Auckland - city of sails

Well I'm not going to write much about my 4 nights in overcast Auckland - it's not really why I came to NZ. What I will say is that I really like their Asian Foodcourts. You can get a huge plate of noodles, or Thai curry or whatever for only $8 - roughly 3 quid. You couldn't get a Boots egg mayo sandwich for three quid in Britain. You probably could get a fair bellyful of Gregg's pasties - but I think the noodles are nicer. And even if you prefer the pies, the noodles are better for you.

The only touristy thing I have done is go up the hideously ugly Sky Tower - which was pretty disappointing and pointless. Actually I really like going up tall buildings - it's usually the first thing I do on holiday. But the Sky Tower wasn't that tall, nor did they let you outside. It's always much more sexy if you can go outside to be buffeted in the wind.

Also I have bought a digital camera - so if I work out how I will soon start uploading pictures onto here. Next stop Rotorua (pronounced Roe-Toe-Rue-Ah) for the mineral bathing.

Things I have learnt:

New Zealand has only been populated for 1000 years - which is hardly anything if you think about it - there are trees older than that. Apparently birds were in charge up to that point.

Speaking of which, the Kiwi has the world's largest egg in relation to its body size. Seriously it's huge - it must be about half it's body size. At the museum, me and this NZ woman were looking at the exhibit at the same time and I went "surely not" and she went "how does that come out of that". And then she started giggling so I left her to it.