Hi all,

We arrived in Auckland a little earlier than planned and headed straight for the City centre. Auckland is nothing like any other town/city that I have visited in New Zealand. It is so much bigger and on a far greater scale. We hit the city centre and it was madness, people and cars everywhere. We tried to park up to explore but the parking costs were extortionate - $35 for 3 hours.

So it was over to plan B, an SOS call to Sally Makepeace. Sally is an old school friend of mine that emigrated to New Zealand with her partner Martin about a year and a half ago. Right from the start of my trip she has always stayed in touch with me and said that I was welcome to visit and stay at her house in Auckland. Twenty minutes later I was knocking of her door - magic.

It was so good to see her after so many emails throughout the year and her little girl Ebony is so beautiful. We were made to feel so welcome right from the start and Ebony is such a character, the happiest little soul I have ever met (well, other than my cousins little boy Toby that is..!). We caught up and discovered that Sally was pregnant again which was cracking news, if I had known though I wouldn't have brought round a crate of beer and a bottle of wine - woops. However, Martin and I managed to drink the surplus...!

Sally and Martin have been so good to us and made us feel so welcome, its been really amazing. They have helped us sort out, clean and return Arthur. Lent us their car so we could drive in the city and explore Auckland. They have taken us to their local pub, markets and Martin has impressed us with his bbq'ing skills and much more. They are a really lovely and generous couple - THANK YOU - It has made the end of my trip really special.

They also completed buying their house on the friday (which is beautiful by the way) so it was nice that Becki and I could baby sit on the Saturday night for them and they could go into Auckland and have a meal together and what not, to celebrate.

Well, tomorrow I'll be heading for the airport to return home but I might have one more entry in me from LA, to bore you with no doubt!

Bye for now

Miffy x x x