We had tickets for Wednesday evening's performance of the NZ Ballet Company's modernized version of Romeo and Juliet. It was a bit of a rush getting back to Auckland and settling back into our room at the motel so we only had time for a quick bite before rushing out again - in the same scruffy walking trousers and tops we'd had on all day - and which were now a bit mud spattered after traipsing round Zion Park. We did get a few sidelong looks from those of the Auckland Bourgeoisie who were all dressed up to the nines, but what the hell - it was a great performance and we thoroughly enjoyed our night at the ballet.The weather continued to be wet and dreich for most of the time and over the weekend a horrendous massive storm crossed over the country. A couple of people lost their lives in a shipwreck, lots of flooding and hundreds of homes were without power for a few days after power lines were blown down. So we kind of hunkered down in our room but spent the time profitably by making a serious start on planning our journey around South America. It was also a good time to go to the flicks so off we went to see Mama Mia - real light hearted good fun. But as usual in NZ there were times when the sun came out and once again we had brief spells when it was like late Spring/early Summer. And when they did we took advantage of these to get out for a bit of fresh air. Auckland has loads of 'hills' which are actually extinct volcanoes. Climbs to the top of Mount Eden and Mount Hobson not only blew the cobwebs away but gave fantastic 360° views over the city and for miles around in every direction over the sea and the islands, and towards the mountains in the distance even as far as the Coromandel - just highlights what a fantastic location Auckland is in. During our trip up north most of our meals had been cooked and eaten in our rooms so by Friday we were ready for a meal out!! One part of Auckland we hadn't seen was Ponsonby Road, which is one of the city's main eating/drinking/nightlife drags, so we headed up there on our trusty Link bus. Really enjoyed the change in surroundings and a Vietnamese/Chinese/Lao feast at one of the renowned food courts. Our plans for another week away to visit the Bay of Plenty and East Cape have been put on hold because of another imminent severe storm which is supposed to last for many days, the start of which hit Auckland on Tuesday. Hope this doesn't delay John and Debs' flight in from Sydney as we're looking forward to meeting up with them for a meal tonight.

E & M xxxx