When we arrived, we went straight to the Base hostel where Nathan and Shaun are staying, also David (lad we travelled with in Vietnam). We checked if they had a car park we could use but they didn't, there was one we could use for $8 a day but it didn't seem worth it. The only campsite in Auckland is quite a way out of the city and costs $20 a night so we had a discussion and decided that taking the Camper van back to the depot early and then paying $24 a night in the Base hostel and being in the city centre and with the others was the best and cheaper option.

On the way to the Britz depot we had to pull over and sort out all our gear, pack our bags and get rid of all the rubbish. Our bags are a lot more full now after buying all the warm clothes but we just about managed to squeeze everything in. We then went to the depot handed the keys back, got our refunds back for the insurance, and settled the bill for some stupid fuel tax they have. We then jumped in a cab back to Base. We tried checking into an 8 bed dorm with no windows as that was the cheapest option but as the rugby game was the next night it was pretty full, after a lot of waiting at the counter and the receptionist speaking to her boss in the office, we think she might have cocked up a bit and we ended up getting put in a private room with a window for an extra $10 over the whole week! And it was only two doors away from Nathan, Shaun and Forks (Nathan and Shaun's mate from home)… Bonus!

After a $5 dominoes for dinner, David came and met us in our room then we all went to the shop to get some pre drinks then we all went back to our room and started playing drinking games before we headed out to the Viaduct area of the city to hit a few bars and clubs. In the first bar Josie came to meet us, she and David are now seeing each other so you can just call us Cupid!

The next day we all got up pretty late, but it was the day England take on the All Blacks in a rugby match at Eden Park which we had all been looking forward to. The only thing was that Tim and Lloyd still didn't have a ticket. Kick off was at 7.35 so we got to the ground early doors at about 5 to try and blag some tickets off somebody. Shaun, Nathan and Farks all went to the pub for a beer and left us to it to try and get a ticket, we agreed to meet by a tree after the game so we could get the train back together. Outside the gates there were a few people with hand written signs saying they wanted to buy tickets, we thought this looked a bit trampy and may put people off so we went for the option of just asking people if they had any spare tickets, it wasn't working. Tim went round the corner a bit to try nearer the train station, as we thought we could nab people who had spare tickets before they saw the people with the signs. That didn't work either and a couple of people with signs started getting the odd ticket. Lloyd then bit the bullet and went to the ticket office and asked for a piece of paper and a pen and wrote a sign saying 'Will buy tickets for cash! Please Help!' then stood just ahead of all the other people with signs, we all started clocking on to each other's tactics and were edging ahead of each other closer to the train station. There were a few blokes, a group of 4 lads and a leggy blonde, we all knew she would get the first ticket so let her stand in front so we could get her out the way, sure enough she got the first ticket! It got to around 6.30 when we got our first break, an English guy said he had a spare ticket. Lloyd asked what the face value was and he said '$150 but I don't expect you to pay that.' So Lloyd offered him 70 but in the end settled for $80. Well happy with that but we were still only half way there. After another 5 or 6 train loads a Kiwi guy came up to Tim(who was now holding the sign) and offered him a ticket, this time the Face value was $120 and he said he wanted that for it, Tim tried $100 but he said no, we were never going to let the bloke go so in the end paid $120 for it. We were so buzzing when we both had a ticket in our hand, 1. Because we were actually going to the game and 2. We thought we were going to have to spend around $200-$250 on a ticket with a $50 face value each.

We then walked to the gates, wishing all the other people with signs good luck with massive smiles on our faces. When we got into the stadium it was straight to the bar, you can drink in the stands at rugby so we brought a four pack of bottles each which would see us through to the second half. We had a wonder round the stadium together then about 15 mins from kick off we agreed to meet at one of the bars at half time then went to our individual seats. We both had great seats and we were both in the same stand which was handy. We belted out the national anthem and listened to the Kiwi anthem before watching the Kiwi Haka. It was so loud, but luckily didn't scare the English to much as we really put the game too them. The Kiwis were 1-50 to win the game so we didn't expect much at all but after three penalty kicks each at half time it was 9-9 and England looked strong.

We met up at half time and brought another 4 pack of beers between us then went back to our seats for the second half, it was a good game both teams getting close to the try line, the atmosphere was great, there were 48000 people in attendance. After another couple of penalties each it was 15 all with 3 minutes to go when the All Blacks finally just made it through to get a try. The crowd went berserk even though a lot of them still weren't happy that they didn't smash England!

It was a really good experience seeing England play a sport in another county, also gives a bit of practice to cheer England on in the football world cup in a few days!! We all met up at the tree after the game and got the packed train back to the city centre, the other three had only had a couple of beers so wasn't feeling a night out, Lloyd and Tim had had six though so were keen. We tried getting hold of Josie, David and Jack (Josies brother) but it was no use, so it was another night out just the two of us, we went to a few bars, they were all rammed. It was also an Ellie Goulding concert that night so along with the rugby it was very busy.

The next day we were very bored, and knowing that we had another 8 days here we were just hating the fact we didn't have much to do. Shaun and Farks went to check out Mt Eden, where Tim, Lloyd and Ben went with Josie the first time we were here over a month ago. But us two and Nathan did basically nothing, just went for a bit of a walk around the city where we saw 4 of the England players a bit drunk coming out of a bar and getting on hire push bikes, presumably cycling to another bar! That night we watched a few programmes on our tablet and got an early ish night.

