Grandpa, I figured it out...

Before I left Canada, my grandfather asked me to do him a very important favour: figure out how all these crazy Kiwis can walk around down here without falling off the face of the Earth.

A question that has plagued mankind for centuries, I'm sure.

Well, that university education has finally paid off, because I figured it out: Kiwis don't fall off the the Earth simply because they're always walking uphill.

I'M NOT KIDDING!!

I'm not quite sure how they do it, but it seems that (in Auckland, at least) every way you walk is up. There are no flat surfaces... ANYWHERE. Even Queen St., the city's main road, is slanted at such an angle that my legs hurt walking the three minutes to the drug store from my hostel.

Speaking of my hostel, THIS, ladies and gentlemen, is the nice little treat I get to climb at the end of every day to get back to my room:

If you're wondering why there's no hostle at the top of the hill, it's because it's so freaking steep you can't SEE it.

It's been three days and I already have the thighs of a Scottish caber-tosser.

So there you go Grandpa, mystery solved. Next on the list, figuring out why kiwis are the most expensive fruit in the supermarket. I mean that's just WRONG.