Alrighty, after an amazing 3 weeks of living it up in Manly, going to the beach, partying, hanging out with friends it was time to leave Australia and move on the New Zealand. I have had the most amazing time in Australia, met incredible people from around the world and was able to visit some of the most incredible places on earth. Man, will I miss it! I did not want to leave, but unfortunately my visa is running out. I went to visit the Dunlops for one last time, met the new au pair and got to say goodbye to the entire family. It was very emotional, lots and lots of crying from almost everyone! I will miss these kids and the entire family.

Last Tuesday I flew from Sydney to Auckland, where I would start my NZ adventure. I have one week in Auckland before I hop on the 'stray-bus' and will explore the rest of the country. Auckland used to be NZ's capital, but is not anymore. It is the biggest city though, I think… It has got 2 ports and on its narrowest part it is only 16 kilometers to walk from the west coast to the east coast (or the other way around of course). Auckland is also called the city of sails. One out of four habitants in Auckland has a boat or has access to a boat! At this moment the America's cup is happening as well, a sailing competition between the US and NZ. You have to win 9 races to win the cup. NZ was leading 8 to 2 at some point, but then the US came back and the score at the moment is 8-8, a massive come back! The final race will decide everything and people here are obsessed with it. Auckland is nothing too special. It is a city, not as big as Sydney (not by far!) but it is quite enjoyable. At the moment Wicked is playing here, and for only 60 NZdollars, I got myself a ticket! I went with a Dutch and an English girl and all of us loved it, it was a good night out. Other than that I also visited the Auckland zoo which is not too big, but very well-maintained! I walked around there for about 3 hours and got to see NZ's most famous bird: the kiwi! I also went on a trip to Devonport, which is a 15 minute ferry-ride from Auckland. Devonport is famous for its Victorian style houses which are super cute and for the 2 volcanoes it is built around. I was very excited when I heard the word volcano, but over here that just means that it is a hill. The weather over here has not been too kind, we have had 2 days straight with only rain, so I am hoping that will clear soon. Tomorrow I am leaving on my first trip with the Stray bus and we are going to Paihia, cape reinga and the bay of islands. I am excited!

Tine