Anzac Court Motel Auckland

... starts on the 16th November in Fonterra China. I will be based in the Beijing office in the Global Trade Sales department.

Why China? I am ethnically a Chinese, born and grew up in Guangzhou (southern China) and left to New Zealand with my family when I was 9. It's been a LONG LONG time since I left and to be honest, China is a new environment ...

... But only an Antipodean could be called Kelly Tarlton, eh? I can't imagine someone from, say, Tunbridge Wells, with that name, could you? But I must stop mocking because the whole thing was actually quite good. It was a 15 mins in the car along Tamaki Drive, which is where a lot of rich people live. You can see why with amazing views towards the city. Anyway, back to Kelly Tarlton's. You enter through a reconstruction of Ernest Shackleton's hut and followed by an ...

... ll see all this country has to offer or die trying, Kelly has even left her feet hairy so when we get to the Lord of the Rings sets she'll be an authentic Hobbit. Today we hit the Auckland Museum and had a walk in the park then tonight we sort our **** and get ready for the big trip, me the pilot and Kelly the navigator, "talk to me Goose"!

That is all, just about to add some more pics so check them out. Will check back in soon, au revoir.

... surreal enormity of the building is emphasised by the sight of the mad blue and yellow jump suited people throwing themselves at you, screaming, from the top.

It was a little crowded inside as some rugby team or other was being besieged by mobs wanting their autograph (ok, ok there was an orderly queue but it felt like mobs) but I pushed my way through the crowd and found the tourist information centre. Armed with a load of info and a lot to think about I then took a trip up to ...

... as it was basically a people carrier, which had had the back seats ripped out and a matress,hob,dvd player and some storage space fitted in their instead. It wasnt very spacious but good things come in small packages and it did us very nicely indeed!

Bay of Islands
So after the first of many bowls of noodles and an early night, we woke up early and headed up north to Paihia in the Bay of Islands. We ...

... and Kyle. They moved on to the international terminal as I left.

I was picked up by some friends of my aunt's that live in Auckland. After a nap, and a delicious apple and feijolo pancake breakfast, I got a local run around of Auckland. Explored various volcanic craters, the water line, and One Tree Hill. A local Maori actually chopped down the tree several years ago, and it has be aptly renamed "No Tree Hill." Still, it was a nice sight ...

Since the last entry, in Hawke's Bay, Tom and I have zig zagged around the North Island, picking up a Sloth in Auckland and are now in Northland enjoying a few days with Tom's brother before heading back to James, Vanessa and Moby in Melbourne. From Hawkes Bay we went up the east coast and popped in the sea at Mahia - a lovely beach, and then on to a rock slide somewhere inland from there - that was a slightly scary experience with many bumps on the way down into ...

... the glasses and the bar. We were the only ones there so we did some cheesy dancing and licked the ice sculptures. After Auckland we headed north to the bay of islands where dolphins swim around the coves. The weather is great, just like a British summer on a good day. We went to the very northern tip of NZ and drove along 90 mile beach and swam in both the pacific and tasman seas, it was freezing. We went sndboarding down huge dunes at ...

... merriment on our table, now laughing with absolute abandonment. The thought of so many people who normally don't drink being plied with free alcohol makes me wonder what the outcome will be, it certainly won't be restrained, or polite if their normal behaviour is anything to go by. The latest complaint from the blue rinse brigade is, as we don't drink alcohol, and fruit juice with the evening meal isn't the same, will we be able to claim extra compensation?

... Feb - right dates, wrong month!! Anyway it all worked out and we got the beds at significantly reduced rate due to I guess March being a low tourist time and possibly since we booked online in advance. Anyway with a roof over our heads and settled in we went wandering. Made way down to the marina where there were numerous large racing yachts docked. The Louis Vuitton Yacht Race was on and had been for a number of days. It is a round robin event with boats (sorry ... yachts) from ...