So I haven’t updated my blog in quite a while, that’s because I’ve returned to the real world – well in a way – I’m currently living in Auckland, in a house, with a job, with my clothes in a wardrobe, and bills to pay – strange!

On my last visit to New Zealand way back in 2005 I didn’t even visit Auckland (other than the airport), so this time seeing as my friend Roisin was living here and I was passing by and the world cup is on in Sept/Oct I decided I’d stop off for a while and see what it was like as a city to live – and I like it!!
I arrived into Auckland on the 29th April, Rois was off with her parents so I spent my first couple of days in the city in a city centre hostel. It feels so long ago now and it’s hard to remember my first impressions of Auckland but I liked it. I had decided it would I wanted to get a non-pharmacy related job, something more sociable and fun – however then I had a look at my CV and realised I might struggle. I saw one pharmacy job advertised (in the same suburb where Roisin lives) so I sent off my CV. I met up with my friend Jen from Uni and we travelled together to Napier to meet up with Roisin and her parents.
Napier is another place I didn’t visit on my first NZ trip. It’s a really nice small city, we had a very relaxed time in the hawke’s bay region, the highlight of which was sampling wines from many of the fine vineyards in that area! En route back to Auckland we stopped at Rotarua where we tried some kayaking on a lake which was really beautiful and Rois Jen and I had a go at zorbing which was also a LOT of fun!! Back in Auckland we visited Waiheke island, one of the islands in the bay surround Auckland – it’s a fantastic island filled with – you guessed it – vineyards – So Roisin, Jen and I hired bicycles and cycled around the vineyards and drank a fair bit of wine before returning to Auckland in time to go check out some comedy (it was the NZ comedy festival when I got here)

Also when we got back to Auckland I went for an informal chat at the pharmacy where I had applied for a job – and was given a 3 day trial – so that was me in Auckland less than a week, applied for 1 job and already off to work. Obviously the trial went well enough and I got a job, which was a very good thing as I need work and money if I wanted to stay in Auckland – but it also marked my return to work, and alarm clocks and standing up all day!! Phew – it’s a tough life! It’s a fairly small pharmacy in one of Auckland’s more upmarket suburbs, the people I work with are all nice and it provides me with some money!
So obviously writing about my working life is not going to be of any interest to anyone (including myself) so I will just document some of the fun things I’ve done since I’ve been in Auckland. When I’d been here a few weeks, a group of us went to visit Rangitoto, another one of the islands in the bay around Auckland – this island is uninhabited and is a fantastic place to go and explore – we hiked to the top of the dormant volcano (sounds grander than it probably is it’s only a few hundred metres), wnjoyed the stunning views and explored some lava caves and then we returned to Auckland to have a few beverages. It was a really great day – I really enjoyed it – so much so that I actually returned a few weeks ago with Roisin’s brother and his friend and went for another hike!
About 6 weeks after I got here the extremely awesome Nick Lee and Rob Tomback came to NZ, I had met Rob and Nick at Carnaval and also stayed with them in Buenos Aires. So we spent a couple of days in Auckland had a night out with some of my Auckland friends and went to see a Rugby match at Eden Park (where a lot of the big world cup games will be held). After that we hired a car and headed north of Auckland for a few days – I had never been to northland before so it was really nice to be off somewhere new. We headed up towards Whangarei – driving along the coat – and stopping off to have a swim in the FREEZING cold and very rough pacific ocean! We spent a day swimming, snorkelling, kayaking and tried out hands at paddle boarding in the poor nights islands – a marine reserve of the north east coast of New Zealand which is listed by some sources as one of the top 10 dive sites in the world. Although it was the middle of winter we were blessed with glorious weather. That night we drove across the country to Ahipara on the west coast where we organised a bus trip up to Cape Reinga the most northerly point of New Zealand. We got to drive along 90 mile beach and on the way back got to stop off and try some sand tabogoning! It was a lot of fun but hard work getting to the top of the sand dunes. We headed back to the east coast to Paihia and the gateway to the bay of islands. As I mentioned it was winter so a lot of the tour operators weren’t running their trips – but fortunately we managed to book a sailing day trip. It was yet another glorious day and we had an amazing day, the bay of islands is simply stunning and up there as one of the most picturesque places I’ve been on my trip. We had lunch on a deserted island and then sailed back, spotting some dolphins and penguins in the water on our way back. Our skipper was awesome and really wet our appetites for sailing – I’d love to give sailing a go for real some time!! We got back to Paihia where we tried some of the national dish fush and chups (fish and chips to the rest of us) and then returned to Auckland. I had an awesome time up north with Nick and Rob – definitely one of the highlights of my time in New Zealand – actually one of the highlights of my entire trip!
Auckland is a really fantastic city – at first glance it doesn’t have the same touristic draw as a lot of New Zealand – I think it’s a city you have to spend a bit of time to really get to grips with and appreciate all it has to offer! The more time I spend here the more I grow to love it! It’s a city build on a volcanic field so there are lots of volcanoes to go and have a walk up when you get the opportunity and it also provides a pretty nice skyline to have a look at. I’ve taken the opportunity a few times to go to the top of some of them and been impressed every time – it doesn’t get old. A few weeks ago I went for a 16km walk across Auckland from coast to coast via the summit of 2 of these volcanoes – it was a really enjoyable walk finishing of course with a couple of pints!

In the last few weeks I’ve been for some walks in the Waitakeres – a mountain range just outside Auckland running to the west coast – it’s really nice to go for a walk along some mountains and return via the beach!
Other than that I’ve been living a moderately quiet life, I’ve met some really cool people (predominantly through Roisin who provided me with bed and board when I got here, has driven me all around the city, let me drive her car around the city and shared her friends with me – so a massive thank you to her) and just enjoying being settled in one place for a while. I’ve been taking Spanish lessons to avoid losing the bit I learned in South America and having the occasional glass of red wine (I have really developed a love for red wine on my trip – I guess a month in Argentina and a few months in NZ make that a fore gone conclusion).
I’m just in the middle of packing for my next little trip, I’m going to Tonga for just short of 2 weeks to do some diving, see some humpbacks, hopefully a bit of kayaking and generally enjoying the hot weather (it snow in Auckland for the 1st time in something like 70 years yesterday – people were very excited).

I hope everyone back home is keeping well – keep in touch and let me know if you want to come and meet me on my trip home!!