Hotel Formule 1 Auckland

... waterfront which is reportedly stocked full of interesting exhibits and art - such as a colossal squid - preserved in a tank for viewing (10m or so long), whale skeletons, a house in which you can stand as an earthquake is replicated etc etc. I must confess extreme disappointment. The squid was big - but just like a bigger version of something you'd see on the desk beside a bunsen burner at school in the biology room. The earthquake was simulated in a small ...

... salvage a lot of the original work with some delicate brush strokes. We only spent four hours there as Rob finished this rotas last night shift at around half seven this morning. Tomorrow we should be there bright and breezy to get our teeth stuck in to it. And just so you know in the two hours Rob left me alone in the house with the mother, nothing happened. I repeat NOTHING HAPPENED! Except... ...some focused painting

... they drive on the left side of the road in New Zealand just like in Australia. It only took me about 30 mintues to get to the Crowne Plaza downtown on Alfred Street. I was fortunate that they were able to let me check in early. I got a room on the 21st floor and parked my little silver Mazda in the claustrophobic parking garage next door. After I got my bags up to the room and got settled in, I went down to speak to the concierge ...

... went. We now had a mission. We would not leave Auckland with any New Zealand Money. We bought some gum and a green bag. We were close but not at our goal. Only $2.20 NZ was standing in the way of us completing our task. In a moment of inspiration, Harriet turned to the gentleman in line behind us and presented him with the remaining money. Now we were ready to return to the ship, with the satisfaction of completing our mission. Back on the ship, they were having ...

... into the centre, it's grey (quite possibly because it was a cloudy day) and there's not a lot to do. We were also unfortunate to be there on an incredibly humid day which meant that the most adventurous thing we felt like doing was sitting in a cafe with a cold drink. The main highlights for us were probably going out for a curry to celebrate/commiserate the end of our travelling for a while. This was probably the best curry we've had on the trip (though we are ...

... to see how excited we were to be going back to a town we were already familiar with (even if it does smell like rotten eggs). We even got a deal on our motel room because the owner remembered how good Laura was with her dog. And I got to return to the best honey-hole of free wireless access I've ever found in New Zealand. You've just gotta love this place; · Speaking of Lake Taupo, one of the reasons we wanted to go past this lake (which, if you're ...