realised I was gawking rather rudely at a woman in one of the aisles.

Before I could gather my scattered thoughts and pretend to have been looking past her at a can of spaghetti, she met my gaze and gave me a huge grin.

People are just people, wherever you go.

Try not being in a rush yourself.

did u ask if she wanted complimentry sausage?