Losing a day over the Pacific

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Trip Start Jun 13, 2006 Previous
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  Auckland, New Zealand
Wednesday, March 21, 2007

Alex: Well, we made it to New Zealand. Its a bit of a shock to the system really, and oddly the language thing is taking a bit of getting used to. We keep saying "gracias" and hesitating before we ask questions to work out what we need to say and most worryingly presuming people can't understand us as we walk down the street! We landed at around 3am and spent a few hours dozing on the airport chairs before heading into the city. After sorting ourselves out a hostel we headed straight for breakfast, scrambled eggs, bacon and sausages and a pot of tea, yum yum.

We were staying in Ponsonby a trendy area just west of the centre so we took a stroll around there and then into the city and headed to the pier. Most importantly we both got our hair cut, something I didn't even want to attempt with my feeble Spanish, so a haircut has been long overdue. After all that excitement we needed an bit of a nap and still being on Chile time nearly slept through, for once though my obsession with food paid off and my belly dictated that we go out and get some tea.

The rest of our time in Auckland was equally as laid-back, we sorted out a car for the rest of our time in New Zealand (our own transport - yippee), which is a lovely white Toyota Sprinter with many quirks, one being when you push the button to open the boot it doesn't just unlock but springs open ferociously.

Auckland museum was very interesting and it was great to see all the Maori and Polynesian artifacts and the Giant Moa skeleton was fascinating, those things were huge, you can see why they were hunted to extinction, a Sunday roast with one of these babies would feed the biggest family. I don't think the afternoon we spent there (or my attention span) really did the museum justice, really if you wanted to do it properly you would have to go over a few days.

Dean:  On our last day in Auckland, after the museum, we headed out to the suburbs west of the city and called in to see my mother's cousin Wendy and her husband Ronnie.  It was really nice to meet some more distant family members and we spent the evening chatting about the family, New Zealand, our travels, and dogs (both my mum & dad and Wendy & Ronnie have a great love for dogs).  Wendy and Ronnie were kind enough to put us up for the night and to take us out to dinner in a local restaurant.  It was a really pleasant evening - thank you Wendy & Ronnie for looking after us.

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