New Zealand! Found by the Dutch and left for the British to steal and ruin, as is their wont. All this colonialism is terrific stuff, by Jove. I left Australia - which we stole by less diplomatic means - on Valentine's Day, no less, and arrived in Auckland with two hours shaved off my oh-so-romantic day of flights and bag carrying. I also left my towel in Sydney. Whoops.

The next day I started my quest to burn all of my holiday photos to DVDs. I took a wander around town, visited the sky tower and had an impromptu dinner with an Aussie bloke originally from Cambodia. My epic DVD mission continued to a second day after I'd visited Auckland Museum.

Auckland is built on a volcano field. There are literally hundreds of volcanoes in view from the sky tower and on my third day I went to the top of one: Mount Eden. The sun was baking hot and I spent the afternoon lounging around reading and enjoying the views. I wrote that sentence just to make you all feel jealous :)

I went to another volcano on my last day in Auckland. It is the youngest and at the time most violent, and it created Rangitoto Island. At once a barren volcanic landscape and a lush green forest, it shows the full cycle of how life takes hold in this sort of alien world. I loved it. I got lost in trees and plants, then climbed through lava rivers and caves.

I've discovered that I have a problem when walking around places. I absolutely hate to return the same way I came, so I try my utmost to find alternative ways of getting back. In this case I chose a two hour round-the-island walk to get back to the last return ferry. That was in 2.5 hour's time. Easy, until the sign on the island claims your walk will actually take THREE hours. I basically marched around the island in sweltering heat and got back with nearly an hour to spare. Stupid panic-inducing signs.