Calico Lodge Auckland

Wanetd to get the kids worn out a little before heading back to Taupo, so we played in the sand and ocean at Mission Bay. Snapped a few picks and captures the momets I think.

Good weather....although we are really ready for the full heat of Summer....it will certainly get warm, but we are more than ready for the heat!

Got a text from my mom this morning ...

... up on a bit of History. The Hostel is cool, hot tub on the roof and sauna, really cool place to hang out, right next to the harbour people are really friendly. Can't wait to explore more.

Helen and Mark's ratings:

Auckland: 65%
Nomads Fusion: 60%

... that everyone enjoyed jumping on! That night we went to a Maouri evening which was wicked! They did all the tribal dances and the Hauka (not sure how u spell that?!) which was really cool. We then went out for a few drinks after!

We traveled to Waitomo and had a relaxing day of sleeping. That night we went went to the bar in the hostel and had a brilliant night. After 1 (when the manager went home!) the bar lady let us pour our own drinks and have free run of ...

I've been here for a week and I feel I know enough about my hosts to give a fair description.

I will start with Beth because frankly, I do not like her all that much and want to get it out of the way (harsh, I know). She is a teacher at an international school where she teaches people from Saudi Arabia, ages 18-24, good writing skills and prepares them for university studies. She used to work in the film industry so she whips ...

... br>
We had a few drinks in a bar, free pizza and watched the All Blacks vs France. Then on Monday picked up the camper van, Mir the Spaceship, and got on the road for our New Zealand adventure, we couldn't wait. We drove out the city and headed East towards the coast, day 1 of the camper van tour.

Peace Rob, Love Nic

xx
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We arrived in New Zealand late at night, so stayed in the airport hotel there, which was a nice treat. We were so excited to be there. Our first day in New Zealand was a glorious sunny, but cold day. We moved to our hostel in the centre of Auckland and explored the city. We spent our first couple of days shopping for warm clothes, waterproof jackets and walking boots. The weather was a big shock compared to what we had been used to, but we were excited ...

... smooth roads made it easy riding, i quite often found myself doing an easy 25 - 30+kms /hr. Which allowed me to roll into 'Palmy' shortly after 4. I'm now sitting outside a bar sipping on a Tui (beer), waiting for Jackie Chan to turn up. Got the fright of my life today when a big furry bumble-bee tried flying into my mouth. I blew him off my lips before he got his sting into me. Fackstick bumble bee. I could see where he was going though, across the road into a paddock fully ...

20th Having got ourselves a private room and decent beds for the night its difficult to get up but we are picking up our second Wicked van today. As it turns out, the pickup depot is not where I originally thought and Kim sets off to find the correct depot across the other side of Auckland. I get the rest of the room packed up and check out, putting the bags in the lounge and getting on Skype to talk to Graham and Dad. The hours roll past and I begin to get a little worried. This combined ...

... for employers is to accept a gift, a substantial one, in return for offering a job. So a rural family is simply unable to offer this kind of thing and find work places for their children. And so the treadmill goes round. So one of my topics for discussion with Savong and the teachers is how we might offer some kind of head start for graduates - for example by linking, as Holger suggests, with local employers - or by ...

... else on our trip, in Asia, Oz/NZ or even in South America I would have felt that I wanted to and should have been with him, but it was impossible when we'd be at 35,000 ft on our way to Chile!

It was horrible knowing that I probably couldn't have been further away from the biggest day of Tim's life, but I knew there was no point beating myself up about it or getting ...