Auckland and onward..

Hi everyone!

Well it has been rather awhile since I last posted an entry, so here I am again! I have been given the task of covering the Auckland leg of our trip, so here goes...

We left Napier at 1.00pm on Saturday afternoon. It was very surreal saying goodbye to my mum, I can't believe I'm not going to see her for at least two years! After lots of hugs and photos (mum even snuck onto the bus to take some!) we were on our way. The bus ride to Taupo was great as it was snowing! There is a certain magical quality about the snow which I just love, I am always excited to see it.

We also had the great pleasure of being driven to Taupo by a gorgeous Maori man named Hone. He was SUCH a character and the epitome (sp?) of Kiwi. He gave us an interesting commentary of the local surroundings which was neat. He also made a point of reminding us to take all our belongings with us when we left the bus as he has many nephews and nieces' who would appreciate some free stuff! It was so funny.

Approx 5 hours later we arrived in Auckland. Dad came and collected us. Had a nice night catching up with Dad, his partner Gill and her daughter/my stepsister Lauren.

The next day we had a goodbye lunch with some family friends and some friends of mine. It was really nice to see everybody and get a chance to say goodbye as it might be a while before we see them again. I was very spoilt and received lots of lovely presents. Thanks guys!

This is me and my (huge) brother! He left on a 12 day mission with some of his mates to Japan the day before us.

On Monday we went and spent the day in Queen Street. It was nice to have a wander around my old stomping ground and check out what had changed. Tim's father and stepmother were heading off on a cruise from Princes Wharf in the afternoon, so we met up with them for a coffee.

(Toolman here: The obligatory pose with me and Dad - He won the cruise as a prize for selling the most in a 6 month period. If you are in Tauranga and need a home, go see Nice Paul!)

On Monday night one of my oldest and dearest friends came over for a visit which was lovely. She spent 3 months of last year over in the US, so she had lots of interesting photos to show us.

And then it was Tuesday. Departure day. It was such a strange day, I wasn't quite sure how to feel. It was all a little overwhelming to be honest. I couldn't let myself think about leaving NZ, suddenly I felt VERY patriotic. I love my little country! I bought myself a NZ t-shirt at the airport which I intend to wear very proudly.

We boarded our flight destined for Brisbane at 2.35pm. Goodbye NZ! We sat next to a lovely German guy called Christian (TT: Cwistian... he had that funny German liwsp) who we spent most of the flight chatting to. He told us tales of his adventures around NZ and Australia, and gave us some suggestions of where we should visit.

We arrived at Brisbane airport around 5.00pm. The first thing I noticed was how dark it was - it seemed like it was the middle of the night. We didn't get up to much last night, just had a quick wander round near our hostel to find some kai.

Brisbane is cold! We have spent today wandering around the CBD of the city and there is a very nasty wellingtonesque wind around. Neither of us have bought a great deal of warm clothing with us so we are freezing, hence the visit to an internet cafe! It's far too cold to be outside. Apart from the cold Brisbane is a pretty city with lots of lovely old architecture. I am very tempted by the masses of shops, but have to be strong as I am on a very strict budget! I think I may crack a little and buy a warm jacket though.....

Anyways darlings I am going to finish this now and try and convince Tim that it is time to have lunch. It's only 11.30am, but we've been up for hours as our stupid body clocks are out of whack.

Take care everyone!

xxxxxxxxxx