Arrived in Auckland after a 3 hr 10 min flight with Virgin Australia. Good flight with hot meal & drinks included. Sat next to a Kiwi who was travelling home to the Bay of Plenty, an hours connecting flight from Auckland. We chatted about the rugby world cup and he tried hard to convince me that England would get through the group stages- he was adamant that we would beat the Aussies! Time will tell! Talking of "time"- not on my side at the moment- 'time' has been a huge factor dictating strongly our ne t move in this awesome journey. I am writing all blogs retrospectively, at moments when I have the means to do so i.e. WiFi and remaining data allowance- again something we take for granted back home. So it has been much easier to post snapshots of the trip on Facebook when we eating out and can get free 1/2 hour WiFi in the pub or restaurant. Anyway, back to Auckland! An easy exit through airport customs etc using the e-passport route- no problems and very quick. Airport bus convenient and reasonably priced at 16 NZ. We were surprised, when asked where we were staying, that the driver had not heard of our hotel! We checked the details and gave him the address- he still did not recognise it! We were becoming increasingly worried but just got off in Queens Street and headed towards 58-60 - it wasn't easy to find the Grand Windsor but we eventually found it hidden between shops, obscured by scaffolding, with some help from a kind local man. Once in the hotel it was pleasant enough and the room was clean, comfortable and spacious. We knew we had very little time to explore the city and were catching an early morning bus to Rotorua, so we had pre-booked a table for a meal at the Skytower revolving restaurant. It was fantastic. The whole experience was breathtaking- from the moment we looked up at the Tower from directly beneath, to the viewing floor, the bar, and ultimately the restaurant. It was awesome. Highly recommended and so glad we booked online weeks before as the restaurant was fully booked- also by booking a meal you do not pay the entrance fee for the Skytower. The meal was superb and less costly than we expected for the unique experience. A wonderful way to start our adventures in NZ.