We had been recommended to check out an island called Waheke Island which is a 40 minute boat trip away from Auckland. The other three were going to the Bay of Islands for two days, we had already done this before as well so left them to it. We paid for a package which included a return boat journey and a guided bus tour of the island and then unlimited bus rides around the island if we wanted to check anywhere else out. We left at 11 and then the tour started at 12, the tour guide was German but had been in NZ for 25 years, he was quite funny to be fair. He told us a lot about the island, the history, how much it costs to live there, and pointed out the different beaches, one of them being a nudist beach, weather was crap though so unfortunately there was no one on it. After the tour we asked the guide to drop us off in the main village on the island where we got some fish and chips overlooking the sea. Fish and chips is just as traditional in NZ as they are in England. We then walked through the woods for about 20 minutes back to the harbour and got the 3 o'clock boat back to Auckland.

We then chilled in the room for a bit before Lloyd left Tim to meet Josie. It was her birthday a few days ago and he said he would take her up the sky tower for dinner. It's the tallest building in the southern hemisphere we found out from Horst our tour guide earlier in the day. The restaurant is 52 stories high and spins around 360° which was pretty cool, as you get to see the whole city. We spun around about 1 and a quarter times so it doesn't go very fast which is good considering you're eating. The food was amazing, and for $69 (£35) per head for a 3 course meal it was really well priced as well. It costs $32 just to go up to the viewing platform so well worth it! We had a couple of drinks after then she got a cab home and Lloyd went back to the room, where we watched a bit of Ross Kemp on gangs on the tablet and went to bed.

The next few days we spent just chilling and had a couple of nights out. Farks was leaving on the Kiwi bus Wednesday morning so he can travel NZ, so we had a night out on Tuesday to say bye to him. Wednesday we didn't do much, except it was our last night with Nathan and Shaun so we all went for a meal and a couple quiet drinks. They had to check out of their room at 10am Thursday morning, but didn't need to leave until 1…so they came and chilled in our room for a bit until they had to go. We've been with them most days for the last few weeks, so was sad to say bye, but will hopefully see them in Australia at some point, or if not, somewhere else! We will definitely stay in touch!

However just as the boys were leaving us, Rick ( who we were with in Asia a lot ) was flying to us from Australia, and was going to be at the hostel at 2pm. He is going to do a ski season in Queenstown for a few months, but spending a couple days in Auckland with us first! It was really good to see him, and we spent the day sharing stories over the last 6 weeks we had been apart, and showed him around the city a bit during the day. We were planning on going to a BBQ at the hostel that night, but it cancelled because of rain, so we just went out for a few drinks instead.

Friday morning we woke up at 7.15am to watch the first World Cup game which was kicking off at 8am NZ time. We were all a bit tired and hungover but headed to a bar to watch Brazil vs Croatia. Afterwards we got some breakfast then went and had a look at a few shops. Rick needed some warmer clothes and Lloyd needed a phone charger. That afternoon we went to the cinema to see '22 Jump Street' which was pretty funny! Rick was flying to Queenstown in the morning, so we had one last night together and said bye to him as he was leaving early in the morning. He comes back to Australia after his ski season so no doubt we will see him again too!

Saturday we went into town to buy a few things we needed before getting to Perth, Australia… just some toiletries etc. We walked past a pub which was showing a repeat of the Spain v Netherlands game, which we knew finished 5-1. It had only just started so we sat and watched that so we could pass the time and see the goals. That night we went to meet David and Josie to watch the second England v All Blacks rugby game, this time in a pub, not live! It was a really close game but England just lost unfortunately. Lloyd stayed out with Josie, David and a few others, while Tim got an early-ish night.

Sunday morning was the day we had been waiting for, for ages! England vs Italy in our first game of the World Cup! Kick off was 10am our time so we got up early, put on our new England tops and met David and Josie at 8.45 to get breakfast. The pub we planned to watch it in, already had 200 people inside and a huge queue outside… we were not expecting it to be this busy! The lady on the door said there was not much point us queuing as we probably won't get in anyway, so we went to an Irish pub round the corner which was busy too, but we managed to get good seats! I think the whole of England thought Sterling had scored in the first five minutes and we weren't any different. We jumped around celebrating and the chair Tim was sitting on ended up a few metres away, knocked over somehow… only to realise it hit the side-netting and hadn't gone in! After a few jugs of beer we were obviously disappointed England lost but we played well! On to the next game!! After the game we went back to the original pub we were going to go in, and it was still busy but they let us in. We drank some more and watched the Japan v Ivory Coast game, then stayed out until we had enough. It was an early night for us, but we had been drinking since 9.30 am.

Monday morning we got up early again to watch the Argentina v Bosnia game which was on at 10am. We sat in the bar and had breakfast whilst watching it. The rest of the day we spent just chilling and getting sorted for Australia, booking transport to the airport, packing etc. New Zealand has been great and now we are looking forward to settling in Perth. We will most likely stop the blog for a bit, as we will not have much to say or any photos to upload. We really appreciate you all reading it and commenting on it as it takes bloody ages and a lot more effort than we thought to write but It's time to get back to reality a bit and get a job and a place to stay! Sam ( Ricks best mate, who was with us a lot in Asia too ) is in Perth at the moment, and wants to live with us, and Danny flies out to meet us on the 28th June. So hopefully us four will get a place together! On to the next part of the adventure! AUSTRALIA…