The Ferns B&B and Chalet Auckland

We arrived in Auckland finally after a 20 hour flight delay. There was something wrong with the fuel pump so we sat on the plan for 5 hours waiting for the problem to be fixed then we were told we had to get off the plane and wait til the next day to fly! The only benefit from the long wait for the flight was that Matt taught me how to play poker and I finally get it!

Anyway, we got to Auckland safely in the end and met ...

Air New Zealand is an excellent airline. Free movies of your choice on your own screen, wonderful food, pillows and blankets. It was a long flight, but we did get a little sleep. At dinner I asked the server if there was a charge for wine, and he said, "Not at all, fill your boots!"

... 2 days in Auckland so were awake early both mornigns and asleep early. We spent the first day in particular cathing on on getting essentials etc.. finally got our hair cut and we picked up essentials like magazines and books and other stuff that was hard to get in South America. We managed to get to the city centre and have a look around.
It was bright both days there so the city to us seemed very nice and clean. We were amazed at how many asians live here and how many ...

... grand - like water with seaweed and the odd piece of barley. The english guys and new irish girl - Orla - were at the table in the kitchen along with an irish girl who worked at the hostel (who has been on the road for 5 years). I bought some beers and joined them. Before we knew it we were playing drinking games and saying silly stuff. We went for more beers and then over to the bar by which stage we'd been joined by Chico from Spain whose last permanent home ...

... greeted us in 57 languages and was cracking jokes the entire time. I guess they know to give the crazy bus driver to the backpackers. When we got there we watched a recreated version of the historical event when the European settlers introduced firearms to the Maori people. Then we walked around a traditional recreation of what their village would have looked like. The Maori people use this tactic of intimidation called Haka. It is a dance and they bulge their eyes out and flick their ...

... I slipped and attempted an aerial 180, which if you think about it, would have been an impressive feat of gymnastics. Had I ended up in a hand stand rounding off into a two footed landing, the judges would have raised sixes or sevens. Unfortunately I was not so graceful and ended up sprawled on my back having only rotated 90 degrees landing firmly on my numbed ****! An optimistic two and a half, from the amused judges. Buster Keaton couldn't have done it any better ...

... out at all angles, making for a really odd sight, anyway mines not to reason, each to their own, so I left him to it and took no further notice. Then last week I noticed him going through the routine of adjusting the headset, but now he'd tried to position the band at the back of his head similar to mine, but after a couple of minutes it'd drop back down and he'd be fiddling around trying another set of adjustments, all the time with ...

Version:1.0 StartHTML:0000000168 EndHTML:0000004013 StartFragment:0000000489 EndFragment:0000003996 It seems like forever since I have written anything on this blog. Part of the reason is because not too much happened, part of the reason is that I stopped traveling and put down roots a little bit, and part of the reason is I have been so busy looking for a house that I haven't had the chance to write in my blog. I guess the ...

... knee deep, at least to wash off a
little bit of the black sand all stuck to our bodies. So far, this was
the highlight of our trip, but it's only just begun!




3:00
PM - Our guide had told us about the fish market on the ...

... perfectly. Matt and Tina's friends were over for drinks on Friday and they just happened to have an extra double foam matress they were trying to get rid off (they didn't come WITH the mattress though, that would have been too good!). We picked up the matress, Matt and Julien shaped it to fit the boot of the car and now the car is waiting to take us to the North tip of North Island, starting today! We still need to get to the garage to get the wheels ...