Hello all,

Well we've just learnt a valuable lesson with uploading photos - do them little & often! They took soooo long to sort out! Anyway, whatever jetlag there was has now gone (I could not think what to write for my first blog in Auckland - my brain seized!) and we are having an awesome time!

We decided to stay in Auckland for a week to get our bearings and just enjoy being here, and while it does have a reputation of being a place that backpackers pass through but don't really stay or enjoy, we've had a fabulous week. Auckland has some amazing city parks with the most awesome trees - they look like they belong in some mad ancient forest rather than the city centre and when you walk into the park you are deafened by the sound of cicadas. Downtown Auckland is actually quite small but the whole city is massive, spread out over some of its volcanic cones, which is evident from the top of the Sky Tower - we did the proper tourist thing and went to the top and the views were fabulous, though we were less sure about the glass floor (is 3.8cm of glass really safe to walk over several hundred foot in the air?) and the mad b******s jumping off the top - we felt ill just watching them! We thought of you Mum - you would have hated it!

The other wonderful thing about Auckland is its multicultural nature - it's the largest Polynesian city in the world and is a wonderful mix of Asian, South Pacific, and Maori as well as Kiwi, which is lovely to be in and means you can get some awesome (and very cheap) food. And we were so lucky to be in the city for Pasifika - a festival which celebrates the culture and identity of the South Pacific islanders. And what a festival! It was a riot of colour, with amazing food stalls (we stuffed ourselves merrily with fresh coconut, mussel fritters, crab salad, lamb chops, pineapple & ice cream and donuts, Pacific style). And the music, singers and dancers were absolutely fabulous - beautiful women (with proper curves!) doing really graceful, and some very sexy, dances; and tall warrior men whose dances were so powerful. The whole day was totally awesome, and so happy, there was such a feeling of joy, celebration, dance and colour, a world away from our stressed, restrained Western culture. And it was amazingly hot and sunny, with the blue sky really complementing the colours.

And when the sun shines (which this week it has been all the time, except for the day we arrived), the kiwis have the perfect set up for the outdoor life. After checking out Auckland Museum, we went to one of the last free music events of the summer, which was Jazz in the Park - the Blue Bottom Stompers! The park was full of happy people lounging around listening to the New Orleans jazz, so chilled. I was so relaxed I lay back on the grass, looking at the wispy clouds floating across the deep blue sky, gently tapping my feet to the music, and had a little snooze! (And maybe my nose got a little pink too!). Awesome!

Finally we swapped the inner city parks for something a little more wild and took a day trip to Rangitoto Island - the newest of Auckland's volcanoes, though now extinct. It sits in Auckland harbour, looking very dark and uninviting, so we were surprised when we stepped off the boat into paradise! What an awesome place! We waited until the crowds from the boat had disappeared, then slowly made our way to the summit, walking through beautiful forest and black lava flow, with some stunning vegetation and some gorgeous friendly wildlife - at one point we were surrounded by a flock of the cutest little fantails, who were totally showing off to us - flying around us catching flies, fanning out their beautiful tails and being incredibly inquisitive, almost landing on our heads a couple of times - I thought Su was going to wet herself! And then the view from the summit was again totally awesome! Such a beautiful day!

And that was enough for us - time to leave Auckland and move on to find a little more nature (oh, and perhaps a job!) Now we're heading to Napier, in sunny Hawke's Bay so I can drink lots of cheap Sauvignon Blanc, and perhaps find some work as well - awesome!

Am I already saying awesome too much?

Sweet as, Jo & Su, xxxxxxx

ps - keep the messages coming on the website - we love em! xx