So my final destination in New Zealand, with 31% of the entire population living here -Auckland. It lies around several volcanoes, mainly extinct, giving it a very interesting landscape. Surprisingly for such a large city, there is relatively little to do here for tourists but one of the main attractions is the Sky Tower, the tallest free standing structure in the Southern Hemisphere standing at 328m.

Being a good tourist I duly bought my ticket and went up there. The sight was impressive. I am not afraid of heights in the slightest but I must admit that I had trouble walking over the panes of glass that occassionally appeared in the floor on the observation deck. There was a sign reassuring visitors of its strength but somehow it did not feel right. What also did not seem right were people jumping off the top of the tower and flying past the observation windows on the way down. Admittedly they were bungee jumping - but still!!

My evening there ended with a lovely dinner at the marina, with a variety of people I had met along the way on the Magic bus, who were all flying out on the 25th - the same day as me. Auckland is also known as the City of Sails, because of its harbour which is often dotted with hundreds of yachts and which has more per capita than any other city in the world, with around 135,000 yachts and launches. It was lovely to dine there and drool over the magnificent yachts.

My last day in New Zealand was spent at the Auckland Museum, exploring the treasures there. It was a lovely building and had many enchanting objects. Unfortunately my attention kept drifting to my flight that afternoon, and before I knew it I had to leave to get to the airport.

And so ended my trip in New Zealand. It was everything I expected and more. The scenary has been outstanding, and, as I have read somewhere, it is the world in one country. It is definitely a place I would want to return to, having not seen hardly enough or done as many of the walks and hikes I would have liked to have done. I can understand why Lord of the Rings was filmed with its depth of magical scenary. It was a very friendly country and I would recommend to anyone to visit her.

It was also the end of my break in the western countries and I was excited to be moving on back out of the first world and into countries still developing, and to the challenge of not speaking the language. So - next stop, South America- the final leg of my journey.