Just Shrug and Stride Girl

After the excitement (not ! ) of the past 48hrs .I walked to the bus depot. The same apathy prevailed ,nah the bag isn't here, until I said Id had an email informing me it had been found
The girl behind the counter half heartedly looked in the lost property, initially couldn't find it but ultimately did .. so I have my cross body bag back complete with now defunct passport andv cancelled credit cards . I'm relieved, I knew it was on the bus and although my proper passport is defunct it has all the stamps from this trip and my 1st ever Emirates business class ticket..I will be complaining in writing to the bus company as their apathy has cost me a lot in time spoilt and money ,that I can't claim back on insurance.
Having retrieved my bag , I returned to my hotel and although it was a lovely day outside I spent time chilling in my room preparing for things to do in Canada. I intended to go out ,at some point but somehow,it didn't happen...and that was fine ..
Two days ago when frantically looking for someone to do a uk passport photo , I passed a group of homeless people laughing and joking I stopped to say hello to them .They asked how I was and I said but stressed today cos I've lost my passport (at the same time thinking I've nothing to worry about compared to you and you're all laughing and joking .
Their answer to my situation....ah girl....just Shrug and Stride !🤣..it absolutely made my day ..
Today, whilst walking to the bus depot, I saw them again on the opposite site of the road. Its Maori new year in new Zealand and I was delighted to be able to tell them how they'd cheered me up and to offer them a coffee.
So myself and my homeless friends headed for Macdonalds. However, they told me about a different shop that did better coffee ..I treated them to a coffee a pie and whittakers chocolate. They asked how id gone on and told me about the location of the offices for internal affairs, who'd sort my problem, plus about Rainbow Bridge in the city, which has apparently a lot of cultural activities and it's where they get breakfast 🤣🤦‍♀️...useful to know in case i found myself on the streets of Auckland
One of them had been born and raised on the streets
I left them sitting on a bench in the sunshine enjoying the refreshments. Once again they'd cheered me up and along with the kindness of the staff at the mercure hotel and the lovely photographer ,they will be my memory of Auckland ..which otherwise did not go to plan ..Read more