Siesta Motel Auckland

... sandy beaches. Ah. As my Dad would say, "What a life!"



On the way back to the city we saw some people fishing and the guy had caught a stingray!



All those hours of hiking today have tired me out but not quite enough to keep me from a different kind of exploring tonight: pubs.



Yesterday was a rainy day, so I explored Auckland's Maritime Museum which had a number of Maori canoes (I had to go!) and their traditional sail ...

... so pleased i booked it. The coach journey in itself is breathtaking- the views are out of this world and the coach driver is so knowledgeable. We got to Paihia at 11.30 and i had til 1.30 to myself so i got some lunch and sat on the beach. The cruise was on a catamaran!! So much fun when it took of the front rose out of the water- wow so exhilarating. We stopped when the captain spotted a school of Dolphins- they were so lovely and playful- they ...

It's raining and 15 degrees colder than Cairns. Just like been at hom. Hopefully the weather will pick up over the next 6 weeks as I travel around. Met a guy last night who I used to work with and met a few people in the backpackers so the 1st night was very good. The boat cruise was good and took some good pictures of the city.

... br>
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We at G& ...

... gerade mal EINE Haupteinkaufsstrasse, die Queenstreet. Soviel, wie ich laufen musste, um in die anderen Stadtteile zu kommen, habe ich den Eindruck, dass Auckland sehr verstreut ist. Nicht so wie z.B. Adelaide (Australien, 1.1 Mio.), etwas kleiner, aber auch viel zentraler, mit einem groesseren CBD (Central Business District, dort, wo sich die Bueros, Shops und Kneipen befinden).

... in Aussie (complete with kick *ss Bikini J*m - deffo gon* put few pics of the winner up fell*s!) followed by 3 d*ys worth of New Ye*rs m*dness in * BEAUTIFUL OASIS of * viney*rd in the lush H*wkes B*y hillside w*s enough to le*ve me thoroughly s*tisfied *nd keen for *nother b*sh next ye*r. Seriously, R&*mp;V is *s good *s *ny medium sized festiv*l in Europe *nd comp*risons kept being m*de to Rob D* B*nk's Bestiv*l on the Isle of White by Chris *nd I, * true complement if ...

I'm now in Auckland NZ after having travelled north from Queenstown! We had to catch a 3 hour long ferry from Picton (south) to Wellington (North island), staying a couple of nights in Wellington - the home of NZ's film industry. I managed to get on a tour which took me to Lord of the Rings and King Kong Locations, as well as seeing a very small part of Weta Workshops (the world famous special effects company). Unlike Hollywood, the studios are made to look very low-key from the outside and ...

... a whistle-stop tour in the car, Yvonne thinking, yet again, that one city is much like the other and D making a fair comparison, surprisingly with Tokyo. The tour ended when we found Steven, who had been sleeping, a playground in which to expend some energy. The final video pieces on this episode of the blog are of D, filmed secretly by Yvonne, reading a book called 'The Mole who knew it was none of ...

... for us. The butterfly house was amazing, with literally hundreds of the insects swarming around us as we frantically tried to take pictures. Chris obviously smelt better than the rest of us, because several butterflies landed on her causing a frantic (but non threatening) effort to take pictures before it flew away! Next came a goldmine experience that allowed us to take a walk through an abandoned mine. On our return the guide fired up the machinery used to filter ...

... the first written guide to try and ensure that the Maoris and Westerners could co-exist, rather than experience the carnage suffered by the native Aborigines across the Tasman Sea in Australia.

We arrived before 9am (gasp) and found an internet cafe so that I could email my wedding telegram to Ben before my best mate Tim's wedding back in the UK.

This was a ...