Hello Everyone

So the day is finally here, New Zealand here we come! The day started early with a 5.00am alarm and 5.30 taxi to Nadi airport, which turned up late so we jumped in with another girl catching the same flight as us. We got through security and boarded the plane with no problems and before we could finish our breakfast in a box we were seeing New Zealand for the first time with our own eyes.

We landed at Auckland airport at 12pm and passed though passport control, not even sure if the man checked our visa's! After collecting our bags we headed out the terminal and decided we would catch the airport shuttle bus into Auckland as advised by lonely planet (also the cheapest option). The bus was supposed to drop us outside our hostel but due to New Zealand winning the rugby world cup, the main street (Queen Street) was closed for a team parade. So we were thrown out at the far end of Queen Street in a new city, no idea where to go and thousands of people lining the streets trying to get a glimpse of the cup winning hero's. After 5minutes looking at a map Nikki and I headed off towards the hostel. It was crazy! thousands of people in All Blacks shirts with face paints and flags everywhere. We needed to cross queen street to get to our hostel which was a task in itself as the where barrios lining the road. Lucky we found a gap and squeezed through with our bags, located our hostel and checked in. Our room was small with no windows but perfect for us and more importantly it was safe and clean. We dumped the bags and headed to join the crowds to watch the parade. The atmosphere was incredible with everyone coming together to join the celebrations. The show began at 3.30pm with street performers and a huge blow up rugby ball. The players were in the back of trucks in pairs or threes. It was brilliant and I got lots of pictures before my camera battery ran out. The last truck had Richie McCaw and the coaching staff onboard with the cup, it was amazing to see them in person lifting the cup aloft and celebrating with the crowds. After it had finished we headed for some food before going back to the hostel to unpack, sort, shower and crash.

The next morning we got up and headed to ANZ to open our bank account. We thought we would have problems as we didn't have a permanent address in New Zealand but it wasn't a problem so got it sorted. After we headed to the supermarket to get stuff to make lunch and dinner as it was getting expensive eating out all the time. Later that evening we headed to the backpackers bar under the hostel called the globe. We met a English girl called Emma who was travelling on her own so asked her to join us for a few drinks. She was really nice and Nikki and she got on really well. After a few more drinks, the guys at the bar were running an obstacle course (spinning round, riding a small bike and hula hoops to name a few) to win a bus pass worth $1000. Both Emma and Nicola decided to give it a go and can safely say it was one of the funniest things I have seen. Nikki came last but gave it everything and more importantly some memories that neither I nor the rest of the bar will forget.

Wednesday we decided to go to the zoo. We invited Emma the night before so we met outside the hostel and headed to what we thought was the right bus stop. Actually after talking to the bus driver we had to find another bus stop on the other side of town which we did after an bit of hunting. The bus dropped us right outside the door for the zoo and thanks to our student cards we managed to waggle a discountJ. The zoo was amazing and had some great highlights; we got to hand feed a giraffe (Nicola's favorite) and then hand feed a hippo (well throw a cabbage in its mouth) and walk with an elephant. After 5 hours of walking and watching we headed back to the hostel to chill out before dinner. The three of us heading down to the harbor and grabbed some sushi which we ate by the water. Nikki and I decided to take a stroll round the harbor before the sun went down. There were some huge boats ranging from Americas cup race boats to 65m personal cruise liners. It was a lovely evening and after a long day we decided to head back to hostel and crash for the night.

We decided that over the next couple of days we would get our blog in order, upload photos on netbook and post pictures for people to see. In the evening we thought we should go on a bar crawl to get out the hostel and thought we would invite Emma. On route to the first bar I saw Richie McCaw walking towards us, Nikki and Emma completely oblivious of who it was. Unfortunately he was in a rush so could only shake his hand and congratulate him on his win. It was really cool moment that wouldn't happen in the UK. The bar crawl was great and met so really nice people. We went to 4 bars and ended in a club near the harbor.

During the week we decided to have a few relaxing, do washing and chill out days which also help stretch the pennies a bit further. Emma was leaving the next day for the north so we grabbed a drink in the evening with her and her roommate Kim, also from UK. We went to our now local bar below our hostel, globe bar.

In our final few days before leaving Auckland for the north we went up the art gallery and Albert Park, strolled around the harbor, going up the sky tower and visiting Nikki's friend from home, Rachel for dinner. The Park was beautiful and made even better by the amazing weather. We made a pack lunch back at the hostel so grabbed a bench and enjoyed the sun. The art gallery was great; it had a huge display of Maori cultural art along with some well-known artists like Picasso. The harbor was full of families, boat owners and everyone else in Auckland. The viaduct has bars and restaurants right on the waters front along with kids play areas and kid's activities so feels like the hub of the city at the weekends. The weather on the day Nikki and I went up the sky tower wasn't the best but could still see for miles. The lift up the has a glass wall and floor so you can see the lift shafted as you rocket up the tower to the viewing deck 180m above the ground. The 360 views over the city were spectacular showing you how close the mountains and islands are to the city. In the evening we visited Rachel, Nikki's friend from home whose dad lives in Auckland. Very kindly her dad picked us up from near our hostel and drove us back to his house 20min outside the centre. It was great to sit in a house, have home cooked food you don't have to wash up and have company that doesn't start a conversation with "so where are you from"J. It was a lovely meal and was really nice to catch up with a friend, think it made Nikki miss home a little bit more.

Finally, this week was the first time since we set off travelling that we had a good enough internet connection to Skype home. Both of our families looked as happy as we were to see each other and catch up on what's been happening. Nikki got an extra treat of seeing her beloved dog, Megan.

From Auckland with love

Ben and Nikki xxx