I am learning to horse ride while I am here out at Greenhithe. Here are some pics and hopefully I'll be getting better soon! The horses are so beautiful. [View Full Entry]

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Prior to Auckland I was in Mount Manganui working for a Kiwifruit exporting company for 3 months in a contract position. I arrived in January 2004 and then went to Auckland when my contract finished in April. I had all intentions of moving to Wellington after seeing Auckland, but sometimes fate steps in and things don't just happen that way. Since arriving in Auckland in April last year so much has happened! I came here to go sight seeing and catch up with my long time friend K from Japan. We did just that and stayed at the YHA in Auckland [View Full Entry]

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This place is sooooooooo beautiful! The ferry wasn't running on the 1st due to everyone being hungover no doubt, so we left on the 2nd. Caught a Fullers Ferry over and threw down a few sea sickness tablets so there were no chuckies on da way! Gorgeous ferry ride over. We stayed in a hostel called The Stray Possum which has a restaurant and bar and self contained facilities as well as camping and dorms. The day we arrived there was the annual Picnic at the beach that we headed off to. Stalls, auctions, horse races on the beach and footballs [View Full Entry]

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This place is so beautiful it deserves a page of it's own for photos. It has hotsprings over limestone terraces and beautiful formations. There is a thermal lake in a cave that is one of few in the world and is amazing. We all made a wish! There is also the mud plopping and bubbling away. It's like another world. You take a boat ride over to it. It is near Taupo. A must see! [View Full Entry]

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My Mum and Little Sis came over from Australia and with K we went on a 9 day trip around New Zealand's North Island and still couldn't see everything!! We went up North of Auckland to Dargaville and saw the Kauri forests. We saw the biggest known Kauri and tooks pics, although rumour has it the Maori (natives) know where bigger amazing Kauris grow and don't tell. Kauri are endangered as they have been nearly all chopped down for wood products. We then drove up to Cape Reinga, the most Northern tip of New Zealand and checked out the headland and [View Full Entry]

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As I had no "date" to take to my work ball, I decided to take Amy. And this was so much fun as we got our hair and make up done and drunk Bacardi cocktails whilst getting ready. Kate who works at the Elizabeth Arden counter at Smith & McCaugneys in the city is a legend and responsible for our gorgeous make up. We headed off to a friends Penthouse and he took some photos for us before we made it to the Convention Centre in the Sky City and were met by the likes of Austin Powers and other celebrities. [View Full Entry]

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Before I got a real job, I went to Stony Ridge Vineyard with K and Satako and picked grapes for a few weeks. My God it is hard work, but it was lovely to be working out in the sun and the beautiful valleys that surround us. They cooked us up a beautiful lunch each day as it is also a cafe open to the public and the resident Chef Mr Lee is an unreal cook. Got to meet some interesting people picking and play with some dogs and cats. They also grow olives there too. Owner Steve is very friendly [View Full Entry]

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WOW! This place was the maddest joint to spend my first few months of Auckland in. It is an old hotel that was being run by ACB as accommodation for their staff and random travellers who were staying long term. You get your own room and bathroom, but the kitchen and laundry and lounge rooms were all share. As it was an old hotel it was massive and the commercial kitchen was used to cook many a meal for friends and parties. It is Art Deco style and built in that era. My Japanese Brother lived in the old bar and [View Full Entry]

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We took a trip out to a river in the mountains near Mt Maunganui where we went for a kayak up the river for a few hours. As the sun set the glo worms came out and it was an amazing sight being between two rock walls covered in these creatures and just floating down the river past them. Will find the name of the tour company and the actual area as I have forgotten! Must have been the wine and barbeque fish and salads we had after our trip that were cooked up by the company on the shore. Delicious! [View Full Entry]

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My Uncle Laurie, his friends and myself took 10 days out to sail the Beautiful Whitsunday Islands. We flew to Hamilton Island and then took a boat over to Airlie Beach on the mainland to pick up our yacht. Before setting sail, we went to the local supermarket and spent $800 on food and then nearly the same amount on grog next door at the liquor shop!! Should have seen the looks we got! I then had my first chance at sailing the boat over to Hamilton island to pick up the others. We stayed a night there and left the [View Full Entry]

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