What a f***ing roller coaster.......

Myself, Pete, Steve, Dan, the Jills, and Lolo (a German we picked up along the way) left Taupo on Monday to head to Auckland. Apparently in terms of land mass it's the 4th biggest city in the world.

On arrival, we checked into Base hostel. We got an 8 bed dorm and took 7 of the beds. We knew a couple of others staying in the hostel and 10 of us then went out to play some bowling. First game wasn't great and our team lost by 66 points. The other team suggested that we played again with a handicap of 66 and put a round of drinks on it. We went with the idea and ended up not needing the handicap because we beat them fair and square by 8 points. That evening we had a few drinks in our room but then decided to take it easy that night. The final member of our room moved in whilst we were chilling. Her name was Audrey and she was a local Mauri woman.

Next morning, we all headed for a free tour around Auckland with Kiwi Experience. We heard about it last minute and luckily we got on because it was great. First stop was the harbour bridge where we walked along the underneath to the middle where there was a bungee site. Nobody on the bus was wanting to jump so one of the guys that worked there gave a demonstration. After this we drove over to Devonport where we first stopped at """""enter war place here"""". We went for a walk around the site to see all the guns. This is where Dan knocked Pete's camera out of his hand and down about a 15ft drop. Luckily it was ok though. Next stop was lunch. Fish and chips for £3. Bargain!! After lunch we went to """enter mountain""" where we had incredible views of the city and """volcano""""

After this great start to the day we headed back to the hostel at about 3pm. This is when I headed up to the room to charge my camera. I realised at this point that my camera was gone and so was some cash I had in my bag. I got the others to check there stuff and I checked the rest of mine too. My camera, some more cash, and my passport all taken from my bag. One Jill had two bags taken, Steve some cash, and everyone else lost minimal items. This was ridiculous. We reported it to reception at which point the receptionist came straight up to our room and searched the 8th member of our rooms bag. Nothing there. She then told us how the local Mauri people are always dodgy. Bit of a stereotype. We also learnt that this person checked in last time under a different name and this time showed no ID. She also requested our room which had a dodgy lock. After looking at all these things we assumed that it could well be her.

We went to the police station and explained the situation and they advised us to go back and call 111 when she got back. We did this and when they turned up I explained the situation and then they went to speak to her. They came up to our room and explained that there was no evidence (as expected) and that she would be moved rooms. It was Steve and Dans last night so even though it was about half 11 we got ready and headed out. Good night out! Bar closed early so was in bed by 2.

I went to the police station yesterday morning about 7am to make a report and get a crime reference number. Back to the hostel for an hour before heading to the British Consulate in Auckland. When I first arrived they explained to me that I would need to go to Wellington. This was 12 hours each way on bus and I would miss my flight to Fiji or I could fly for £300 and probably still miss my flight. The woman at the desk dropped into conversation that during the World Cup they would be able to sort emergency passports in Auckland so I asked if as a favour to me they could make an exception. After speaking to her seniors she came back with a positive answer. By 1pm I had an emergency passport in my hand but I still needed an American transit visa to get home. They told me it would take a few days and I could either do this in Auckland or Fiji when i arrived. I chose Fiji as I didn't want to delay my flight.

That night we went out for some drinks as the Jills were flying home the next day and it was out last night in New Zealand. We got up nice and early today and headed to the airport. We are now on route to Fiji. Hopefully I can get the visa sorted quickly and can relax for the remainder of my trip.

Hope everyone is all good

Josh x