Kia Ora Everyone! Sorry this first update is a bit later than expected..this whole travelling experience is proving to be busy busy busy! It seems ages ago since I was in Hong Kong but we had a fantastic time and despite the weather we managed to do everything we wanted to do. The night we arrived we found our hostel, dumped our stuff and headed down to Victoria Harbour to walk along the Avenue of Stars and to watch the Symphony of Lights show which was a nice start to the trip. On our first full day in Hong Kong we took the peak tram up to the top of the peak to look over the whole of Hong Kong which was great...although the weather was pretty poor so unfortunately my pictures aren't anywhere near as impressive as the postcards were in the souvenir shop :(

Next stop was Hong Kong Park and Aviary and then onto the Zoological and Botanical gardens which made a nice chilled afternoon...with A LOT of walking involved lol! The next day we caught the train up to the Ten Thousand Buddhas Monastry which turned out to be my favourite part of the trip. The 400 steps up to the monastry proved to be a bit of a workout lol but the monastry was really spectacular...and yep, you've guessed it, had 10, 000 little buddhas lining its walls! The sun was shining too that day (yay!) which made all the difference! After the monastry, feeling very cultured, we headed back to the Hong Kong museum of history before heading off to the airport to start our journey to New Zealand woo! Overall Hong Kong was a great experience but very very hectic (and neontastic) and after two days I was looking forward to moving on to somewhere a little more chilled!

We finally arrived in Auckland on Sunday night after a LONG journey! The flights themselves were pretty comfortable but the stop over at Brisbane for the day was a killer after an 8 hour plane journey. I also stuck out like a sore thumb with my Hong Kong, cold weather attire on because the weather in Brisbane was gorgeous! Anyway, enough of the moaning haha...we arrived in Auckland and Reena was there waiting and I like to think it was like something out of a film the way we ran towards each other and embraced...well, I say ran, I mean fast walked on my part due to the restrictions of a very heavy rucksack (i.e. backpack for all you Kiwis hehe).

On our first day in Auckland we had a pretty chilled day walking around the city. The weather was pretty poor with a lot of rain :( ...which we later heard was the tail end of a cyclone! Still very warm though so can't complain! The highlight of my day came when we wandered into a cafe to grab some lunch and sitting there were two of my friends from University!!For a moment I seriously had to consider where I was haha. It was great to see them...I didn't even know they were travelling! And to top it off they were booked on the same bus as us up to the Bay of Islands the next day...what are the chances??? Anyway that put me on a high for the rest of the day! That evening we headed out for some pizza and then went and met the guys in the bar at their Hostel...and realised that we had definately chosen the wrong Hostel to stay at!

The next morning we were up at 6.00 am to catch the Kiwi Experience bus up north to Paihia and the Bay of Islands. However, before we could even board the bus we were informed that north of the island had been hit by a cylcone and it was unlikely we would be able to do anything there for the next few days. Big sad faces!!! The bus was still running so we headed up there anyway feeling optimistic. And I'm glad we did because the weather that day actually turned out pretty good...despite the odd shower! Important lesson of the day though...so not be fooled by clouds and rain... you can still get burnt! I am currently sporting two pink shoulders...pretty fetching I think!

That evening our Hostel put on a BBQ which was a lot of fun and gave us a chance to meet some new people and have a beer haha...yes I am now drinking beer grrrr!The next morning Barry and Rob headed further up north and we stayed in Paihia to go on the Excitor...a boat trip which takes you around the Bay of Islands at VERY high speed! Again my photos don't really do the islands justice because of the weather but the trip was absolutely fantastic...a definate highlight so far!

After the boat trip it was time to head back to Auckland which brings me to where I am now...finally haha! Tomorrow we head off early to Mercuy Bay which sounds fantastic too...in fact everything is fantastic here hehe! Anyway, that's all from me so far. Hope you are all ok back on the other side of the globe! Lots of love and hugs xxxx